# Distinguishing immunomodulatory intestinal viruses through examination of viruses attached to RIG-I and MDA-5

> **NIH NIH R21** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2020 · $215,179

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Humans coexist with trillions of microorganisms living amongst them. We as a species have never existed without
them. Thus, these complex communities of microbes that include bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and viruses play a
fundamental role in controlling all aspects of our physiology. The last 20 years of research has focused almost
exclusively on our symbiotic bacteria. This work has revealed the important contribution of alterations in the
composition of our gut bacteria to many immune disorders, but especially inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Furthermore, these large-scale efforts have resulted in tangible and emerging new therapies for IBD that include
fecal transplantation and controlled antibiotic use. The discoveries will also enable us to start stratifying different
IBD patients by their genetics and resident bacteria for precision therapy. New technologies only in last couple
of years such as large-scale sequencing or “metagenomics” have allowed us to identify and appreciate the
important contribution of viruses to the microbial communities that inhabit the healthy intestine, i.e. “the virome”.
Moreover, a recent analysis of stool from IBD patients found that the virome was indeed significantly altered. In
mice, a protective function of intestinal viruses in the gut has been demonstrated. How the virome contributes to
host immune responses that enable a healthy gut or how changes in virus composition impacts gut inflammation
is almost completely unknown. This is both daunting and exciting. Learning from the microbiome field, at this
juncture in virome research, it is essential that we move beyond correlations and toward a detailed mechanistic
understanding of how certain viruses educate our immune system for health and disease. Here we propose to
distinguish the dominant components of the intestinal virome that shape our immune system in the gut. We
propose to understand the interaction of the human intestinal virome with viral sensors of the immune system
using crosslinking immunoprecipitation (CLIP). Mammalian cells are endowed with the ability to detect viral
nucleic acids through several pattern recognition receptors, such as RNA sensors RIG-I or MDA-5. We will
directly examine the composition of the RNA virome that is immunoprecipitated with RIG-I or MDA-5 in human
intestinal tissue. We will then characterize the precise immune responses that the identified viral RNAs trigger
in health and if this is lost and/or replaced by other viruses in IBD. Thus, this work will for the first time identify
the virus members that the host immune system sees and responds to in health and disease. Moreover, it will
provide the first evidence of how viruses can help build gut immunity in humans - a contrast to the misconception
that all viruses are harmful. The ability to identify these immunomodulatory commensal viruses will also represent
a first step towards developing personalized, virome-focused therapies that may reduce...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9864037
- **Project number:** 5R21AI144877-02
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Kate Louisa Jeffrey
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $215,179
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-02-06 → 2021-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9864037

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9864037, Distinguishing immunomodulatory intestinal viruses through examination of viruses attached to RIG-I and MDA-5 (5R21AI144877-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9864037. Licensed CC0.

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