Inefficient antiviral response in reconstituted small-airway epithelium from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients following human parainfluenza virus type 3 infection

Abstract

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects over 250 million individuals globally and stands as the third leading cause of mortality. Respiratory viral infections serve as the primary drivers of acute exacerbations, hastening the decline in lung function and worsening the prognosis. Notably, Human Parainfluenza Virus type 3 (HPIV-3) is responsible for COPD exacerbations with a frequency comparable to that of Respiratory Syncytial Virus and Influenza viruses. However, the impact of HPIV-3 on respiratory epithelium within the context of COPD remains uncharacterized. In this study, we employed in vitro reconstitution of lower airway epithelia from lung tissues sourced from healthy donors (n = 4) and COPD patients (n = 5), maintained under air–liquid interface conditions. Through a next-generation sequencing-based transcriptome analysis, we compared the cellular response to HPIV-3 infection. Prior to infection, COPD respiratory epithelia exhibited a pro-inflammatory profile, notably enriched in canonical pathways linked to antiviral response, B cell signaling, IL-17 signaling, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition, in contrast to non-COPD epithelia. Intriguingly, post HPIV-3 infection, only non-COPD epithelia exhibited significant enrichment in interferon signaling, pattern recognition receptors of viruses and bacteria, and other pathways involved in antiviral responses. This deficiency could potentially hinder immune cell recruitment essential for controlling viral infections, thus fostering prolonged viral presence and persistent inflammation.