scRNAseq of mock, HSV-1 or HSV-2 infected C57BL/6 Vaginal tissue at 5 days post infection

Purpose: To compare single cell transcriptional profiling (scRNAseq) of different murine genital herpes infection models with HSV1-McKrae and HSV2-186. Method: DMPA-treated WT C57BL/6 mice were infected with HSV1-McKrae, HSV2-186 or PBS intravaginally. Vaginal tissues were harvested at 5 days post infection, live cells were sorted, a minimum of 16,000 cells were used for scRNAseq. Results: By tSNE visualization of 21,633 cells across all samples, 17 distinct clusters were resolved. We found significantly increased levels of Interferons-Stimulated-Genes (ISGs) in the neutrophils potentially contributing to disease onset and progression in HSV2 genital infections. Conclusion: Our study is the first comparison between the transcriptional signature of two genital herpes model- namely HSV1 and HSV2. Generated by scRNAseq, this study would provide researchers with gene candidates associated with the disease progression and inflammation induced by genital infections with HSV1 and HSV2. Overall design: Examination of distinct gene transcriptional signatures between mock, HSV1 or HSV2 infected WT C57BL/6 mice using scRNAseq.