Collateral damage: how viral infections impact our innate immune system

Viral infections are common throughout life. While most of these infections are rapidly cleared by the immune systems, some viruses such as HIV, cytomegalovirus and hepatitis C can establish life-long chronic infections.

Chronic viral infections, even those which are ‘suppressed’ by the immune system or by drugs, are associated with persistent immunological changes including immune activation, altered immune cell populations and heightened inflammation. These changes are linked with premature immune ageing and increased risk of age-related diseases such as cancers, heart disease and neurocognitive impairment.

In addition to chronic viral infections, some acute viruses such as the COVID-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2) can induce long-term changes which persist months to years after the acute infection, as seen with long COVID. How both chronic and acute viruses alter the immune system to induce these effects is not clear.

We have access to unique cohorts of samples from people with HIV, hepatitis C virus (before and after curative therapy) and COVID-19 and are interested in defining the long-term impacts of these infections on innate immune cells such as monocytes and NK cells.

Using a combination of immunological, molecular, proteomic and bioinformatic approaches we are attempting to define the innate immune changes induced by these viruses that may contribute to immune dysfunction and poor health outcomes.

Techniques

This project involves generation and/or analysis of multiparameter flow cytometry data, proteomics data and single cell transcriptomics data and bioinformatic analyses.