The role of viral and host microRNAs in the Aujeszky's disease virus during the infection process

PLoS One. 2014 Jan 24;9(1):e86965. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0086965. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Porcine production is a primary market in the world economy. Controlling swine diseases in the farm is essential in order to achieve the sector necessities. Aujeszky's disease is a viral condition affecting pigs and is endemic in many countries of the world, causing important economic losses in the swine industry. microRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNAs which modulates gene expression in animals, plants and viruses. With the aim of understanding miRNA roles during the Aujeszky's disease virus [ADV] (also known as suid herpesvirus type 1 [SuHV-1]) infection, the expression profiles of host and viral miRNAs were determined through deep sequencing in SuHV-1 infected porcine cell line (PK-15) and in an animal experimental SuHV-1 infection with virulent (NIA-3) and attenuated (Begonia) strains. In the in vivo approach miR-206, miR-133a, miR-133b and miR-378 presented differential expression between virus strains infection. In the in vitro approach, most miRNAs were down-regulated in infected groups. miR-92a and miR-92b-3p were up-regulated in Begonia infected samples. Functional analysis of all this over expressed miRNAs during the infection revealed their association in pathways related to viral infection processes and immune response. Furthermore, 8 viral miRNAs were detected by stem loop RT-qPCR in both in vitro and in vivo approaches, presenting a gene regulatory network affecting 59 viral genes. Most described viral miRNAs were related to Large Latency Transcript (LLT) and to viral transcription activators EP0 and IE180, and also to regulatory genes regarding their important roles in the host-pathogen interaction during viral infection.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Line
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Gene Regulatory Networks
  • Genes, Viral*
  • Herpesvirus 1, Suid / genetics*
  • Herpesvirus 1, Suid / immunology
  • Herpesvirus 1, Suid / pathogenicity
  • Host-Pathogen Interactions
  • MicroRNAs / genetics*
  • MicroRNAs / metabolism
  • Olfactory Bulb / pathology
  • Olfactory Bulb / virology
  • Pseudorabies / genetics*
  • Pseudorabies / immunology
  • Pseudorabies / virology
  • RNA, Messenger / genetics*
  • RNA, Messenger / metabolism
  • Swine
  • Swine Diseases / genetics*
  • Swine Diseases / immunology
  • Swine Diseases / virology
  • Trigeminal Ganglion / pathology
  • Trigeminal Ganglion / virology
  • Virulence

Substances

  • MicroRNAs
  • RNA, Messenger

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the projects AGL2007-66371-C02, AGL2010-22358-C02 and CDS2006-00007 from Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. OT is the recipient of a PhD fellowship (Programa de Formación al Personal Investigador – FPI) from the Spanish government. The funders had no role in the sutdy design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.