Neonatal Roselovirus Infection Induces Predisposition to Systemic Autoimmunity

Autoimmune diseases are characterized by immune dysregulation that begins years prior to the onset of overt disease. Viral infections have been proposed to be a contributing factor to the development of autoimmunity, but in the case of herpesviruses, the onset of autoimmune disease typically occurs years after the initial, acute infection. In this study, we found that adult mice that had been neonatally infected with MRV were predisposed to systemic autoimmunity with features of lupus-like disease after additional immune perturbation with TLR7 stimulation. Single-cell RNA sequencing demonstrated a transcriptional signature and TCR repertoire shift in response to TLR7 stimulation that was unique to prior neonatal infection. .