Comparative analysis of genes induced by respiratory syncytial virus and dsRNA in primary human bronchial epithelial cells

Abstract

The primary target of respiratory viruses such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the respiratory epithelium. Accordingly epithelial cells may play a pivotal role in virus‐induced lung inflammation and in the initiation of innate and subsequently adaptive immune responses. Presence of double‐stranded RNA (dsRNA) during viral infections is a potent inducer of inflammatory cytokines and antiviral responses and dsRNA has been extensively used as a viral mimetic. In this study, we compared the gene expression profiles of RSV‐infected or dsRNA treated human primary bronchial epithelial cells (PHBE). Our transcriptomic analysis showed that RSV induced up‐regulation of 561 genes in PHBE cells while treatment with dsRNA upregulated 77 genes. Our comparison showed that 44 genes were commonly upregulated by dsRNA treatment and RSV infection. The mRNA and protein expression of select genes were confirmed with real‐time RT‐PCR and bioplex assay. Further analysis of these common upregulated genes revealed that they could be functionally grouped in multiple response pathways such as inflammation, apoptosis, transcription regulation, cell signaling, and cell differentiation. This high‐throughput gene expression study offers a comprehensive view of transcriptional changes induced by dsRNA and RSV in human epithelial cell.