The Role of Neutrophils in Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome in Correlation with COVID-19

Michael Pawson, Nicholas Sachetta, and Jordin Holmes-Garton

Abstract:
Neutrophils are the most abundant white blood cell and are the first cell at the site of an infection. They function to digest bacteria and other foreign particles. The role of neutrophils during bacterial infections has been studied extensively and is well understood. On the other hand, much less is known about the role of neutrophils during viral infections. It is suspected that neutrophils may play a detrimental role during some viral infections, such as Sin Nombre virus (SNV) and SARS-CoV-2. SNV causes a disease characterized by an increase in vascular permeability, suspected to be triggered by neutrophils. Neutrophils may play a similar role during SARS-CoV-2 infection. The goal of this research project is to optimize cell culture conditions for a cell line that can be induced to differentiate into neutrophils (HL-60). We will present data comparing growth rates in two different types of media and two different concentrations of fetal bovine serum. We will also compare the growth rate, viability, and cell size between differentiated neutrophils and undifferentiated cells. Future experiments will analyze the functions of differentiated neutrophils exposed to microbial substances including SNV proteins. These experiments will contribute to our knowledge of the beneficial and potentially detrimental roles of neutrophils in viral infections.