Gene Expression Changes in Brains of Mice Exposed to a Maternal Virus Infection

In this study, we tested the hypothesis that exposure to a maternal infection during fetal life can lead to the appearance of alterations in the brain later in life. C57BL/6 mice were infected intranasally with influenza A/WSN/33 virus on day 14 of gestation. The levels of transcripts encoding neuroleukin and fibroblast growth factor 5 were significantly elevated in the brains of the virus-exposed offspring at 90 and 280 days of age, but not at earlier time-points. For neuroleukin, this difference could also be observed at the protein level. Thus, a maternal influenza A virus infection can give rise to alterations in gene expression in the brain that become apparent only after a prepubertal latency period.