Date of Award

5-2024

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Honors Thesis

Department

Biology

First Advisor

Christopher Stobart

Second Advisor

Scott Kaschner

Abstract

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common virus that infects humans and causes a range of symptoms similar to a common cold. Severe cases result in pneumonia and hospitalization. A critical mechanism for RSV spread is lateral cell-cell transmission that can result in the formation of multinucleated syncytia, a single cell containing multiple nuclei. Syncytia formation is known to influence RSV transmission in vitro. Previous studies have contributed to the development of a current viral kinetic model that shows a representation for the progression of viral infections. A limitation to this model is that it does not account for syncytia formation. Furthermore, it remains unclear how the rate of syncytia formation is related to lateral virus transmission and how syncytia formation plays a larger role in viral transmission. The dynamics of syncytia formation have been observed in a few studies, suggesting that the cell cytoskeleton and cell-cell communication are important in formation. However, these dynamics require further characterization, particularly to fully understand their role in the rate of syncytia formation. The focus of this research project is to gain an improved understanding of the rate and dynamics of syncytia formation in overall virus replication. Our findings suggest that syncytia formation in RSV occurs at a linear rate and actin polymerization and nuclei rearrangements are involved in syncytia formation dynamics.

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