Streptococcus pneumoniae nasopharyngeal colonization induces type I interferons and interferon-induced gene expression.

ABSTRACT:

Background

We employed DNA microarray technology to investigate the host response to Streptococcus pneumoniae in a mouse model of asymptomatic carriage. Over a period of six weeks, we profiled transcript abundance and complexity in the Nasal Associated Lymphoid Tissue (NALT) to identify genes whose expression differed between pneumococcal-colonized and uncolonized states.

Results

Colonization with S. pneumoniae altered the expression of hundreds of genes over the course of the study, demonstrating that carriage is a dynamic process characterized by increased expression of a set of early inflammatory responses, including induction of a Type I Interferon response, and the production of several antimicrobial factors. Subsequent to this initial inflammatory response, we observed

SUBMITTER: Joyce EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2743716 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature