Elucidating the Role of Host Long Non-Coding RNA during Viral Infection: Challenges and Paths Forward

Research over the past decade has clearly shown that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are functional. Many lncRNAs can be related to immunity and the host response to viral infection, but their specific functions remain largely elusive. The vast majority of lncRNAs are annotated with extremely limited knowledge and tend to be expressed at low levels, making ad hoc experimentation difficult. Changes to lncRNA expression during infection can be systematically profiled using deep sequencing; however, this often produces an intractable number of candidate lncRNAs, leaving no clear path forward. For these reasons, it is especially important to prioritize lncRNAs into high-confidence “hits” by utilizing multiple methodologies. Large scale perturbation studies may be used to screen lncRNAs involved in phenotypes of interest, such as resistance to viral infection. Single cell transcriptome sequencing quantifies cell-type specific lncRNAs that are less abundant in a mixture. When coupled with iterative experimental validations, new computational strategies for efficiently integrating orthogonal high-throughput data will likely be the driver for elucidating the functional role of lncRNAs during viral infection. This review highlights new high-throughput technologies and discusses the potential for integrative computational analysis to streamline the identification of infection-related lncRNAs and unveil novel targets for antiviral therapeutics

Elucidating the Role of Host Long Non-Coding RNA during Viral Infection: Challenges and Paths Forward

Research over the past decade has clearly shown that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are functional. Many lncRNAs can be related to immunity and the host response to viral infection, but their specific functions remain largely elusive. The vast majority of lncRNAs are annotated with extremely limited knowledge and tend to be expressed at low levels, making ad hoc experimentation difficult. Changes to lncRNA expression during infection can be systematically profiled using deep sequencing; however, this often produces an intractable number of candidate lncRNAs, leaving no clear path forward. For these reasons, it is especially important to prioritize lncRNAs into high-confidence “hits” by utilizing multiple methodologies. Large scale perturbation studies may be used to screen lncRNAs involved in phenotypes of interest, such as resistance to viral infection. Single cell transcriptome sequencing quantifies cell-type specific lncRNAs that are less abundant in a mixture. When coupled with iterative experimental validations, new computational strategies for efficiently integrating orthogonal high-throughput data will likely be the driver for elucidating the functional role of lncRNAs during viral infection. This review highlights new high-throughput technologies and discusses the potential for integrative computational analysis to streamline the identification of infection-related lncRNAs and unveil novel targets for antiviral therapeutics

The H1 liquid argon calorimeter system

The liquid argon calorimeter of the H 1 detector presently taking data at the HERA ep collider at DESY, Hamburg, is described. The main physics requirements and the most salient design features relevant to this calorimeter are given. The aim to have smooth and hermetic calorimetric coverage over the polar angular range 4° ≤ θ ≤ 154° is achieved by a single liquid argon cryostat containing calorimeter stacks structured in wheels and octants for easy handling. The absorber materials used are lead in the electromagnetic part and stainless steel in the hadronic part. The read-out system is pipelined to reduce the dead time induced by the high trigger rate expected at the HERA collider where consecutive bunches are separated in time by 96 ns. The main elements of the calorimeter, such as the cryostat, with its associated cryogenics, the stack modules, the read-out, calibration and trigger electronics as well as the data acquisition system are described. Performance results from data taken in calibration runs with full size H 1 calorimeter stacks at a CERN test beam, as well as results from data collected with the complete H 1 detector using cosmic rays during the initial phase of ep operations are presented. The observed energy resolutions and linearities are well in agreement with the requirements

The H 1 liquid argon calorimeter system

The liquid argon calorimeter of the H 1 detector presently taking data at the HERA ep collider at DESY, Hamburg, is described. The main physics requirements and the most salient design features relevant to this calorimeter are given. The aim to have smooth and hermetic calorimetric coverage over the polar angular range 4° ≤ θ ≤ 154° is achieved by a single liquid argon cryostat containing calorimeter stacks structured in wheels and octants for easy handling. The absorber materials used are lead in the electromagnetic part and stainless steel in the hadronic part. The read-out system is pipelined to reduce the dead time induced by the high trigger rate expected at the HERA collider where consecutive bunches are separated in time by 96 ns. The main elements of the calorimeter, such as the cryostat, with its associated cryogenics, the stack modules, the read-out, calibration and trigger electronics as well as the data acquisition system are described. Performance results from data taken in calibration runs with full size H 1 calorimeter stacks at a CERN test beam, as well as results from data collected with the complete H 1 detector using cosmic rays during the initial phase of ep operations are presented. The observed energy resolutions and linearities are well in agreement with the requirements