Viral small RNAs in Sindbis virus-infected mammalian cells
Small RNAs play a critical role in host-pathogen interaction. In insects, for instance, small RNA-mediated silencing or RNA interference (RNAi) represents the main antiviral defense system. However, the antiviral role of RNAi has not been clearly proven in higher vertebrates. On the contrary, it is well established that the cell response relies on the recognition of viral RNAs by host pattern recognition receptors (PRR) to trigger the activation of the interferon pathway. Based on this evidence, we wished to contribute to this research field by identifying and characterizing small non-coding RNAs produced in mammalian cells upon RNA virus infection. We focused on Sindbis virus (SINV), the prototypical arbovirus, which by definition, is able to infect both vertebrate hosts and invertebrate vectors and triggers the interferon pathway or RNAi, respectively. Overall design: Taking advantage of large scale sequencing, we cloned and sequenced small RNAs from both mock and SINV-infected mammalian cells (HEK 293 and VERO). We identified a novel population of viral small RNAs (vsRNAs) that accumulate as 20 to 30 nt species during infection. We assessed that this viral small RNA population is modified in 3'end and derived from the activation of the cellular antiviral endoribonuclease RNaseL. Altogether our results indicate a potential role for the SINV-derived small RNAs in the host defense mechanism.