The nostrils defend us against rhinovirus and determine the severity of the infection
When a rhinovirus, the most common cause of the common cold, infects the lining of our nasal passages, cells work together to fight it off by activating an arsenal of antiviral defences. An article published in the journal Cell Press Blue demonstrates how they do this and suggests that it is the body's defences, rather than the virus itself, that determine whether we catch a cold or not, as well as the severity of the symptoms.
Zuñiga - nariz
Sonia Zúñiga
Virologist at the National Biotechnology Centre (CNB-CSIC)
This study uses ex vivo nasal cultures, at the air-liquid interface, to study responses to rhinovirus infection. These viruses are relevant because they are the most common cause of colds and, in vulnerable individuals (such as smokers or people with asthma), can cause serious respiratory problems. In addition to using this type of culture, genomic studies are performed at the single-cell level, a technology that allows for greater dissection of the culture's responses to infection.
That said, the experimental system used is a somewhat artificial model: it is based on the pharmacological inhibition of the interferon response, assuming that this response is attenuated in vulnerable patients. It would have been much more relevant if, as has been done in previously published studies, the response in ex vivo cultures derived from healthy or vulnerable individuals had been compared.
On the other hand, the study's conclusions, which are fully supported by the data, are not surprising at all and are in line with what was already known about the response to both rhinoviruses and other respiratory viruses.
Conflict of interest: Sonia Zúñiga is a member of the scientific advisory committee of SMC Spain.
Wang et al.
- Research article
- Peer reviewed
