Exploratory RNA-seq analysis in healthy subjects reveals vulnerability to viral infections during a 12- month period of isolation and confinement

Brain, Behavior, & Immunity - Health

Satish Mehta¹  Carole Dangoisse²  Alexander Choukér³  Judith-Irina Buchheim⁴  Matthias Feuerecker⁴  Claudia Strewe⁴  Andreas Osterman⁵  Brian Crucian⁶  Gustav Schelling⁶  Jean-Noël Billaud⁷ 

[1] German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Munich, Germany;Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Ysbyty Gwynedd Hospital, Bangor, Wales, UK;Department of Anesthesiology, Hospital of the University of Munich, Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU), Marchioninistr. 15, 81377, Munich, Germany;Laboratory of Translational Research “Stress and Immunity”, Department of Anesthesiology, Hospital of the University of Munich, Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU), Marchioninistr. 15, 81377, Munich, Germany;Max von Pettenkofer Institute, Virology, National Reference Center for Retroviruses, Faculty of Medicine, LMU München, Munich, Germany;NASA-Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA;QIAGEN Digital Insight, Redwood City, CA, USA;

关键词: Stress;    Isolation;    Confinement;    RNA-seq;    Antiviral immunity;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Exposure to stressful environments weakens immunity evidenced by a detectable reactivation of dormant viruses. The mechanism behind this observation remains unclear. We performed next generation sequencing from RNA extracted from blood samples of 8 male subjects collected before, during and after a 12-month stay at the Antarctic station Concordia. RNA-seq data analysis was done using QIAGEN Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) software. Data revealed the inactivation of key immune functions such as chemotaxis and leukocyte recruitment which persisted after return. Next to the activation of the stress response eIF2 pathway, interferon signaling was predicted inactivated due to a downregulation of 14 downstream genes involved in antiviral immunity. Among them, the interferon stimulated genes (ISGs) IFITM2 and 3 as well as IFIT3 exhibited the strongest fold changes and IFIT3 remained downregulated even after return. Impairment of antiviral immunity in winter-over crew can be explained by the downregulation of a battery of ISGs.

【 授权许可】

Unknown