Global gene expression changes in human peripheral blood after H7N9 infection

• Characterization of sequencing and mapping
• Analysis of differentially expressed genes
• Functional enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes
• Comparison with expression level of H1N1 and H3N2 infections
• Analysis of alternative splicing events

A novel avian influenza A virus (H7N9) of human infection emerged in eastern China in 2013, causing mild to lethal human respiratory infections. However, the underlying molecular mechanism remains largely unknown. In this work, we attempt to gain insights into the underlying genetic basis of this disease at the transcription level. We collected peripheral blood samples from patients with H7N9 infection and healthy people, and then we performed transcriptome profiling to comprehensively investigate their expression signatures, which would help us to better understand the molecular basis of the etiology upon viral infection. By employing the high throughput RNA-seq analysis of samples with and without H7N9 viral infection, we totally identified 1091 significantly differentially expressed genes. We found that several biological pathways related to the immunity and inflammation response in the differentially expressed genes. A genome-wide screening of gene regulation between H7N9 virus carrier and healthy people provided some insights into understanding and responsiveness to this potential threat.