Identification of host-virus interactions contributing to immunopathology and disease severity in respiratory syncytial virus infections in children.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is worldwide the leading cause of serious infections of the lower airways, and nearly all children are infected with RSV by the age of two. RSV is responsible for different clinical presentations, ranging from mild to very severe disease. Limited preventive and therapeutic options are available, and furthermore, it is not clear why some infected individuals develop severe disease while others do not. We therefore aim to investigate host- and virus-related factors that may influence disease severity. To reach this objective, we will divide our research project in four different goals. Firstly, we will isolate RSV from patients and investigate which of two commonly used virus collection methods is best to obtain viable RSV isolates. Secondly, we will investigate the effect of different virus isolates on human respiratory epithelial cells, since these are not only the primary target cells, but also implicated in the pathogenic immune response upon RSV infection. Thirdly, we want to evaluate whether respiratory epithelial cells from different patients, react differently upon infection with the same virus, which may explain differences in disease severity observed in patients. We will thus not only gain fundamental insights in the causes of RSV induced diseases, but we will finally also correlate risk factors identified in the laboratory with clinical symptoms in patients, supporting the translational character of this research project.

Keywords:RESPIRATORY SYNCYTIAL VIRUS (RSV), HOST-VIRUS INTERACTIONS, DISEASE SEVERITY

Disciplines:Microbiology, Immunology, Other medical and health sciences