Collateral damage: how viral infections impact our innate immune system
Viral infections are common throughout life. While most of these infections are rapidly cleared by the immune systems, some viruses such as HIV, cytomegalovirus and hepatitis C can establish life-long chronic infections.
Chronic viral infections, even those which are ‘suppressed’ by the immune system or by drugs, are associated with persistent immunological changes including immune activation, altered immune cell populations and heightened inflammation. These changes are linked with premature immune ageing and increased risk of age-related diseases such as cancers, heart disease and neurocognitive impairment.
In addition to chronic viral infections, some acute viruses such as the COVID-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2) can induce long-term changes which persist months to years after the acute infection, as seen with long COVID. How both chronic and acute viruses alter the immune system to induce these effects is not clear.
We have access to unique cohorts of samples from people with HIV, hepatitis C virus (before and after curative therapy) and COVID-19 and are interested in defining the long-term impacts of these infections on innate immune cells such as monocytes and NK cells.
Using a combination of immunological, molecular, proteomic and bioinformatic approaches we are attempting to define the innate immune changes induced by these viruses that may contribute to immune dysfunction and poor health outcomes.
Techniques
This project involves generation and/or analysis of multiparameter flow cytometry data, proteomics data and single cell transcriptomics data and bioinformatic analyses.
Featured publications
Adaptive NK Cells Rapidly Expand during Acute HIV Infection and Persist Despite Early Initiation of Antiretroviral Therapy
The Journal of Immunology
Anna C. Hearps et al
Injecting drug use and hepatitis C virus infection independently increase biomarkers of inflammatory disease risk which are incompletely restored by curative direct-acting antiviral therapy
Frontiers in Immunology
Anna C. Hearps et al
Monocytes from men living with HIV exhibit heightened atherogenic potential despite long-term viral suppression with antiretroviral therapy
AIDS
Thomas A. Angelovich et al
Persistence of Activated and Adaptive-Like NK Cells in HIV+ Individuals despite 2 Years of Suppressive Combination Antiretroviral Therapy
Frontiers in Immunology
Anna C. Hearps et al
An NK Cell Population Lacking FcRγ Is Expanded in Chronically Infected HIV Patients
The Journal of Immunology
Jingling Zhou et al
Viremic and Virologically Suppressed HIV Infection Increases Age-Related Changes to Monocyte Activation Equivalent to 12 and 4 Years of Aging, Respectively
JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes
Thomas A. Angelovich et al
Aging is associated with chronic innate immune activation and dysregulation of monocyte phenotype and function
Aging Cell
Anna C. Hearps et al
Partners
Collaborators
Alfred Hospital
Project contacts

Associate Professor Anna Hearps
Deputy Program Director, Disease Elimination; Head, Infection, Inflammation and Innate Immunity
Project team
