Tonic and early interferons defend against respiratory viruses in primary human lung organoid-derived air-liquid interface cultures - PubMed
3 hours ago
- #Lung Organoid Models
- #Respiratory Viruses
- #Interferon Response
- The study developed air-liquid interface (ALI) cultures from primary human lung organoids, which mimic native lung epithelium in cellular diversity and architecture.
- Human rhinovirus (HRV16) infection induced a strong early interferon (IFN) response and was cleared after over 30 days, whereas human coronavirus infections (HCoV-229E/NL63) caused subdued, delayed responses and were not cleared.
- Depleting tonic or early type I/III interferons via neutralizing antibodies/scavengers increased HRV infectious production by ~10-fold and ~1,000-fold respectively, highlighting their role in viral defense and clearance.
- The findings underscore the importance of both basal (tonic) and induced interferon responses in innate immune defenses of respiratory epithelium against viruses like rhinoviruses and coronaviruses.
- This physiologically relevant model demonstrates that rapid IFN responses are sufficient to clear HRV but not HCoV-229E, suggesting tonic IFNs help maintain immune readiness in lung tissues.