A multiomics approach provides insights into flu severity

Date:
May 22, 2023
Source:
Kyoto University
Summary:
Researchers were able to identify changes in the accessibility
(that is, the 'readability') of transposable elements. To do
this, the researchers used an approach combining various sets of
multiomics data, which characterize and quantify collections of
biomolecules in cells or organisms. One was the transcriptome,
which consists of all copies of RNA transcribed from DNA in the
cell. The other was the epigenome, which is the collection of
chemical changes to DNA that modify gene expression. An advantage
of this multiomics approach is that they were able to identify
families of transposable elements with changes in accessibility,
which would have likely been missed by previous approaches.


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FULL STORY ==========================================================================
Have you ever wondered why some people might get sicker than others, even
when they catch the same virus? It is not yet clear why this is. Viral
factors (such as differences in the strain of a virus) play a role in
this variability, but they cannot account for the wide range of responses
in different individuals infected by the same virus. A number of host
factors have also been considered, including pre-existing immunity, age,
sex, weight, and the microbiome.

Another important factor is the molecular biology within your cells. DNA
is shown as one long double-helical strand. So, you might expect that
the cell would always read genetic information in order, starting at
one end and going to the other. But this isn't the case. DNA contains transposable elements , sometimes called "junk DNA," which can change
the regions of the genome are being read at a given time.

The work published in Cell Genomics by an international team led by Dr.

Guillaume Bourque, who studied the role of these transposable elements
on the severity of illness after influenza A virus infection.

By examining data from 39 individuals before and after infection with
influenza A virus, the researchers were able to identify changes in the accessibility (that is, the "readability") of transposable elements. To
do this, the researchers used an approach combining various sets
of multiomics data, which characterize and quantify collections of
biomolecules in cells or organisms.

One was the transcriptome, which consists of all copies of RNA transcribed
from DNA in the cell. The other was the epigenome, which is the collection
of chemical changes to DNA that modify gene expression. An advantage of
this multiomics approach is that they were able to identify families of transposable elements with changes in accessibility, which would have
likely been missed by previous approaches.

By considering these changes in transposable elements after viral
infection, they could identify several transcription factors (proteins
that turn specific genes "on" or "off") that likely contribute to
someone's response to infection.

Using these findings, the researchers were able to create a model that
could predict an individual's viral load after influenza A infection.

"A number of questions remain, such as whether the link between
transposable elements and viral load is actually causal and whether
these changes would be consistent over time," says lead author Xun
Chen. "But these findings are an important step toward understanding
the role that such factors play in the variability of illness severity
among individuals." The authors include researchers from Kyoto University
in Japan, McGill University and the Universite' de Montre'al in Canada,
and the University of Chicago in the US.

* RELATED_TOPICS
o Health_&_Medicine
# Viruses # Genes # Human_Biology # Infectious_Diseases
o Plants_&_Animals
# Virology # Bird_Flu_Research # Biochemistry_Research
# Biology
* RELATED_TERMS
o DNA_repair o DNA o DNA_microarray o Computational_genomics
o RNA o Telomere o Gene o Molecular_biology

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Kyoto_University. Note: Content may
be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Xun Chen, Alain Pacis, Katherine A. Aracena, Saideep Gona,
Tony Kwan,
Cristian Groza, Yen Lung Lin, Renata Sindeaux, Vania Yotova, Albena
Pramatarova, Marie-Michelle Simon, Tomi Pastinen, Luis B. Barreiro,
Guillaume Bourque. Transposable elements are associated with the
variable response to influenza infection. Cell Genomics, 2023; 3
(5): 100292 DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2023.100292 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230522131353.htm

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