Genetic determinants of severe RSV infection in infants

About this project

In close collaboration with Prof. Gesine Hansen (MHH) and Prof. Thomas Pietschmann (Twincore) we want to understand how the numerous changes in the human genome and their highly complex interplay can influence the severity of infections with the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) among infants. Are there specific genetic variants that occur frequently in patients with a severe course of infection? Are very rare changes involved that differ from patient to patient but which influence the same cellular processes? In order to answer these and other questions, our collaborators have sequenced the exomes of about 175 young children with severe course of disease and about 360 controls with mild course of RSV infection. In addition, we are involved in a consortium that is building an international cohort of children with severe RSV. We apply bioinformatics and genetic association analyses to identify likely causal variants in immunity-related genes. Our collaborators will then validate the effect of genetic variants of these candidate genes experimentally.

Funding

 EXC 2155: RESIST