Next-Generation Sequencing Analysis of Cellular Response to Influenza B Virus Infection

Effect of Caffeic Acid and a Static Magnetic Field on Human Fibroblasts at the Molecular Level - Next-generation Sequencing Analysis

Due to their properties, numerous polyphenols and a static magnetic field could have therapeutic potential. Therefore, the aim of our research was to investigate the effect of caffeic acid (CA), a moderate-strength static magnetic field (SMF) and their simultaneous action on human fibroblasts in order to determine the molecular pathways they affect, which might contribute to their potential use in therapeutic strategies. The research was conducted using normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDF cells) that had been treated with caffeic acid at a concentration of 1 mmol/L and then exposed to a moderate-strength static magnetic field. The RNA that had been extracted from the collected cells was used as a template for next-generation sequencing (NGS) and an RT-qPCR reaction. We identified a total of 1,006 differentially expressed genes between CA-treated and control cells. Exposure of cells to a SMF altered the expression of only 99 genes. Simultaneous exposure to both factors affected the expression of 953 genes. It has also been shown that these genes mainly participate in cellular processes, including apoptosis. The highest fold change value were observed for HSPA6 and HSPA7 genes. In conclusion, the results of our research enabled the modulators, primarily caffeic acid and to a lesser extent a static magnetic field, of the apoptosis signaling pathway in human fibroblasts to be identified and to propose a mechanism of their action, which might be useful in the development of new preventive and/or therapeutic strategies. However, more research using other cell lines is needed including cancer cells.

Interactomics: Dozens of Viruses, Co-evolving With Humans, Including the Influenza A Virus, may Actively Distort Human Aging

Some viruses (e.g., human immunodeficiency virus 1 and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) have been experimentally proposed to accelerate features of human aging and of cellular senescence. These observations, along with evolutionary considerations on viral fitness, raised the more general puzzling hypothesis that, beyond documented sources in human genetics, aging in our species may also depend on virally encoded interactions distorting our aging to the benefits of diverse viruses. Accordingly, we designed systematic network-based analyses of the human and viral protein interactomes, which unraveled dozens of viruses encoding proteins experimentally demonstrated to interact with proteins from pathways associated with human aging, including cellular senescence. We further corroborated our predictions that specific viruses interfere with human aging using published experimental evidence and transcriptomic data; identifying influenza A virus (subtype H1N1) as a major candidate age distorter, notably through manipulation of cellular senescence. By providing original evidence that viruses may convergently contribute to the evolution of numerous age-associated pathways through co-evolution, our network-based and bipartite network-based methodologies support an ecosystemic study of aging, also searching for genetic causes of aging outside a focal aging species. Our findings, predicting age distorters and targets for anti-aging therapies among human viruses, could have fundamental and practical implications for evolutionary biology, aging study, virology, medicine, and demography.

NKB cells: A double-edged sword against inflammatory diseases

Interferon-γ (IFN-γ)-producing natural killer (NK) cells and innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) activate the adaptive system’s B and T cells in response to pathogenic invasion; however, how these cells are activated during infections is not yet fully understood. In recent years, a new lymphocyte population referred to as “natural killer-like B (NKB) cells”, expressing the characteristic markers of innate NK cells and adaptive B cells, has been identified in both the spleen and mesenteric lymph nodes during infectious and inflammatory pathologies. NKB cells produce IL-18 and IL-12 cytokines during the early phases of microbial infection, differentiating them from conventional NK and B cells. Emerging evidence indicates that NKB cells play key roles in clearing microbial infections. In addition, NKB cells contribute to inflammatory responses during infectious and inflammatory diseases. Hence, the role of NKB cells in disease pathogenesis merits further study. An in-depth understanding of the phenotypic, effector, and functional properties of NKB cells may pave the way for the development of improved vaccines and therapeutics for infectious and inflammatory diseases.

Influenza B infections in children: A review

Influenza B (IFB) virus belongs to the Orthomyxoviridae family and has two antigenically and genetically distinct lineages; B/Victoria/2/87-like (Victoria lineage) and B/Yamagata/16/88-like (Yamagata lineage). The illness caused by IFB differs from that caused by influenza A. Outbreaks of IFB occur worldwide and young children exposed to IFB are likely to have a higher disease severity compared with adults. IFB mostly causes mild to moderate respiratory illness in healthy children. However, the involvement of other systems, a severe disease especially in children with chronic medical conditions and immunosuppression, and rarely mortality, has been reported. Treatment with oseltamivir or zanamivir decreases the severity of illness and hospitalization. Due to the enormous health and economic impact of IFB, these strains are included in vaccines. IFB illness is less studied in children although its impact is substantial. In this review, the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, treatment, prognosis, and prevention of IFB illness in children are discussed.