Zika Virus Alters the Expression Profile of microRNA-Related Genes in Liver, Lung, and Kidney Cell Lineages.
Rafaella Nascimento Ferreira, Gustavo Moraes Holanda, Eliana Vieira Pinto Silva, Samir Mansour Moraes Casseb, Karla Fabiane Lopes Melo, Carlos Alberto Marques Carvalho, Juliana Abreu Lima, Pedro Fernando Costa Vasconcelos, Ana Cecília Ribeiro Cruz
Author Information
Rafaella Nascimento Ferreira: 1 Section of Arbovirology and Hemorrhagic Fevers, Evandro Chagas Institute , Ananindeua, Pará, Brazil .
Gustavo Moraes Holanda: 1 Section of Arbovirology and Hemorrhagic Fevers, Evandro Chagas Institute , Ananindeua, Pará, Brazil .
Eliana Vieira Pinto Silva: 1 Section of Arbovirology and Hemorrhagic Fevers, Evandro Chagas Institute , Ananindeua, Pará, Brazil .
Samir Mansour Moraes Casseb: 1 Section of Arbovirology and Hemorrhagic Fevers, Evandro Chagas Institute , Ananindeua, Pará, Brazil .
Karla Fabiane Lopes Melo: 1 Section of Arbovirology and Hemorrhagic Fevers, Evandro Chagas Institute , Ananindeua, Pará, Brazil .
Carlos Alberto Marques Carvalho: 1 Section of Arbovirology and Hemorrhagic Fevers, Evandro Chagas Institute , Ananindeua, Pará, Brazil .
Juliana Abreu Lima: 1 Section of Arbovirology and Hemorrhagic Fevers, Evandro Chagas Institute , Ananindeua, Pará, Brazil .
Pedro Fernando Costa Vasconcelos: 1 Section of Arbovirology and Hemorrhagic Fevers, Evandro Chagas Institute , Ananindeua, Pará, Brazil .
Ana Cecília Ribeiro Cruz: 1 Section of Arbovirology and Hemorrhagic Fevers, Evandro Chagas Institute , Ananindeua, Pará, Brazil .
Zika virus (ZIKV) is an arbovirus belonging to the genus Flavivirus (Flaviviridae). ZIKV infection is associated with alterations in various organs, including the liver, lungs, and kidneys. Studies on the influence of posttranscriptional control on viral infections have demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs) interfere with different stages of the replicative cycle of several viruses and may influence the disease outcome. To shed light on ZIKV-induced regulation of host miRNA-processing machinery in the above organs, we analyzed the expression of genes encoding key proteins of the miRNA pathway in different ZIKV-infected continuous primate cell lineages (HepG2, A549, and MA104) by reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Expression of the genes encoding the miRNA-related proteins DGCR8, Ago1, and Ago3 in HepG2 cells and Drosha, Dicer, Ago2, and Ago3 in A549 and MA104 cells was significantly altered in the presence of ZIKV. Our results suggest that ZIKV modulates miRNA levels during infection in liver, lung, and kidney cells, which may be an additional mechanism of host cell subversion in these organs.
