Importin-α7 is required for enhanced influenza A virus replication in the alveolar epithelium and severe lung damage in mice.

ABSTRACT: Influenza A viruses recruit components of the nuclear import pathway to enter the host cell nucleus and promote viral replication. Here, we analyzed the role of the nuclear import factor importin-α7 in H1N1 influenza virus pulmonary tropism by using various ex vivo imaging techniques (magnetic resonance imaging, confocal laser scanning microscopy, and correlative light-electron microscopy). We infected importin-α7 gene-deficient (α7(-/-)) mice with a recombinant H1N1 influenza virus and compared the in vivo viral kinetics with those in wild-type (WT) mice. In WT mice, influenza virus replication in the bronchial and alveolar epithelium already occurred a few days after infection. Accordingly, extensive mononuclear infiltration and alveolar destruction were present in the lungs of infected

SUBMITTER: Resa-Infante P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4097772 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature