Effect of lactoferrin treatment on iAEC2

In an attempt to understand the mode of antiviral action of lactoferrin on SARS-CoV-2 infection, we focused on the effect of lactoferrin on uninfected cells. We decided to use a physiologically relevant cell model of iPSC derived- alveolar epithelial cells (the iAEC2). We specifically focused on antiviral pathway triggered by lactoferrin on treated cells that could explain a cell-mediated effect of lactoferrin on viral replication We seeded iAEC2 cells in collagen-treated plate and allowed them to adhere. When the cells reached confluence, they were treated with lactoferrin at a concentration of 6.25uM (500ug/ml) for two days. Cells were then harvested in TriZol, RNA was extracted with the DirectZol kit (Zymogen) according to manufacturers instructions and was sequences with the Illumina NovaSeq 6000 System.