Abstract: Gene expression associated with West Nile virus (WNV) infection was profiled in the central nervous system of horses. Pyrosequencing and library annotation was performed on pooled RNA from the CNS and lymphoid tissues on horses experimentally infected with WNV (vaccinated and naïve) and non-exposed controls. These sequences were used to create a custom microarray enriched for neurological and immunological sequences to quantitate gene expression in the thalamus and cerebrum of three experimentally infected groups of horses (naïve/WNV exposed, vaccinated/WNV exposed, and normal).From the sequenced transcriptome, 41,040 sequences were identified by alignment against five databases. 31,357 good sequence hits (e<10(-4)) were obtained with 3.1% of the sequences novel to the equine genome project. Sequences were compared to human expressed sequence tag database, with 31,473 equine sequences aligning to human sequences (69.27% contigs, 78.13% seed contigs, 80.17% singlets). This indicated a high degree of sequence homology between human and equine transcriptome (average identity 90.17%).Significant differences (p<0.05) in gene expression were seen due to virus exposure (9,020), survival (7,395), and location (7,649). Pathways analysis revealed many genes that mapped to neurological and immunological categories. Involvement of both innate and adaptive components of immunity was seen, with higher levels of expression correlating with survival. This was highlighted by increased expression of suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 in horses exposed to WNV which functions to suppress innate immunity. Pentraxin 3 was most increased in expression for all horses exposed to WNV.Neurological pathways that demonstrated the greatest changes in gene expression included neurotransmitter and signaling pathways. Decreased expression of transcripts in both the glutamate and dopamine signaling pathways was seen in horses exposed to WNV, providing evidence of possible glutamate excitotoxicity and clinical signs associated with decreased dopamine. Many transcripts mapped to non-infectious neurological disease functions, including mental disorders and degenerative neuropathies.
The Equine Research Bank provides access to a large database of publicly available scientific literature. Inclusion in the Research Bank does not imply endorsement of study methods or findings by Mad Barn.
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 looks into the gene expression patterns in horses that have been experimentally infected with West Nile virus (WNV). It uncovers that WNV exposure, survival and location resulted in significant differences in gene expressions, most notably neurological and immunological pathways.
Methodology
The research used pyrosequencing and library annotation on pooled RNA samples from the central nervous system (CNS) and lymphoid tissues of horses experimentally infected with WNV and non-exposed controls. The horses subjected to experimental infection were either vaccinated prior to exposure or were completely naive.
A custom microarray was created from the sequenced transcriptome to quantify gene expression in the thalamus and cerebrum of the infected horses.
These sequences were then cross-referenced against five databases to identify and analyze any relevant hits, with a close attention to ones that might be novel to the equine genome project and their homology to human sequences.
Results
The profiled gene expression resulted in identifying 41,040 sequences. After comparing these to various databases, the researchers found 31,357 good sequence hits, among which 3.1% were novel to the equine genome project.
The sequences showed a high level of homology to human transcriptome (average identity 90.17%). This means that the gene expressions in horses infected with WNV have significant similarities with humans.
Significant differences in gene expression were observed due to a few factors such as virus exposure (9,020), survival (7,395), and location (7,649).
Both innate and adaptive immunity components were found to be involved, with higher levels of expression correlating with survival. The expression of suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 was increased in horses exposed to WNV, suggesting it has a role in suppressing innate immunity. Likewise, Pentraxin 3 showed the most increase in expression in all horses exposed to WNV.
Conclusion
The neurological pathways showing the greatest changes in gene expression included neurotransmitter and signaling pathways. There was decreased expression of transcripts in both the glutamate and dopamine signaling pathways in horses exposed to WNV, which suggests a possible occurrence of glutamate excitotoxicity and clinical signs associated with decreased dopamine.
Additionally, many transcripts were found to map to non-infectious neurological disease functions, including mental disorders and degenerative neuropathies, potentially suggesting a broader effect of the WNV on the horses’ neurological system beyond the infection itself.
Cite This Article
APA
Bourgeois MA, Denslow ND, Seino KS, Barber DS, Long MT.
(2011).
Gene expression analysis in the thalamus and cerebrum of horses experimentally infected with West Nile virus.
PLoS One, 6(10), e24371.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0024371
Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathology, University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.
