Allergens Elicit an Antiviral Signature in Dendritic Cells

This study compares the transcriptomic changes induced by three distinct aeroallergens in a dendritic cell line with the goal of finding similarities in the response at the gene expression level. Using RNA sequencing of DC2.4 cells, we find that house dust mite, cat hair and timothy grass allergen extracts all induce what appears to be an antiviral genetic signature despite the lack of any viral components in each allergen. Such information may be useful in trying to design therapeutics or interventions for allergic responses which could be effective for multiple allergens despite differences in source and structure. The murine dendritic cell line DC2.4 was left untreated or treated with house dust mite, cat hair or timothy grass allergen extracts prior to isolation of RNA for RNA sequencing. Two independent samples for each condition were analyzed.