Tumor Progression Locus 2 Protects against Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Influenza A Virus-Infected Mice

Abstract

This study demonstrates the protective role of the serine-threonine mitogen-activated protein kinase, Tpl2, in influenza virus pathogenesis and reveals that host Tpl2 deficiency is sufficient to convert a low-pathogenicity influenza A virus infection into severe influenza disease that resembles ARDS, both histopathologically and transcriptionally. The IAV-infected Tpl2 −/− mouse thereby represents a novel murine model for studying ARDS-like disease that could improve our understanding of this aggressive disease and assist in the design of better diagnostics and treatments.