Lung epithelial cells have virus-specific and shared gene expression responses to infection by diverse respiratory viruses

James T. VanLeuven; Benjamin J. Ridenhour; Craig R. Miller; Tanya A. Miura

Murine models of respiratory viral infections have been widely used to identify the mechanisms that 32 determine disease severity in the respiratory tract. While these models are invaluable for evaluating pathology 33 and host responses to infection, parallel in vitro studies can be used to identify gene expression and signaling 34 pathway changes that occur in infected cells to mediate pathogenesis. In this study, we compare the gene 35 expression response of murine lung epithelial cells to infection by three respiratory viruses used in murine 36 models: rhinovirus (serotype RV1B) in the family Picornaviridae, mouse hepatitis virus (MHV strain 1) in the 37 family Coronaviridae, and influenza A virus (strain PR8) in the family Orthomyxoviridae. Viruses from 38 different families and with different replication strategies were chosen to identify which responses to infection 39 in respiratory epithelial cells are shared and which are virus-specific. In the following paragraphs, we describe 40 some of the key features of these three viruses in murine models.