Investigating genetic-and-epigenetic networks, and the cellular mechanisms occurring in Epstein-Barr virus-infected human B lymphocytes via big data mining and genome-wide two-sided NGS data identification

PLoS One. 2018 Aug 22;13(8):e0202537. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0202537. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), also known as human herpesvirus 4, is prevalent in all human populations. EBV mainly infects human B lymphocytes and epithelial cells, and is therefore associated with their various malignancies. To unravel the cellular mechanisms during the infection, we constructed interspecies networks to investigate the molecular cross-talk mechanisms between human B cells and EBV at the first (0-24 hours) and second (8-72 hours) stages of EBV infection. We first constructed a candidate genome-wide interspecies genetic-and-epigenetic network (the candidate GIGEN) by big database mining. We then pruned false positives in the candidate GIGEN to obtain the real GIGENs at the first and second infection stages in the lytic phase by their corresponding next-generation sequencing data through dynamic interaction models, the system identification approach, and the system order detection method. The real GIGENs are very complex and comprise protein-protein interaction networks, gene/microRNA (miRNA)/long non-coding RNA regulation networks, and host-virus cross-talk networks. To understand the molecular cross-talk mechanisms underlying EBV infection, we extracted the core GIGENs including host-virus core networks and host-virus core pathways from the real GIGENs using the principal network projection method. According to the results, we found that the activities of epigenetics-associated human proteins or genes were initially inhibited by viral proteins and miRNAs, and human immune responses were then dysregulated by epigenetic modification. We suggested that EBV exploits viral proteins and miRNAs, such as EBNA1, BPLF1, BALF3, BVRF1 and miR-BART14, to develop its defensive mechanism to defeat multiple immune attacks by the human immune system, promotes virion production, and facilitates the transportation of viral particles by activating the human genes NRP1 and CLIC5. Ultimately, we propose a therapeutic intervention comprising thymoquinone, valpromide, and zebularine to act as inhibitors of EBV-associated malignancies.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • B-Lymphocytes / virology
  • Big Data
  • Chloride Channels / genetics
  • Data Mining
  • Epigenesis, Genetic*
  • Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / genetics*
  • Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / virology
  • Gene Regulatory Networks / genetics
  • Herpesvirus 4, Human / genetics*
  • Herpesvirus 4, Human / pathogenicity
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing*
  • Host-Pathogen Interactions / genetics
  • Humans
  • MicroRNAs / genetics
  • Microfilament Proteins / genetics
  • Neuropilin-1 / genetics
  • Viral Proteins / genetics

Substances

  • CLIC5 protein, human
  • Chloride Channels
  • MicroRNAs
  • Microfilament Proteins
  • NRP1 protein, human
  • Viral Proteins
  • Neuropilin-1

Grants and funding

The work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan under grant No. MOST 105-2811-E-007-041.