Title:	Exploring hantavirus genomes in RNAseq data
DNr:	NAISS 2025/22-146
Project Type:	NAISS Small Compute
Principal Investigator:	Benjamin Nilsson-Payant <benjamin.nilssonpayant@ki.se>
Affiliation:	Karolinska Institutet
Duration:	2025-02-04 – 2026-03-01
Classification:	10606
Keywords:

Abstract

Hantaviruses are a family of emerging negative-sense RNA viruses that are commonly found in rodents, shrews, moles and bats where they cause asymptomatic and chronic infections. However, some hantaviruses have been shown to be able to infect humans – usually by inhalation of aerosolized particles or direct contact with secretions from infected animals – and can cause viral haemorrhagic fevers with mortality rates of up to 50%. While most hantaviruses do not infect or cause disease in humans, some viruses can cause either hantavirus haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) or hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS). HFRS and HCPS are characterized by vascular leakage, renal and respiratory failure and cardiogenic shock. The underlying molecular mechanisms of viral haemorrhagic fever caused by hantaviruses are still poorly understood, however, it has been suggested that a ‘cytokine storm’-like excessive inflammatory immune response is critical to pathogenesis. In this project we will characterise the viral replicome as well as host markers of disease using RNA-seq data from infected cells and animals.