Abstract

BackgroundBovine ephemeral fever virus (BEFV), the causative agent of bovine ephemeral fever, is an economically important pathogen of cattle and water buffalo. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous 21-23 nt small non-coding RNA molecules that binding to a multiple of target mRNAs and functioning in the regulation of viral replication including the miRNA-mediated antiviral defense. However, the reciprocal interaction between bovine ephemeral fever virus replication and host miRNAs still remain poorly understood. The aim of our study herein was to investigate the exact function of miR-3470b and its molecular mechanisms during BEFV infection.ResultsIn this study, we found a set of microRNAs induced by BEFV infection using small RNA deep sequencing, and further identified BEFV infection could significantly up-regulate the miR-3470b expression in Baby Hamster Syrian Kidney cells (BHK-21) after 24 h and 48 h post-infection (pi) compared to normal BHK-21 cells without BEFV infection. Additionally, the target association between miR-3470b and mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein (MAVS) was predicted by target gene prediction tools and further validated using a dual-luciferase reporter assay, and the expression of MAVS mRNA and protein levels was negatively associated with miR-3470b levels. Furthermore, the miR-3470b mimic transfection significantly contributed to increase the BEFV N mRNA, G protein level and viral titer, respectively, whereas the miR-3470b inhibitor had the opposite effect on BEFV replication. Moreover, the overexpression of MAVS or silencing of miR-3470b by its inhibitors suppressed BEFV replication, and knockdown of MAVS by small interfering RNA also promoted the replication of BEFV.ConclusionsOur findings is the first to reveal that miR-3470b as a novel host factor regulates BEFV replication via directly targeting the MAVS gene in BHK-21 cells and may provide a potential strategy for developing effective antiviral therapy.

Highlights

  • Bovine ephemeral fever virus (BEFV), the causative agent of bovine ephemeral fever, is an economically important pathogen of cattle and water buffalo

  • We found that miR-3470b was up-regulated during BEFV infection through high-throughput sequencing and it was further validated by RT-qPCR

  • BEFV infection up-regulates miR-3470b expression In order to study the effect of BEFV infection on host response, we conducted a set of microRNAs expression profile analysis of BEFV infected BHK-21 cells for 24 h using high-throughput technologies

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Summary

Introduction

Bovine ephemeral fever virus (BEFV), the causative agent of bovine ephemeral fever, is an economically important pathogen of cattle and water buffalo. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous 21-23 nt small non-coding RNA molecules that binding to a multiple of target mRNAs and functioning in the regulation of viral replication including the miRNA-mediated antiviral defense. The reciprocal interaction between bovine ephemeral fever virus replication and host miRNAs still remain poorly understood. There is overwhelming evidence that host miRNAs are implicated in the maintenance of normal cellular processes [11, 12], and they play important regulatory and ubiquitous roles in signaling pathways involved in various viral infection, replication, and pathogenicity by regulating genes expression [11, 13, 14]. It is the hotspot to study the relationship between miRNA regulation and virus infection

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