# The impact of human norovirus interactions on commensal bacteria

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · 2020 · $180,931

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Human noroviruses are a significant cause of epidemic and sporadic gastroenteritis around the world. They are
the leading cause of severe childhood diarrhea in the United States as well as a major cause of severe childhood
diarrhea in developing nations. Despite the global impact of this pathogen, host factors involved in viral infection
and disease are not well understood. Recently, we discovered that commensal bacteria aid human norovirus
infection of cultured B cells and murine norovirus infection in vivo. In fact, exploitation of commensal bacteria is
emerging as a common mechanism among several enteric viral pathogens. These findings provide a
fundamentally important clue to understanding human norovirus pathogenesis, and we speculate that
interactions with bacteria not only impact the virus but influence the commensal gut flora as well. The response
of these bacteria to external stimuli play a crucial role in a variety of biological processes including regulation of
intestinal permeability and modulation of host immune responses. Therefore, understanding the effect of viral
interactions on these commensal bacteria is critical for fully elucidating mechanisms of viral infection. We
hypothesize that HuNoV interactions with bacteria alter bacterial gene and protein expression, ultimately leading
to changes in bacterial activity. Supporting this hypothesis, our preliminary RNA-seq data uncovered several
bacterial genes that are differentially regulated in the presence of human norovirus virus-like particles. Thus, the
objectives of our proposed research are to fully examine the impact of human norovirus-bacterial interactions on
gene and protein expression of select commensal bacteria using RNA-seq and proteomic analysis (Specific Aim
1) and to determine if this interaction results in changes in bacterial activity (Specific Aim 2). Results from these
studies will provide critical insight into the impact of enteric virus interactions on commensal bacteria and provide
a greater understanding of the mechanisms of infection used by human noroviruses.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9962291
- **Project number:** 5R21AI140012-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
- **Principal Investigator:** Melissa K Jones
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $180,931
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-06-21 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9962291

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9962291, The impact of human norovirus interactions on commensal bacteria (5R21AI140012-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9962291. Licensed CC0.

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