title: Infection with street strain rabies virus induces modulation of the microRNA profile of the mouse brain.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Rabies virus (RABV) causes a fatal infection of the central nervous systems (CNS) of warm-blooded animals. Once the clinical symptoms develop, rabies is almost invariably fatal. The mechanism of RABV pathogenesis remains poorly understood. Recent studies have shown that microRNA (miRNA) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of viral infections. Our recent findings have revealed that infection with laboratory-fixed rabies virus strain can induce modulation of the microRNA profile of mouse brains. However, no previous report has evaluated the miRNA expression profile of mouse brains infected with RABV street strain.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results of microarray analysis show that miRNA expression becomes modulated in the brains of mice infected with street RABV. Quantitative real-time PCR assay of the differentially expressed miRNAs confirmed the results of microarray assay. Functional analysis showed the differentially expressed miRNAs to be involved in many immune-related signaling pathways, such as the Jak-STAT signaling pathway, the MAPK signaling pathway, cytokine-cytokine receptor interactions, and Fc gamma R-mediated phagocytosis. The predicted expression levels of the target genes of these modulated miRNAs were found to be correlated with gene expression as measured by DNA microarray and qRT-PCR.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  RABV causes significant changes in the miRNA expression profiles of infected mouse brains. Predicted target genes of the differentially expression miRNAs are associated with host immune response, which may provide important information for investigation of RABV pathogenesis and therapeutic method.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Laboratory Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100021, China.
authors.forename: Pingsen
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Hualei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tiecheng
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Chengyu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yuwei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Geng
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Chuan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Songtao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xianzhu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xia
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D046228:Microarray Analysis; D011818:Rabies / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D011820:Rabies virus / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs