Journal of Clinical and Translational Science (Apr 2024)

441 Transcriptomic analysis of Influenza A infected lung organoids reveals Warburg-like phenotype

  • Emily Hartsell,
  • Justin T. Roberts,
  • Adeyeye I. Haastrup,
  • Raymond J. Langley

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2024.379
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8
pp. 131 – 131

Abstract

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OBJECTIVES/GOALS: The CDC estimates that Influenza infections account for an average of 420,000 hospitalizations and 34,700 deaths in the U.S. each year. This project explores the underlying mechanisms of the infectious process of Influenza A in human lung organoids by examining the differential transcriptomic expression compared to uninfected controls. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Lung organoids were cultured from differentiated human bronchial epithelial cells from lung transplant donors on an air-liquid interface until they were confirmed to contain both mucous producing and ciliated cells. Lung organoids are ideal models in translational science due to their structural and functional characteristics which closely mimic those of in vivo human epithelial tissue. Half the organoids were exposed to Influenza A pH1N1 for 72h; the other half served as uninfected controls. RNA was isolated from both groups and sequenced using the Oxford Nanopore MinION which generates full length reads. Reads were aligned to the human reference genome (GRCh38.p14) using Minimap2. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: The MinION sequenced an average of 3.24m reads per sample and a total of 13,128 genes were relevantly expressed (defined as greater than 1 read per million in at least half the samples). ANOVA with a 5% false discovery rate (Benjamini and Hochberg correction) revealed 5,417 differentially expressed genes between infected and control groups. Within this subset, we identified downregulation of mucociliary clearance, mitochondrial and ß-oxidation, peroxisome, and glutathione replenishment genes. We further identified upregulation in inflammatory markers, lactate dehydrogenase enzymes, and several s100 proteins. The downregulation of mitochondrial and β-oxidation markers and the upregulation of lactate dehydrogenase enzymes revealed a Warburg-like phenotype which has not previously been reported. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: This study reveals a novel Warburg-like phenotype in Influenza A infection alongside downregulated mucociliary clearance and upregulated inflammatory processes. These findings improve our understanding of Influenza A infection and point to potential therapeutic targets to advance precision medicine approaches to treatment.