Project description:Liver Macrophage Infiltration and Inflammation are associated with Antiviral Responses During SIV Infection in Macaques that is Only Partly Reduced during cART
Project description:Rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) infected with a lethal dose of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus-strain WE (LCMV-WE) provide a model for Lassa fever virus infection of man. Like Lassa fever in human beings, disease begins with flu-like symptoms but can progress to morbidity fairly rapidly. Previously, we profiled the blood transcriptome of LCMV-infected monkeys (M. Djavani et al. J. Virol. 2007: PMID 17522210) showing distinct pre-viremic and viremic stages that discriminated between virulent and benign infections. In the present study, changes in liver gene expression from macaques infected with virulent LCMV-WE were compared to gene expression in uninfected monkeys as well as to monkeys that were infected but not diseased. We observed gene expression changes that occurred before the viremic stage of the disease, and could potentially serve as biomarkers that discriminate between exposure to a hemorrhagic fever virus and exposure to a benign virus. Based on a functional pathway analysis of differentially expressed genes, virulent LCMV-WE had a much broader effect on liver cell function than non-virulent virus. During the first few days of infection, virulent virus impacted gene expression associated with the generation of energy, such as fatty acid metabolism and glucose metabolism, with the complement and coagulation cascades, and with steroid metabolism, MAPK signaling and cell adhesion. For example, the energy profile resembled that of an organism entering starvation: acetyl-CoA carboxylase, a key enzyme of fatty acid synthesis, was shut down and gene products involved in gluconeogenesis were up-regulated. In conclusion, this study identifies several potential gene markers of LCMV-WE-associated liver disease and contributes to the database of gene expression changes correlated with LCMV pathogenesis in primates. 6 groups: uninfected controls, LCMV-WE infected (pre-viremic; day 1 to day 3), LCMV-WE infected (viremic; day 4 to day 7), LCMV-WE infected (post-viremic; day 8 to day 12), LCMV-Armstrong (LCMV-ARM; non-virulent strain) infected, and LCMV-ARM/LCMV-WE infected but not diseased. Each sample is from the liver of a different rhesus macaque.
Project description:African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a large, icosahedral, double-stranded DNA virus in the Asfarviridae family and the causative agent of African swine fever (ASF). ASFV causes a hemorrhagic fever with high mortality rates in domestic and wild pigs. ASFV contains an open reading frame named EP152R, previous research has shown that EP152R is an essential gene for virusrescue in swine macrophages. However, the detailed functions of ASFV EP152R remain elusive. Herein, we demonstrate that EP152R, a membrane protein located in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), induces ER stress and swelling, triggering the PERK/eIF2α pathway and broadly inhibiting host protein synthesis in vitro. Additionally, EP152R strongly promotes immune evasion, reduces cell proliferation, and alters cellular metabolism. These results suggest that ASFV EP152R plays a critical role in the intracellular environment, facilitating viral replication. Furthermore, virus-level experiments have shown that the knockdown of EP152R or PERK inhibitors efficiently affects viral replication by decreasing viral gene expression. In summary, these findings reveal a series of novel functions of ASFV EP152R and have important implications for understanding host-pathogen interactions.
Project description:A NanoString targeted gene panel was used to elucidate the transcriptomic changes occurring in non-human primate whole blood during Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus infection.