WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A study published in the journal Cell Press Blue revealed that the body's early cell defenses play a major role in whether someone gets sick and how severe their symptoms are, showing that often the body's response to the rhinovirus decides how the infection turns out.
'What's clear is that it's not just the virus that determines the disease. There's something about the human body that's really driving the disease outcome, but the mechanisms are not well understood,' said Ellen Foxman, senior author of the study. 'We set out to understand the mechanisms inside virus-infected cells that push the infection in one direction or another.'
To study these early defenses, scientists grew human nasal tissue in the lab. They cultured nasal stem cells for four weeks, allowing the cells to form tissue similar to the lining of the nose and airways. This lab-grown tissue included mucus-producing cells and cells with tiny hair-like structures called cilia, which help move mucus out of the lungs.
Using this tissue, the researchers watched how thousands of cells responded at the same time. They also tested what happens when the cells' virus-detecting sensors are blocked. These experiments showed a strong protective system powered by interferons, proteins that stop viruses from entering cells and making copies of themselves.
When nasal cells sense rhinovirus, they release interferons that trigger antiviral defenses in both infected cells and nearby healthy cells. This combined response makes it harder for the virus to spread. If interferon activity starts early, the virus can be stopped before it spreads. When researchers turned off this response, the virus spread quickly, damaging cells and sometimes killing the lab-grown tissue.
'Our experiments with organoids show that a rapid interferon response by the infected cells is extremely effective for shutting down rhinovirus, even without any cells of the immune system present,' said first author Bao Wang.
The study also found that when the virus multiplies more, it can trigger another pathway that causes both infected and uninfected cells to produce large amounts of mucus and inflammatory signals. This can lead to airway inflammation and breathing problems. The researchers say these pathways could be useful targets for treatments that reduce harmful symptoms while keeping the body's antiviral defenses intact.
'Our study advances the paradigm that the body's responses to a virus, rather than the properties inherent to the virus itself, are hugely important in determining whether or not a virus will cause illness and how severe the illness will be,' Foxman commented. 'Targeting defense mechanisms is an exciting avenue for novel therapeutics.'
The researchers also noted that their lab model does not include all the cell types found in the human body. In real infections, immune cells and other factors also help fight the virus. The future studies will focus on how these additional cells and conditions in the nose and airways affect the body's response to rhinovirus.
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