Genome-wide analysis of blood, spleen and lung expression of C57BL/6 mice subjected to Burkholderia pseudomallei infection

Melioidosis, a severe human disease caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei, has a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations ranging from acute septicaemia to chronic localized illness or latent infection. Mice were intranasally infected with either high or low doses of B. pseudomallei to generate either acute, chronic or latent infection and host blood and tissue transcriptional profiles were generated. Acute infection was accompanied by a homogeneous signature associated with induction of multiple innate immune response pathways, such as IL10, TREM1 and IFN-signaling, largely found in both blood and tissue. The transcriptional profile in blood reflected the heterogeneity of chronic infection and quantitatively reflected the severity of disease. Comparison of these mouse blood datasets by pathway and modular analysis with the blood transcriptional signature of patients with melioidosis showed that many genes were similarly perturbed, including IL10, TREM1 and IFNsignaling, revealing the common immune response occurring in both mice and humans. Total RNA obtained from isolated blood, lung and spleen of C57BL/6 mice subjected to either acute or chronic infection by Burkolderia compared to uninfected controls.