West Nile Virus-Inclusive Single-Cell RNA Sequencing Reveals Heterogeneity in the Type I Interferon Response within Single Cells

Abstract

West Nile virus (WNV) is a clinically relevant pathogen responsible for recurrent epidemics of neuroinvasive disease. Type I interferon is essential for promoting an antiviral response against WNV infection; however, it is unclear how heterogeneity in the antiviral response at the single-cell level impacts viral control. Specifically, conventional approaches lack the ability to distinguish differences across cells with varying viral abundance. The significance of our research is to demonstrate a new technique for studying WNV infection at the single-cell level. We discovered extensive variation in antiviral gene expression and viral abundance across cells. This protocol can be applied to primary cells or in vivo models to better understand the underlying cellular heterogeneity following WNV infection for the development of targeted therapeutic strategies.