Transcriptomic Analysis of Lung from Pigs Exhibiting Differential Susceptibility to Influenza

Abstract Text: Influenza is a common viral infection of pigs, yet relatively little is known about the transcriptional networks that contribute to variation in the susceptibility of pigs to the disease. An analysis of the lung transcriptome in ‘Resistant’ and ‘Susceptible’ groups of pigs 48 hours post-inoculation with influenza virus found 131 genes that were differentially expressed between the two groups. The ‘Susceptible’ pigs expressed higher levels of genes involved in processes associated with inflammation, such as the acute phase response, complement activation, and coagulation. The differential expression of a subset of these genes was confirmed by quantitative PCR. An analysis of the upstream regulators of the differentially expressed gene (DEG) set found that the cytokines IL-1 beta, IL-6 and TNF-alpha in particular were likely driving the pathology. Therapeutic approaches that target these pathways could be beneficial in alleviating the lung immunopathology associated with this disease.

Keywords: pig, microarray, influenza