Differential expression profiling of spleen microRNAs in response to two distinct type II interferons in Tetraodon nigroviridis

PLoS One. 2014 May 6;9(5):e96336. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0096336. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

MicroRNAs are endogenous, small non-coding RNAs approximately 18-26 nucleotides in length that regulate target gene expression at the post-transcription level. Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) is a Th1 cytokine that is involved in both the innate and adaptive immune responses. We previously identified two IFN-γ genes in green-spotted puffer fish (Tetraodon nigroviridis). To determine whether miRNAs participate in IFN-γ-related immune responses, T. nigroviridis spleen cells were treated with recombinant IFN-γ isoforms, and a Solexa high-throughput sequencing method was used to identify miRNAs. In total, 1,556, 1,538 and 1,573 miRNAs were found in the three samples, and differentially expressed miRNAs were determined. In total, 398 miRNAs were differentially expressed after rIFN-γ1 treatment, and 438 miRNAs were differentially expressed after rIFN-γ2 treatment; additionally, 403 miRNAs were differentially expressed between the treatment groups. Ten differentially expressed miRNAs were chosen for validation using qRT-PCR. Target genes for the differentially expressed miRNAs were predicted, and GO and KEGG analyses were performed. This study provides basic knowledge regarding fish IFN-γ-induced miRNAs and offers clues for further studies into the mechanisms underlying fish IFN-γ-mediated immune responses.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Conserved Sequence / genetics
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing / methods
  • Interferon-gamma / genetics
  • Interferon-gamma / metabolism*
  • MicroRNAs / genetics*
  • Spleen / metabolism*
  • Tetraodontiformes / genetics*
  • Tetraodontiformes / metabolism
  • Transcriptome / genetics*

Substances

  • MicroRNAs
  • Interferon-gamma

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31001126), the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (No. 20110171130005), the Open Project of the State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol (No. SKLBC12K01) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 11lgpy64). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.