Species-specific gene programs define divergent antiviral responses in Marburg virus reservoir bats and humans.

Egyptian rousette bat cells exposed to double-stranded RNA and interferon show antiviral effector upregulation while limiting inflammatory amplifiers, unlike human cells’ immune hyperactivation.

• Why it matters: The divergence between asymptomatic Marburg virus infection in reservoir bats and severe, fatal disease in humans is not explained by shared antiviral responses.
• What they did: Primary and immortalized Egyptian rousette and human cells were exposed to double-stranded RNA and interferon, followed by transcriptomic and proteomic integration and support from independent in vivo MARV infection datasets.
• The result: Species-specific immune programs emerge, with bat cells linked to differential IFN-stimulated gene regulation, apoptotic control, and restrained cytokine signaling, while human cells show antiviral programs plus immune hyperactivation tied to immunopathogenesis pathways.