How Skin Cells Might Play a Role in Rabies Spread

Rabies is a deadly virus that mostly spreads through dog bites. But sometimes, even small scratches or bat bites can cause infection. Scientists are still figuring out how this happens. A recent study looked at skin cells called keratinocytes. These cells are in the outer layer of skin. The study found signs of the rabies virus in these cells at the site of infection in both mice and dogs. This suggests that keratinocytes might be involved in how the virus enters the body. However, when scientists tried to infect keratinocytes directly in lab-grown skin samples, they couldn't replicate the results. They also didn't find the virus in skin samples from animals before they showed symptoms. This makes it unclear if keratinocytes are the first cells infected or if they get infected later as the virus spreads. The study also tried exposing the inner ear skin of mice to the virus, but this didn't cause infection. This adds more confusion about how the virus enters the body through minor exposures. Despite these uncertainties, the study highlights the importance of understanding the role of keratinocytes, especially in cases of minor exposures to the rabies virus. More research is needed to clarify their involvement.