Abstract
Abstract Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is the number one cause of lower respiratory infection in children and is linked to asthma development later in life. After acute infection, some infants develop severe lower respiratory disease that requires hospitalization and can even cause death. This collaborative project aims to identify genetic determinants associated with susceptibility to RSV infection during the neonatal period. Our laboratory has developed a neonatal mouse model of RSV infection to study immunopathology in an age-appropriate manner. Recombinant inbred strains of mice have been extensively sequenced for genetic polymorphisms and are used as a forward genetics approach to identify groups of genes involved in phenotypes of interest, such as disease susceptibility. Here, we utilize the BXD family of recombinant inbred strains of mice with our neonatal RSV infection model to discover genetic loci involved in the susceptibility of neonates to RSV. We show a difference in viral burden in the lungs of neonatal mice between different BXD strains, suggesting a role for genetic variation in RSV susceptibility. Therefore, we have a novel system to identify genetic loci involved in the development of RSV disease. These results will be critical in the development of specific antivirals and vaccines against RSV, which remain elusive despite five decades of research.
Published Version
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