Project description:Diarrhea remains a major cause of death in children. Current diagnostic methods largely rely on stool culture and suffer from low sensitivity and inadequate specificity, often leading to inappropriate treatment. The objective of the present study was to use RNA sequencing (RNAseq) analysis to determine blood transcriptional profiles specific for several common pathogenic bacteria and viruses that cause diarrhea in children. We collected whole blood samples from children in Mexico having diarrhea associated with a single pathogen and without systemic complications. Our RNAseq data suggested that the blood signatures can differentiate children with diarrhea from healthy children either with or without bacterial colonization. Moreover, we detected different expression profiles from bacterial and viral infection, demonstrating for the first time the use of RNAseq to identify the etiology of infectious diarrhea. Whole blood from 207 children including children with diarrhea caused by rotavirus (n=55), E.coli (n=55), Salmonella (n=36), Shigella (n=37) and control children (n=24).
Project description:Diarrhea remains a major cause of death in children. Current diagnostic methods largely rely on stool culture and suffer from low sensitivity and inadequate specificity, often leading to inappropriate treatment. The objective of the present study was to use RNA sequencing (RNAseq) analysis to determine blood transcriptional profiles specific for several common pathogenic bacteria and viruses that cause diarrhea in children. We collected whole blood samples from children in Mexico having diarrhea associated with a single pathogen and without systemic complications. Our RNAseq data suggested that the blood signatures can differentiate children with diarrhea from healthy children either with or without bacterial colonization. Moreover, we detected different expression profiles from bacterial and viral infection, demonstrating for the first time the use of RNAseq to identify the etiology of infectious diarrhea.
Project description:Kyasanur Forest disease virus (KFDV) and the closely related Alkhurma hemorrhagic disease virus (AHFV) are emerging flaviviruses that cause severe viral hemorrhagic fevers in humans. Increasing geographical expansion and case numbers, particularly of KFDV in southwest India, class these viruses as a public health threat. Viral pathogenesis is not well understood and additional vaccines and antivirals are needed to effectively counter the impact of these viruses. However, current animal models for KFDV do not accurately reproduce viral tissue tropism or clinical outcomes observed in humans. Here, we show pigtailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina) infected with KFDV or AHFV develop viremia that peaks 2 to 4 days following inoculation. Over the course of infection, animals developed lymphocytopenia, thrombocytopenia, and elevated liver enzymes. Infected animals exhibited hallmark signs of human disease characterized by a flushed appearance, piloerection, dehydration, loss of appetite, weakness, and hemorrhagic signs such as epistaxis. Virus was commonly present in the gastrointestinal tract, consistent with human disease caused by KFDV and AHFV where gastrointestinal symptoms (hemorrhage, vomiting, diarrhea) are common. This work characterizes a nonhuman primate model for KFDV and AHFV that closely resembles human disease for further utilization in understanding host immunity and development of antiviral countermeasures.
2021-10-22 | GSE185797 | GEO
Project description:Sequencing of picorna viruses and related viruses in the Teltowkanal, Germany
Project description:The RNA interference (RNAi) pathway is found in most eukaryotic lineages but curiously is absent in others, including that of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here, we show that reconstituting RNAi in S. cerevisiae causes loss of a beneficial dsRNA virus, known as killer virus. Incompatibility between RNAi and killer viruses extends to other fungal species, in that RNAi is absent in all species known to possess dsRNA killer viruses, whereas killer viruses are absent in closely related species that retained RNAi. Thus, the advantage imparted by acquiring and retaining killer viruses explains the persistence of RNAi-deficient species during fungal evolution.