The role of the presence of IRF-5 in dendritic cells, macrophages and B lymphocytes to control infection by the Oropouche virus in murine model

• Grant number: 20/02448-2
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): June 01, 2020
• Effective date (End): May 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Applied Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: José Luiz Proença Módena
• Grantee: Camila Lopes Simeoni
• Home Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Emerging viruses can cause great impacts on a susceptible population. A example of this are virus transmitted by arthropods which are widely spread in wild and urban areas, such as Oropouche Vírus (OROV). This is an emergent arbovirus that can be transmitted in urban environmental by the bite of Culicoides paraensis, a hematophagous fly that circulates in the North and Northeast of Brazil. The Oropouche virus cause in their hosts an exanthematic febrile illness which in some of the infected patients can evolve into neurological complications. However, the pathogenetic aspects and the role of key transcription factors of the innate immune response in controlling this virus infection are not completely understood. Recently, our group demonstrated that IRF-5, a transcription factor activated after recognition of PAMPs (pathogen-associated molecular patterns), is essential in the control of neuroinvasion by OROV. Thus, the main goal of this project is to characterize how the absence of this gene in essential cells of the immunological response, such as macrophages, dendritic cells and B lymphocytes, can affect the disease progress by OROV in murine model. To achieve this objective, will be analyzed viral mortality and tropism in LysM cre Irf5f/f; CD11c cre Irf5f/f and CD19 cre Irf5f/f animals.