Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus-induced immune signature of infection revealed by transcriptome analysis of clinical pediatric nasopharyngeal swab samples

Nicolas De Lamballerie, Claire; Pizzorno, Andrés; Dubois, Julia; Padey, Blandine; Julien, Thomas; Traversier, Aurélien; Carbonneau, Julie; Orcel, Elody; Lina, Bruno; Hamelin, Marie-Eve; Roche, Magali; Textoris, Julien; Boivin, Guy; Legras-Lachuer, Catherine; Terrier, Olivier; Rosa-Calatrava, Manuel

Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus (HRSV) constitutes one the main causes of respiratory infection in neonates and infants worldwide. Transcriptome analysis of clinical samples using high-throughput technologies remains an important tool to better understand virus-host complex interactions in the real-life setting but also to identify new diagnosis/prognosis markers or therapeutics targets. A major challenge when exploiting clinical samples such as nasal swabs, washes or bronchoalveolar lavages is the poor quantity and integrity of nucleic acids. In this study, we applied a tailored transcriptomics workflow to exploit nasal wash samples from children who tested positive for HRSV. Our analysis revealed a characteristic immune signature as a direct reflection of HRSV pathogenesis and highlighted putative biomarkers of interest.