The role of cell and virus-encoded ion channels in the replication cycle of Human respiratory syncytial virus

Infection with human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) causes both acute and chronic respiratory problems in children and the immunosuppressed. There is currently no HRSV vaccine, although prophylactic immunotherapy offers protection to at-risk individuals. However, this treatment is expensive and incompletely protective.
Ion channels are pore-forming proteins that regulate ion homeostasis across membranes in cells, acting as signaling proteins that regulate many aspects of cell physiology from cell cycle progression to apoptosis and gene transcription. Since ion channels play a key role in many aspects of lung cell physiology, I have investigated their involvement during HRSV infection in cultured respiratory cells.
Using ion channel modulating drugs I have investigated the role of host cell ion channels in promoting HRSV replication, in which an important role for specific potassium channels were identified during both early and late stages of the virus life cycle. I also examined the role of the HRSV small hydrophobic protein (SH), which is a known viroporin, in perturbing the cellular proteome in continuous (A549) and primary cell cultures (HBEpC) by quantitative proteomics using mass spectrometry.
This study is the first to demonstrate a dynamic role of specific ion channel families in the HRSV lifecycle. This may pave the way for future studies highlighting ion channels as druggable targets for a repertoire of lung- associated virus infections.