Immune ageing and viral infections

Ageing is associated with changes to immune cells which alters how they look and function. Some of these changes affect the ability of older people to respond to acute infections whilst other changes, such as chronic inflammation, contribute to age-related diseases. Viral infections can also induce long-lasting changes to immune cells which mimic age-related changes, and this can increase the risk of chronic inflammatory diseases.

Exactly how viruses induce these immune changes is not clear, but important to understand to determine who may be at increased risk of chronic disease and how best to prevent this. We are particularly interested in innate immune cells which play a central role in regulating the response to acute infections and controlling inflammation that drives chronic diseases.

Objective

This project is exploring how viral infections and normal ageing intersect to drive immune dysfunction and inflammation that underpins chronic disease and poor health outcomes.

Timeline

2018–ongoing.

Approach

Using clinical samples derived from young and older individuals with and without viral infections, we are:

• characterising age-related changes to innate immune cell
• determining the impact of chronic (eg HIV, hepatitis C virus) and acute (eg SARS-Cov-2) infection on age-related changes to innate immune cells
• analysing the transcriptome of innate immune cells at the single cell level using next generation sequencing to identify how viruses alter the look and function of immune cells. 

Community impact

With an increasingly ageing population, understanding immune changes that contribute to inflammatory, age-related disease development and how viruses may potentiate these changes will be relevant to help predict and prevent morbidity in ageing populations worldwide.