Denslow, Nancy D
Seino, Kathy S
Barber, David S
Long, Maureen T
MeSH Terms
Animals
Cerebrum / metabolism
Expressed Sequence Tags
Gene Expression Profiling
Gene Expression Regulation
Horses / genetics
Horses / immunology
Horses / virology
Humans
Interleukin-15 / biosynthesis
Molecular Sequence Annotation
Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
RNA, Messenger / genetics
RNA, Messenger / metabolism
Receptors, Dopamine / metabolism
Receptors, Glutamate / genetics
Receptors, Glutamate / metabolism
Reproducibility of Results
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Signal Transduction / genetics
Signal Transduction / immunology
Thalamus / metabolism
Transcriptome
West Nile Fever / genetics
West Nile Fever / immunology
West Nile Fever / pathology
West Nile Fever / virology
West Nile virus / physiology
Conflict of Interest Statement
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
References
This article includes 39 references
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) USDA APHIS Animal Health Monitoring and Surveillance West Nile Virus. 2011. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/nahss/equine/wnv/. Accessed: 2011 May 01.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) CDC West Nile Virus Statistics, Surveillance, and Control. 2011. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/surv&controlCaseCount11_detailed.htm. Accessed: 2011 May 01.
Davis LE, DeBiasi R, Goade DE, Haaland KY, Harrington JA, Harnar JB, Pergam SA, King MK, DeMasters BK, Tyler KL. West Nile virus neuroinvasive disease.. Ann Neurol 2006 Sep;60(3):286-300.
Klein RS, Lin E, Zhang B, Luster AD, Tollett J, Samuel MA, Engle M, Diamond MS. Neuronal CXCL10 directs CD8+ T-cell recruitment and control of West Nile virus encephalitis.. J Virol 2005 Sep;79(17):11457-66.
Wang Y, Lobigs M, Lee E, Müllbacher A. CD8+ T cells mediate recovery and immunopathology in West Nile virus encephalitis.. J Virol 2003 Dec;77(24):13323-34.
Xiao WW, Ma WL, Ma XD, Mao XM, Zheng WL. [Bioinformatic analysis of dengue virus cDNAs and design of oligonucleotide probes for microarray detection of the virus].. Di Yi Jun Yi Da Xue Xue Bao 2003 Sep;23(9):905-7.
Korimbocus J, Scaramozzino N, Lacroix B, Crance JM, Garin D, Vernet G. DNA probe array for the simultaneous identification of herpesviruses, enteroviruses, and flaviviruses.. J Clin Microbiol 2005 Aug;43(8):3779-87.
Nordström H, Falk KI, Lindegren G, Mouzavi-Jazi M, Waldén A, Elgh F, Nilsson P, Lundkvist A. DNA microarray technique for detection and identification of seven flaviviruses pathogenic for man.. J Med Virol 2005 Dec;77(4):528-40.
Grinev A, Daniel S, Laassri M, Chumakov K, Chizhikov V, Rios M. Microarray-based assay for the detection of genetic variations of structural genes of West Nile virus.. J Virol Methods 2008 Dec;154(1-2):27-40.
Gupta N, Santhosh SR, Babu JP, Parida MM, Rao PV. Chemokine profiling of Japanese encephalitis virus-infected mouse neuroblastoma cells by microarray and real-time RT-PCR: implication in neuropathogenesis.. Virus Res 2010 Jan;147(1):107-12.
Lefeuvre A, Contamin H, Decelle T, Fournier C, Lang J, Deubel V, Marianneau P. Host-cell interaction of attenuated and wild-type strains of yellow fever virus can be differentiated at early stages of hepatocyte infection.. Microbes Infect 2006 May;8(6):1530-8.
Liew KJ, Chow VT. Microarray and real-time RT-PCR analyses of a novel set of differentially expressed human genes in ECV304 endothelial-like cells infected with dengue virus type 2.. J Virol Methods 2006 Jan;131(1):47-57.
Moreno-Altamirano MM, Romano M, Legorreta-Herrera M, Sánchez-García FJ, Colston MJ. Gene expression in human macrophages infected with dengue virus serotype-2.. Scand J Immunol 2004 Dec;60(6):631-8.
Nasirudeen AM, Liu DX. Gene expression profiling by microarray analysis reveals an important role for caspase-1 in dengue virus-induced p53-mediated apoptosis.. J Med Virol 2009 Jun;81(6):1069-81.
Venter M, Myers TG, Wilson MA, Kindt TJ, Paweska JT, Burt FJ, Leman PA, Swanepoel R. Gene expression in mice infected with West Nile virus strains of different neurovirulence.. Virology 2005 Nov 10;342(1):119-40.
Darman J, Backovic S, Dike S, Maragakis NJ, Krishnan C, Rothstein JD, Irani DN, Kerr DA. Viral-induced spinal motor neuron death is non-cell-autonomous and involves glutamate excitotoxicity.. J Neurosci 2004 Aug 25;24(34):7566-75.
Erdmann NB, Whitney NP, Zheng J. Potentiation of Excitotoxicity in HIV-1 Associated Dementia and the Significance of Glutaminase.. Clin Neurosci Res 2006 Dec;6(5):315-328.
