Wolbachia infection modifies the profile, shuttling and structure of microRNAs in a mosquito cell line

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 9; no. 4; p. e96107
• Main Authors: Mayoral, Jaime G, Etebari, Kayvan, Hussain, Mazhar, Khromykh, Alexander A, Asgari, Sassan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 01.04.2014; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Aedes - genetics; Aedes - microbiology; Aedes aegypti; Analysis; Animal reproduction; Animals; Anopheles stephensi; Aquatic insects; Argonaute Proteins - genetics; Biological activity; Biology and life sciences; Cell Line; Cell lines; Cell Nucleus - genetics; Comparative analysis; Compartments; Cytoplasm; Cytoplasm - genetics; Drosophila; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation; Gene sequencing; Genetic aspects; Genetic engineering; Genomes; Genomics; Health aspects; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Immune response; Immune system; Infections; Infectious diseases; Insect Proteins - genetics; Insects; Machinery and equipment; Malaria; Medicine and Health Sciences; MicroRNA; MicroRNAs; MicroRNAs - chemistry; MicroRNAs - genetics; miRNA; Molecular Sequence Data; Mosquitoes; Nuclei; Nuclei (cytology); Nucleotides; Physiological aspects; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; RNA polymerase; RNA Transport; Signaling; Target recognition; Wolbachia; Wolbachia - physiology
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0096107

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that play important roles in many biological processes such as development, cell signaling and immune response. Small RNA deep sequencing technology provided an opportunity for a thorough survey of the miRNA profile of a mosquito cell line from Aedes aegypti. We characterized the miRNA composition of the nucleus and the cytoplasm of uninfected cells and compared it with the one of cells infected with the endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia strain wMelPop-CLA. We found an overall increase of small RNAs between 18 and 28 nucleotides in both cellular compartments in Wolbachia-infected cells and identified specific miRNAs induced and/or suppressed by the Wolbachia infection. We discuss the mechanisms that the cell may use to shuttle miRNAs between the cytoplasm and the nucleus. In addition, we identified piRNAs that changed their abundance in response to Wolbachia infection. The miRNAs and piRNAs identified in this study provide promising leads for investigations into the host-endosymbiont interactions and for better understanding of how Wolbachia manipulates the host miRNA machinery in order to facilitate its persistent replication in infected cells.