Antiviral Responses by Swine Primary Bronchoepithelial Cells Are Limited Compared to Human Bronchoepithelial Cells Following Influenza Virus Infection.docVIP

Antiviral Responses by Swine Primary Bronchoepithelial Cells Are Limited Compared to Human Bronchoepithelial Cells Following Influenza Virus Infection Mary J. Hauser , Daniel Dlugolenski , Marie R. Culhane , David E. Wentworth , S. Mark Tompkins , Ralph 1 1 2 3 1 A. Tripp 1* 1 Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States of America, 2 Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St Paul, Minnesota, United States of America, 3 J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America Abstract Swine generate reassortant influenza viruses because they can be simultaneously infected with avian and human influenza; however, the features that restrict influenza reassortment in swine and human hosts are not fully understood. Type I and III interferons (IFNs) act as the first line of defense against influenza virus infection of respiratory epithelium. To determine if human and swine have different capacities to mount an antiviral response the expression of IFN and IFN-stimulated genes (ISG) in normal human bronchial epithelial (NHBE) cells and normal swine bronchial epithelial (NSBE) cells was evaluated following infection with human (H3N2), swine (H1N1), and avian (H5N3, H5N2, H5N1) influenza A viruses. Expression of IFNλ and ISGs were substantially higher in NHBE cells compared to NSBE cells following H5 avian influenza virus infection compared to human or swine influenza virus infection. This effect was associated with reduced H5 avian influenza virus replication in human cells at late times post infection