Changes in microRNA expression induced by rabies virus infection in mouse brains.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small RNA (≈ 22 nt) molecules expressed endogenously in cells. They are involved in the regulation of gene expression. Recently, evidence has shown that cellular miRNAs have key regulatory roles in virus-host interactions. The rabies virus (RABV) causes a fatal infection of the central nervous systems (CNS) of warm-blooded animals, yet its pathogenesis remains poorly understood. To gain more insight into the pathogenesis of RABV, a miRNA microarray was performed as part of an investigation of changes in host miRNA expression in the brains of mice infected with RABV. The results showed that RABV infection induced modulation of the expression of sixteen miRNA molecules. These data were verified by real-time PCR. Functional analysis showed the differentially expressed miRNAs to be involved in many immune-related signaling pathways, such as the RIG-I-like receptor signaling pathway, JAK-STAT signaling pathway, chemokine signaling pathway, T-cell receptor signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, leukocyte transendothelial migration, and natural killer cell mediated cytotoxicity. The predicted expression levels of the target genes of these modulated miRNAs correlated with measurements of gene expression measured by DNA microarray and qRT-PCR.
Institute of Laboratory Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, PR China. zhaopingsen@hotmail.com
Pingsen
P
Zhao
Lili
L
Zhao
Tao
T
Zhang
Hualei
H
Wang
Chuan
C
Qin
Songtao
S
Yang
Xianzhu
X
Xia
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011818:Rabies / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology; D011820:Rabies virus / Q000502:physiology*
D035683:MicroRNAs