Characterization of the Host Response to Pichinde Virus Infection in the Syrian Golden Hamster by Species-Specific Kinome Analysis

Abstract

The Syrian golden hamster has been increasingly used to study viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) pathogenesis and countermeasure efficacy. As VHFs are a global health concern, well-characterized animal models are essential for both the development of therapeutics and vaccines as well as for increasing our understanding of the molecular events that underlie viral pathogenesis. However, the paucity of reagents or platforms that are available for studying hamsters at a molecular level limits the ability to extract biological information from this important animal model. As such, there is a need to develop platforms/ technologies for characterizing host responses of hamsters at a molecular level. To this end, we developed hamster-specific kinome peptide arrays to characterize the molecular host response of the Syrian golden hamster. After validating the functionality of the arrays using immune agonists of defined signaling mechanisms (lipopolysaccharide (

A hamster model for Marburg virus infection accurately recapitulates Marburg hemorrhagic fever

“…Although the historical lack of immune reagents for hamsters has resulted in a relatively poor understanding of basic hamster immunology, a number of recently developed research tools—including the hamster transcriptome and kinome4748, microarray platforms49, and RT-qPCR assays to measure the host response17—are poised to increase the value of hamsters as an animal model. In addition, together with the EHF hamster model, the MHF hamster model will contribute to both basic and translational research for the development of medical countermeasures such as pan-filovirus therapies and bivalent vaccines.…”

Rodent-Adapted Filoviruses and the Molecular Basis of Pathogenesis

“…Along with its convenience and low cost, the advent of several molecular research tools—including qRT-PCR assays for examining host gene expression [91]; microarray, transcriptome, and kinome platforms [92–94]; and knock-out animals [95]—make the hamster a useful system for modeling filovirus disease.…”

Large-scale profiling of protein kinases for cellular signaling studies by mass spectrometry and other techniques

“…The substrate preference of each kinase can also be utilized to monitor individual kinase activities in a biological sample by using in vitro kinase reaction with substrate peptides, coupled with a peptide array [119][120][121][122], mobility shift assay [123,124] or mass spectrometry [125]. These methods have enabled high-throughput quantification of the activated kinome, which cannot be directly measured by transcriptome analysis, in a biological sample.…”