Nanostring analysis of neonatal brains following bacterial infection

Neonatal meningitis and neurocomplications are often a complication of neonatal bacterial bloodstream infections. As distinct bacterial organisms may cause different disease outcomes, we assessed two separate bacterial infections: E. coli and S. agalactiae (GBS). In this study we assessed differences in immune response within the brain tissue of neonates and the effect of gamma delta T cells to the brain during bacterial infection. As gamma delta T cells are resident to tissues, and can contribute to bacterial infections, we compared wild-type and TCRdKO mice, which lack gamma delta T cells, in two infections models: E. coli and GBS. We profiled RNA from homogenized brain from either control mice or TCRd knockout mice following acute infection with either E. coli or GBS using the NanoString Sprint Platform using Mouse Immunology panel. We performed mRNA profiling for 547 target genes, and 14 internal reference controls.