Genomic Circuitry Underlying Immunological Response to Pediatric Acute Respiratory Infection

Acute respiratory tract viral infections (ARTI) cause significant morbidity and mortality. While CD8 T cells are fundamental to the host response, the transcriptional alterations underlying anti-viral mechanisms within these cells, and the links to clinical characteristics, remain unclear. The transcriptional circuitry in CD8 T cells from acutely ill pediatric patients with influenza-like illness was distinct for different viral pathogens. We used microarray analysis to profile sorted CD8 T cells from PBMCs of various influenza-like illness patients. Sorted CD8 T cells from PBMCs of 29 patients with a subset of viral infections (influenza (IFV), human rhinovirus (HRV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and each of these with coinfections and 18 healthy control (HC) patients were subjected to transcriptional profiling group and the transcriptional profiles were studied using Affymetrix microarrays.