Characterization of young and aged lung tissue RNA 60 days post-influenza infection

To identify molecular characteristics of young and aged lungs post-influenza infection, we isolated RNA from lungs 60 days post-infection and examined by bulk RNAseq. We found a large number of genes remain upregulated in aged compared to young lungs. Comparison with expression of immune system-related genes from Nanostring expriments indicated this was largely infection-induced rather than baseline differences between age. This indicates that aged lungs fail to return to homeostasis following a viral respiratory infection Overall design: Examined with bulk lung tissue from influenza PR8-infected young (2months at infection) or aged (22 months at infection) C57BL/6 mice (60 days post infection)