Infections with two pathogens pose a serious threat in the clinics. Researchers have developed a technique that provides new insights into this process and can be used as an early warning system.

When viruses and fungi join forces

A team of scientists from several German research institutions and clinics has now developed a new method to examine these two pathogens, their interaction with each other and with the human cells infected by them. The central result: coinfection with the two pathogens is more «than the sum of its parts.» Viruses and fungi interact synergistically in the human organism, where they trigger certain genes that only become active when infected with both pathogens simultaneously.

The study involved scientists from the Julius Maximilian University of Wurzburg (JMU), the Wurzburg University Hospital (UKW), the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology in Jena and the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) in Wurzburg, a site of the Braunschweig Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI). The results have now been published in the journal Cell Reports.

New insights thanks to a novel technology

«For our study, we have developed a method called Triple RNA-seq,» explains Alexander Westermann. He is junior professor at the Chair of Molecular Infection Biology I at JMU, as well as group leader at the HIRI. Together with Jurgen Loffler from UKW and Sascha Schauble he is one of the senior authors of the study. The scientists have advanced an established method that has been an integral part of infection research for years: dual RNA-seq.

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Materials provided by University of Wurzburg. Original written by Gunnar Bartsch. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.