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Scientific reports2017; 7(1); 7431; doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-06939-w

Circulating microRNA profiles of Hendra virus infection in horses.

Abstract: Hendra virus (HeV) is an emerging zoonotic pathogen harbored by Australian mainland flying foxes. HeV infection can cause lethal disease in humans and horses, and to date all cases of human HeV disease have resulted from contact with infected horses. Currently, diagnosis of acute HeV infections in horses relies on the productive phase of infection when virus shedding may occur. An assay that identifies infected horses during the preclinical phase of infection would reduce the risk of zoonotic viral transmission during management of HeV outbreaks. Having previously shown that the host microRNA (miR)-146a is upregulated in the blood of HeV-infected horses days prior to the detection of viremia, we have profiled miRNAs at the transcriptome-wide level to comprehensively assess differences between infected and uninfected horses. Next-generation sequencing and the miRDeep2 algorithm identified 742 mature miRNA transcripts corresponding to 593 miRNAs in whole blood of six horses (three HeV-infected, three uninfected). Thirty seven miRNAs were differentially expressed in infected horses, two of which were validated by qRT-PCR. This study describes a methodology for the transcriptome-wide profiling of miRNAs in whole blood and supports the notion that measuring host miRNA expression levels may aid infectious disease diagnosis in the future.
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Publication Date: 2017-08-07 PubMed ID: 28785041PubMed Central: PMC5547158DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-06939-wGoogle Scholar: Lookup
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  • Journal Article
  • Research Support
  • Non-U.S. Gov't

Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

The research article focuses on using circulating microRNA profiles to identify Hendra virus infection in horses before the active, virus shedding stage, with the aim of reducing the risk of the virus spreading to humans.

Introduction and Background

  • The paper revolves around the Hendra virus (HeV), which is a zoonotic pathogen found primarily in flying foxes on the Australian mainland and can cause lethal disease in both humans and horses. Importantly, every known human case of HeV has resulted from contact with an infected horse.
  • In its current form, diagnosing HeV infection in horses relies on identifying the virus during its productive phase when the virus is being shed. This can pose a significant risk for human handlers and carers of horses.

Objective and Methodology

  • This research aimed to develop a diagnostic tool that could identify infected horses during the preclinical phase of the infection, potentially reducing the risk of viral transmission to humans.
  • The scientists had earlier found that the host microRNA (miR)-146a is elevated in the blood of HeV-infected horses days before viremia (the presence of viruses in the blood) can be detected.
  • Using an expanded approach, the study used next-generation sequencing and the miRDeep2 algorithm to profile miRNAs at the transcriptome-wide level and to assess differences between infected and uninfected horses more comprehensively.

Results and Insights

  • The team identified 742 mature miRNA transcripts corresponding to 593 miRNAs in the whole blood of six horses (three HeV-infected, three uninfected).
  • They found that 37 miRNAs were differentially expressed in infected horses, with two of these findings validated by qRT-PCR (a common laboratory technique used to measure RNA expression).

Conclusion and Implications

  • The study describes a methodology for profiling miRNAs on a full transcriptome scale in whole blood, a significant step forward in the field of diagnostics.
  • The findings of this research suggest that monitoring host miRNA expression levels can potentially be a valuable tool to aid in infectious disease diagnosis in the future, specifically for zoonotic diseases like Hendra virus.

Cite This Article

APA
Cowled C, Foo CH, Deffrasnes C, Rootes CL, Williams DT, Middleton D, Wang LF, Bean AGD, Stewart CR. (2017). Circulating microRNA profiles of Hendra virus infection in horses. Sci Rep, 7(1), 7431. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-06939-w

Publication

Scientific reports
ISSN: 2045-2322
NlmUniqueID: 101563288
Country: England
Language: English
Volume: 7
Issue: 1
Pages: 7431

Researcher Affiliations

Cowled, Christopher
  • CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Geelong, Victoria, Australia. chris.cowled@csiro.au.
Foo, Chwan-Hong
  • CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
Deffrasnes, Celine
  • CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
Rootes, Christina L
  • CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
Williams, David T
  • CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
Middleton, Deborah
  • CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
Wang, Lin-Fa
  • Programme in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore.
Bean, Andrew G D
  • CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
Stewart, Cameron R
  • CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.

MeSH Terms

  • Animals
  • Australia
  • Circulating MicroRNA / blood
  • Circulating MicroRNA / genetics
  • Early Diagnosis
  • Gene Expression Profiling / veterinary
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Hendra Virus / pathogenicity
  • Henipavirus Infections / blood
  • Henipavirus Infections / diagnosis
  • Henipavirus Infections / genetics
  • Henipavirus Infections / veterinary
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing / veterinary
  • Horse Diseases / blood
  • Horse Diseases / diagnosis
  • Horse Diseases / genetics
  • Horses / blood
  • Horses / genetics
  • Sequence Analysis, RNA / veterinary

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Citations

This article has been cited 11 times.
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