Article title: Distinct transcriptional responses to fatal Ebola virus infection in cynomolgus and rhesus macaques suggest species-specific immune responses
Authors: Amanda N. Pinski, Kevin J. Maroney, Andrea Marzi & Ilhem Messaoudi
Journal: Emerging Microbes & Infections
Bibliometrics: Volume 10, Number 1, pages 1320-1330
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/22221751.2021.1942229
After publication of the original article the authors were made aware of incorrect references to figures. The author correction provides the updated figure information in bold in the paragraphs below.
Data from these two studies showed that cynomolgus macaques exhibited an earlier onset of viremia (3 days post infection [DPI]) than rhesus macaques, who were viremic at 5–6 DPI ([26,29], Figure S1A)
Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed substantial transcriptional differences between cynomolgus and rhesus macaques regardless of infection, with species (PC1) accounting for 87% of the variance while infection (PC2) accounted for 5% of the variance (Figure 1A).
We next investigated potential differences in the induction of these genes between the two species. Several antiviral genes were expressed to a greater extent in rhesus macaques (e.g. IRF7, GBP6, IFI35, ISG20, BST2) (Figure 3C, D). Additionally, genes related to pro-apoptotic processes (e.g. BAK1, CASP1), and regulation of leukocyte-mediated immunity (e.g. FCN, KAT2A, TNFSF13B) were expressed to significantly greater levels in rhesus macaques while those promoting T cell activation (e.g. ARG2, CELC4A, PTPRJ) and adhesion (e.g. ICAM1, OLFM4) were more elevated in cynomolgus macaques (Figure 3D-F).