title: Involvement of viral microRNA in the regulation of antiviral apoptosis in shrimp.
abstract: Viruses, in particular DNA viruses, generate microRNAs (miRNAs) to control the expression of host and viral genes. Due to their essential roles in virus-host interactions, viral miRNAs have attracted extensive investigations in recent years. To date, however, most studies on viral miRNAs have been conducted in cell lines. In this study, the viral miRNAs from white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) were characterized in shrimp in vivo. On the basis of our previous study and small RNA sequencing in this study, a total of 89 putative WSSV miRNAs were identified. As revealed by miRNA microarray analysis and Northern blotting, the expression of viral miRNAs was tissue specific in vivo. The results indicated that the viral miRNA WSSV-miR-N24 could target the shrimp caspase 8 gene, and this miRNA further repressed the apoptosis of shrimp hemocytes in vivo. As a result, the number of WSSV copies in shrimp in vivo was significantly increased compared with the control level (WSSV only). Therefore, our study presents the first report on the in vivo molecular events of viral miRNA in antiviral apoptosis.
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Deep Sea Biology, Key Laboratory of Animal Virology of Ministry of Agriculture and College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, The People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Tianzhi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Yalei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Xiaobo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics*; D020029:Base Pairing; D001483:Base Sequence; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D006434:Hemocytes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D008954:Models, Biological; D033561:Penaeidae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000821:virology*; D034622:RNA Interference; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D046848:White spot syndrome virus 1 / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D012367:RNA, Viral