Transcriptional profiling reveals potential involvement of microvillous TRPM5-expressing cells in viral infection of the olfactory epithelium
B. Dnate’ Baxter,
Eric D. Larson,
Laetitia Merle,
Paul Feinstein,
Arianna Gentile Polese,
Andrew N. Bubak,
Christy S. Niemeyer,
James Hassell,
Doug Shepherd,
Vijay R. Ramakrishnan,
Maria A. Nagel,
Diego Restrepo
Affiliations
B. Dnate’ Baxter
Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Eric D. Larson
Department of Otolaryngology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Laetitia Merle
Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Paul Feinstein
The Graduate Center Biochemistry, Biology and CUNY-Neuroscience-Collaborative Programs and Biological Sciences Department, Hunter College, City University of New York
Arianna Gentile Polese
Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Andrew N. Bubak
Department of Neurology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Christy S. Niemeyer
Department of Neurology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
James Hassell
Department of Neurology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Doug Shepherd
Department of Pharmacology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Center for Biological Physics and Department of Physics, Arizona State University
Vijay R. Ramakrishnan
Department of Otolaryngology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Maria A. Nagel
Department of Neurology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Diego Restrepo
Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Abstract Background Understanding viral infection of the olfactory epithelium is essential because the olfactory nerve is an important route of entry for viruses to the central nervous system. Specialized chemosensory epithelial cells that express the transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily M member 5 (TRPM5) are found throughout the airways and intestinal epithelium and are involved in responses to viral infection. Results Herein we performed deep transcriptional profiling of olfactory epithelial cells sorted by flow cytometry based on the expression of mCherry as a marker for olfactory sensory neurons and for eGFP in OMP-H2B::mCherry/TRPM5-eGFP transgenic mice (Mus musculus). We find profuse expression of transcripts involved in inflammation, immunity and viral infection in TRPM5-expressing microvillous cells compared to olfactory sensory neurons. Conclusion Our study provides new insights into a potential role for TRPM5-expressing microvillous cells in viral infection of the olfactory epithelium. We find that, as found for solitary chemosensory cells (SCCs) and brush cells in the airway epithelium, and for tuft cells in the intestine, the transcriptome of TRPM5-expressing microvillous cells indicates that they are likely involved in the inflammatory response elicited by viral infection of the olfactory epithelium.
