Feline coronavirus impact on host gene expression of macrophages

Feline coronavirus is a highly contagious virus potentially resulting in feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), while the pathogenesis of feline infectious peritonitis remains not well understood, particularly in the events leading to the disease.

A predominant theory is that the pathogenic feline infectious peritonitis virus arises from a mutation, so that it could replicate not only in enterocytes of the intestines but also in monocytes, subsequently systemically transporting the virus. The immune status and genetics of affected cats certainly play an important role in the pathogenesis.

The goal of this study was to explain host gene expression in macrophages using RNA sequencing. Macrophages from healthy male cats infected with feline infectious peritonitis virus outside the body, displayed a differential host gene expression.

Despite the virus uptake, aligned viral reads did not increase from two to seventeen hours. The overlap of host gene expression among macrophages from different cats was limited, even though viral transcripts were detected in the cells.

Interestingly, some of the down-regulated genes in all macrophages were involved in immune signaling, while some up-regulated genes common for all cats were found to be inhibiting immune activation. Individual host responses were found to play an important role, consistent with the fact that few cats develop feline infectious peritonitis despite a common presence of enteric feline coronvirus.

Read more on this article below:

Feline coronavirus impact on host gene expression of macrophages