Gene expression changes in brains of mice exposed to a maternal virus infection.
In this study, we tested the hypothesis that exposure to a maternal infection during fetal life can lead to the appearance of alterations in the brain later in life. C57BL/6 mice were infected intranasally with influenza A/WSN/33 virus on day 14 of gestation. The levels of transcripts encoding neuroleukin and fibroblast growth factor 5 were significantly elevated in the brains of the virus-exposed offspring at 90 and 280 days of age, but not at earlier time-points. For neuroleukin, this difference could also be observed at the protein level. Thus, a maternal influenza A virus infection can give rise to alterations in gene expression in the brain that become apparent only after a prepubertal latency period.
Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Retzius v. 8, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
Linnéa
L
Asp
Simret
S
Beraki
Fredrik
F
Aronsson
Lina
L
Rosvall
Sven Ove
SO
Ogren
Krister
K
Kristensson
Håkan
H
Karlsson
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000821:virology; D020805:Central Nervous System Viral Diseases / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018811:Maternal Exposure; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects