The HENIPA-BAT project
Understanding the interaction between Henipaviruses and their natural reservoir, bats
This project aims to identify the critical barriers governing the control of Henipavirus infections in bats. Bats are reservoir hosts for a wide variety of viruses—including Nipah virus—many of which are highly pathogenic to humans and other mammals. Gaining a better understanding of the mechanisms by which bats control viral infections will provide valuable insights into viral pathogenesis and could inform strategies for controlling emerging infectious diseases in humans and other animals, within the framework of the “One Health” approach.
This project involves four closely linked lines of research:
- Establishment of the first European colony of Pteropus bats at VetAgro Sup in Lyon;
- Study of the regulation of viral infection in bats;
- Analysis of the immunological mechanisms enabling bats to effectively control viral infections, with a particular focus on the role of the immunosuppressive cytokine TGF-beta;
- Study of differential antiviral responses between bat cells and human cells using a transcriptomic approach.
Project leaders:
Branka HORVAT
She is an INSERM Research Director at the CIRI (International Center for Infectiology Research) in Lyon, where she leads the équipe Immunobiologie des Infections virales. She is a leading specialist in the field of Henipavirus pathogenesis.
His research aims to understand the immunopathogenesis of highly pathogenic viruses and focuses on host-pathogen interactions, viral entry, and the development of animal and cellular models. His group is involved in developing new prophylactic and therapeutic antiviral approaches.
Guillaume NOEL
He is a veterinarian specializing in laboratory animal science and medicine and the director of Biovivo – Institut Claude Bourgelat (ICLB), the preclinical research unit of VetAgro Sup (the Marcy-l’Étoile veterinary campus). This facility can conduct studies on rodents, livestock, and carnivores under biosafety level 2 and 3 containment.
Her team specializes in the development and characterization of animal models and has been conducting challenge studies with numerous infectious agents—including influenza, SARS-CoV-2, dengue, yellow fever virus, HSV-2, leptospirosis, Marek’s disease, and Gumboro disease—for some twenty years, as part of immunology research or therapeutic testing.
The project partners
- Vincent LOTTEAU, Laboratoire P4 – Inserm Jean Mérieux, Lyon
- Julien MARIE, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie, CRLC, à Lyon
- Anne BALKEMA-BUSCHMANN, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Insel Riem