Rodrigues L, Bonorino C. Role of IL-15 and IL-21 in viral immunity: applications for vaccines and therapies.. Expert Rev Vaccines 2009 Feb;8(2):167-77.
Rodrigues L, Nandakumar S, Bonorino C, Rouse BT, Kumaraguru U. IL-21 and IL-15 cytokine DNA augments HSV specific effector and memory CD8+ T cell response.. Mol Immunol 2009 Apr;46(7):1494-504.
Mansfield KL, Johnson N, Cosby SL, Solomon T, Fooks AR. Transcriptional upregulation of SOCS 1 and suppressors of cytokine signaling 3 mRNA in the absence of suppressors of cytokine signaling 2 mRNA after infection with West Nile virus or tick-borne encephalitis virus.. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis 2010 Oct;10(7):649-53.
Bozza S, Bistoni F, Gaziano R, Pitzurra L, Zelante T, Bonifazi P, Perruccio K, Bellocchio S, Neri M, Iorio AM, Salvatori G, De Santis R, Calvitti M, Doni A, Garlanda C, Mantovani A, Romani L. Pentraxin 3 protects from MCMV infection and reactivation through TLR sensing pathways leading to IRF3 activation.. Blood 2006 Nov 15;108(10):3387-96.
Reading PC, Bozza S, Gilbertson B, Tate M, Moretti S, Job ER, Crouch EC, Brooks AG, Brown LE, Bottazzi B, Romani L, Mantovani A. Antiviral activity of the long chain pentraxin PTX3 against influenza viruses.. J Immunol 2008 Mar 1;180(5):3391-8.
Matter C, Pribadi M, Liu X, Trachtenberg JT. Delta-catenin is required for the maintenance of neural structure and function in mature cortex in vivo.. Neuron 2009 Nov 12;64(3):320-7.
Maximova OA, Weller ML, Krogmann T, Sturdevant DE, Ricklefs S, Virtaneva K, Martens C, Wollenberg K, Minai M, Moore IN, Sauter CS, Barker JN, Lipkin WI, Seilhean D, Nath A, Cohen JI. Pathogenesis and outcome of VA1 astrovirus infection in the human brain are defined by disruption of neural functions and imbalanced host immune responses. PLoS Pathog 2023 Aug;19(8):e1011544.
Manzarinejad M, Vahidi Z, Boostani R, Khadem-Rezaiyan M, Rafatpanah H, Zemorshidi F. Pentraxin 3, a serum biomarker in human T-cell lymphotropic virus type-1-associated myelopathy patients and asymptomatic carriers. Med Microbiol Immunol 2023 Aug;212(4):271-278.
Benzarti E, Murray KO, Ronca SE. Interleukins, Chemokines, and Tumor Necrosis Factor Superfamily Ligands in the Pathogenesis of West Nile Virus Infection. Viruses 2023 Mar 22;15(3).
Bhide K, Mochnáčová E, Tkáčová Z, Petroušková P, Kulkarni A, Bhide M. Signaling events evoked by domain III of envelop glycoprotein of tick-borne encephalitis virus and West Nile virus in human brain microvascular endothelial cells. Sci Rep 2022 May 25;12(1):8863.
Maximova OA, Sturdevant DE, Kash JC, Kanakabandi K, Xiao Y, Minai M, Moore IN, Taubenberger J, Martens C, Cohen JI, Pletnev AG. Virus infection of the CNS disrupts the immune-neural-synaptic axis via induction of pleiotropic gene regulation of host responses. Elife 2021 Feb 18;10.
Karimi-Boroujeni M, Zahedi-Amiri A, Coombs KM. Embryonic Origins of Virus-Induced Hearing Loss: Overview of Molecular Etiology. Viruses 2021 Jan 6;13(1).
Zatta M, Di Bella S, Bottazzi B, Rossi F, D'Agaro P, Segat L, Fabbiani M, Mantovani A, Luzzati R. Determination of pentraxin 3 levels in cerebrospinal fluid during central nervous system infections. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 2020 Apr;39(4):665-670.
Lim SM, van den Ham HJ, Oduber M, Martina E, Zaaraoui-Boutahar F, Roose JM, van IJcken WFJ, Osterhaus ADME, Andeweg AC, Koraka P, Martina BEE. Transcriptomic Analyses Reveal Differential Gene Expression of Immune and Cell Death Pathways in the Brains of Mice Infected with West Nile Virus and Chikungunya Virus. Front Microbiol 2017;8:1556.
Uddin MJ, Suen WW, Bosco-Lauth A, Hartwig AE, Hall RA, Bowen RA, Bielefeldt-Ohmann H. Kinetics of the West Nile virus induced transcripts of selected cytokines and Toll-like receptors in equine peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Vet Res 2016 Jun 7;47(1):61.
