Transcriptomics of isolated alveolar macrophages from WT and CD47 deficient mice upon influenza A virus infection

CD47 is an ubiquitously expressed surface molecule that has a significant impact on immune responses. However, its role for antiviral immunity is not fully understood. We can show that CD47 has an inhibitory role in influenza virus defense, since CD47-deficient mice (CD47-/-) display an increased viral clearance during influenza virus infection. This effect is strongly associated with alveolar macrophages, yet the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Thus, to assess the precise impact of CD47 on antiviral action of alveolar macrophages, transcriptional analysis of ex vivo isolated alveolar macrophages from CD47-/- and WT mice were performed isolated 3dpi. Surprisingly, instead of classical antiviral mediators, an increased expression of both hemoglobin α and hemoglobin β was found in CD47 deficient compared to WT alveolar macrophages upon influenza A virus infection. Importantly, antiviral activity of hemoglobin was already shown for other viruses and thus, CD47 might limit influenza virus defense via the regulation of hemoglobin, which could act as a modulator of the antiviral immune response during the infection. The dataset contains microarray data from alveolar macrophages of CD47-/- and WT mice, which were isolated by FACS either from naive mice or at day 3 post influenza A virus infection. Two independent replicates were generated for each condition.