Transcriptional signatures of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection using relaxed magnitude altitude score with hub-centric network analysis (RMAS-HCNA).

RSVA and RSVB induce distinct temporal and functional airway responses, with RSVA showing the strongest expansion and RSVB shifting from inflammation to interferon activity.

• Why it matters: Understanding virus-specific host responses is crucial for targeted therapies and diagnostics, yet the differences between RSV subtypes and other respiratory viruses remain unclear.
• What they did: Using airway organ tissue equivalents infected with RSVA and RSVB, along with integrated data from IAV and hMPV, the study applied the RMAS-HCNA framework to analyze gene expression profiles and identify key response patterns.
• The result: The analysis revealed shared antiviral responses but distinct temporal trajectories, with gene panels achieving high classification accuracy (mean Macro F1 of 0.859), enabling better understanding of virus-specific host mechanisms.