Limited response of primary nasal epithelial cells to Bordetella pertussis infection and the effector protein BteA [RNAseq_Sort_population]

Bordetella pertussis is a Gram-negative coccobacillus that causes whooping cough or pertussis, a respiratory disease that has recently experienced a resurgence. Upon entering the respiratory tract, B. pertussis colonizes the airway epithelium and attaches to ciliated cells. Here, we used primary human nasal epithelial cells (hNECs) cultured at the air-liquid interface, and investigated their transcriptomic response after infection with the B. pertussis B1917. We also analyzed role of the type III secretion system effector protein BteA in modulating this response. In order to confirm identitty and differentiation of primary human nasal epithelial cells (hNECs) cultured at air-liquid interface, the cells were stained with antibodies against CD271(NGFR) and CD66c (CEACAM6), and Tubulin tracker (Tub). Following the gating of single cells, the cells were sorted into subpopulations, which was followed by transcriptomic profiling. The transcriptomic profiling was performed on hNECs originating from two different donors.