Uddin MJ, Suen WW, Prow NA, Hall RA, Bielefeldt-Ohmann H. West Nile Virus Challenge Alters the Transcription Profiles of Innate Immune Genes in Rabbit Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells. Front Vet Sci 2015;2:76.
Paradkar PN, Duchemin JB, Rodriguez-Andres J, Trinidad L, Walker PJ. Cullin4 Is Pro-Viral during West Nile Virus Infection of Culex Mosquitoes. PLoS Pathog 2015 Sep;11(9):e1005143.
Clarke P, Leser JS, Bowen RA, Tyler KL. Virus-induced transcriptional changes in the brain include the differential expression of genes associated with interferon, apoptosis, interleukin 17 receptor A, and glutamate signaling as well as flavivirus-specific upregulation of tRNA synthetases. mBio 2014 Mar 11;5(2):e00902-14.
Marka A, Diamantidis A, Papa A, Valiakos G, Chaintoutis SC, Doukas D, Tserkezou P, Giannakopoulos A, Papaspyropoulos K, Patsoula E, Badieritakis E, Baka A, Tseroni M, Pervanidou D, Papadopoulos NT, Koliopoulos G, Tontis D, Dovas CI, Billinis C, Tsakris A, Kremastinou J, Hadjichristodoulou C, Vakalis N, Vassalou E, Zarzani S, Zounos A, Komata K, Balatsos G, Beleri S, Mpimpa A, Papavasilopoulos V, Rodis I, Spanakos G, Tegos N, Spyrou V, Dalabiras Z, Birtsas P, Athanasiou L, Papanastassopoulou M, Ioannou C, Athanasiou C, Gerofotis C, Papadopoulou E, Testa T, Tsakalidou O, Rachiotis G, Bitsolas N, Mamouris Z, Moutou K, Sarafidou T, Stamatis K, Sarri K, Tsiodras S, Georgakopoulou T, Detsis M, Mavrouli M, Stavropoulou A, Politi L, Mageira G, Christopoulou V, Diamantopoulou G, Spanakis N, Vrioni G, Piperaki ET, Mitsopoulou K, Kioulos I, Michaelakis A, Stathis I, Tselentis I, Psaroulaki A, Keramarou M, Chochlakis D, Photis Y, Konstantinou M, Manetos P, Tsobanoglou S, Mourelatos S, Antalis V, Pergantas P, Eleftheriou G. West Nile virus state of the art report of MALWEST Project. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2013 Dec 2;10(12):6534-610.
Clarke P, Leser JS, Quick ED, Dionne KR, Beckham JD, Tyler KL. Death receptor-mediated apoptotic signaling is activated in the brain following infection with West Nile virus in the absence of a peripheral immune response. J Virol 2014 Jan;88(2):1080-9.
Fraisier C, Camoin L, Lim SM, Bakli M, Belghazi M, Fourquet P, Granjeaud S, Osterhaus AD, Koraka P, Martina B, Almeras L. Altered protein networks and cellular pathways in severe west nile disease in mice. PLoS One 2013;8(7):e68318.
Lazear HM, Lancaster A, Wilkins C, Suthar MS, Huang A, Vick SC, Clepper L, Thackray L, Brassil MM, Virgin HW, Nikolich-Zugich J, Moses AV, Gale M Jr, Früh K, Diamond MS. IRF-3, IRF-5, and IRF-7 coordinately regulate the type I IFN response in myeloid dendritic cells downstream of MAVS signaling. PLoS Pathog 2013 Jan;9(1):e1003118.
Bampali M, Kouvela A, Kesesidis N, Kassela K, Dovrolis N, Karakasiliotis I. West Nile Virus Subgenomic RNAs Modulate Gene Expression in a Neuronal Cell Line. Viruses 2024 May 20;16(5).
De Lorenzo R, Mazza MG, Sciorati C, Leone R, Scavello F, Palladini M, Merolla A, Ciceri F, Bottazzi B, Garlanda C, Benedetti F, Rovere-Querini P, Manfredi AA. Post-COVID Trajectory of Pentraxin 3 Plasma Levels Over 6 Months and Their Association with the Risk of Developing Post-Acute Depression and Anxiety. CNS Drugs 2024 Jun;38(6):459-472.
Pavesi A, Tiecco G, Rossi L, Sforza A, Ciccarone A, Compostella F, Lovatti S, Tomasoni LR, Castelli F, Quiros-Roldan E. Inflammatory Response Associated with West Nile Neuroinvasive Disease: A Systematic Review. Viruses 2024 Feb 29;16(3).