MicroRNA (miRNA) plays a key role in virus-host interactions. Here, we employed deep sequencing technology to determine cellular miRNA expression profiles in chicken dendritic cells infected with H9N2 avian influenza virus (AIV). A total of 66 known and 36 novel miRNAs were differently expressed upon H9N2 infection, including 72 up-regulated and 30 down-regulated miRNAs. Functional analysis showed that the predicted targets of these miRNAs were significantly enriched in several pathways including endocytosis, notch, lysosome, p53, RIG-I-like and NOD-like receptor signaling pathways. These data provide valuable information for further investigating the roles of miRNA in AIV pathogenesis and host defense response.
Keywords: H9N2 avian influenza virus; chicken dendritic cell; host defense response; microRNA; pathogenesis.