PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Anitha D. Jayaprakash
AU  - Adam J. Ronk
AU  - Abhishek N. Prasad
AU  - Michael F. Covington
AU  - Kathryn R. Stein
AU  - Toni M. Schwarz
AU  - Saboor Hekmaty
AU  - Karla A. Fenton
AU  - Thomas W Geisbert
AU  - Christopher F. Basler
AU  - Alexander Bukreyev
AU  - Ravi Sachidanandam
TI  - Ebola and Marburg virus infection in bats induces a systemic response
AID  - 10.1101/2020.04.13.039503
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.04.13.039503
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/07/31/2020.04.13.039503.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/07/31/2020.04.13.039503.full
AB  - The filoviruses Ebola (EBOV) and Marburg (MARV) cause fatal disease in humans and nonhuman primates but are associated with subclinical infections in bats, with Egyptian rousette bat (ERB, Rousettus aegyptiacus) being a natural MARV reservoir. To understand the nature of this resistance, we have analyzed how EBOV and MARV affect the transcriptomes of multiple ERB tissues. We have found that while the primary locus of infection was the liver, gene expression was affected in multiple tissues, suggesting a systemic response. We have identified transcriptional changes that are indicative of inhibition of the complement system, induction of vasodilation, changes in coagulation, modulation of iron regulation, activation of a T cell response, and converting macrophages from the M1 to M2 state. We propose that these events are facets of a systemic anti-inflammatory state that enables effective control of the infection in bats and suggest that dissecting this state can inform how to control a filovirus infection in humans.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.