Elucidating the mechanism of filopodia-driven respiratory syncytial virus spread

NIH RePORTER · NIH · P20 · $289,956 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most common viral cause of severe lower respiratory disease in infants and young children worldwide. The global mortality rate due to RSV among infants and young children is between 66,000 and 234,000 per year. Currently, there is no licensed RSV vaccine or specific antiviral therapy available. Although a variety of approaches have been taken to develop a vaccine, host-pathogen interaction approach to identify effective countermeasures is currently underdeveloped. A genome-wide siRNA screen identified actin-related protein 2 (ARP2) as a host factor for RSV infection. RSV infection induced filopodia and increased cell migration in the respiratory epithelial cells. Filopodia are appeared to be a novel mechanism of cell-associated RSV spread. ARP2 contributes to filopodia-driven RSV cell-to-cell spread. The overall objective of this proposed research is to determine how RSV modulates the host cytoskeleton signaling in filopodia-driven cell-to-cell spread. Three specific aims are proposed to examine the central hypothesis is that RSV infection hijacks cytoskeleton signaling involved in actin polymerization and exploits it to facilitate cell-to-cell spread through filopodia. Aim 1, Delineate Rho GTPases cell signaling involved in RSV-driven filopodia induction for cell-to-cell spread; Aim 2, Identify cellular and viral factors for the filopodia-driven RSV spread; and Aim 3, Determine integrin signaling is an upstream regulator of the filopodia-driven RSV spread. This study will contribute significantly toward the understanding of a novel RSV spread mechanism. Additionally, they will lay the foundation for the identification of therapeutic targets to combat RSV infection.

Key facts

NIH application ID
10142759
Project number
5P20GM113123-05
Recipient
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA
Principal Investigator
David S. Bradley
Activity code
P20
Funding institute
NIH
Fiscal year
2020
Award amount
$289,956
Award type
5
Project period
— → 2021-08-04