Single-Cell RNA Sequencing Reveals the Diversity of the Immunological Landscape following Central Nervous System Infection by a Murine Coronavirus

Abstract

Understanding the immunological mechanisms contributing to both host defense and disease following viral infection of the CNS is of critical importance given the increasing number of viruses that are capable of infecting and replicating within the nervous system. With this in mind, the present study was undertaken to evaluate the molecular signatures of immune cells within the CNS at defined times following infection with a neuroadapted murine coronavirus using scRNAseq. This approach has revealed that the immunological landscape is diverse, with numerous immune cell subsets expressing distinct mRNA expression profiles that are, in part, dictated by the stage of infection. In addition, these findings reveal new insight into cellular pathways contributing to control of viral replication as well as to neurologic disease.