Analysis of miRNA Expression Profiling of RIP2 Knockdown in Chicken HD11 Cells When Infected with Avian Pathogenic E. coli (APEC)

Abstract

Colibacillosis is an acute and chronic avian disease caused by avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC). Previous studies have demonstrated that RIP2 plays a significant role in APEC infection. Moreover, increasing evidence indicates that microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in host–pathogen interactions and the immune response. However, the role of miRNAs in the host against APEC infection remains unclear. Herein, we attempted to reveal new miRNAs potentially involved in the regulation of the immune and inflammatory response against APEC infection, with a particular focus on those possibly correlated with RIP2 expression, via miRNA-seq, RT-qPCR, Western blotting, dual-luciferase reporter assay, and CCK-8. The results showed that a total of 93 and 148 differentially expressed (DE) miRNAs were identified in the knockdown of RIP2 cells following APEC infection (shRIP2+APEC) vs. knockdown of RIP2 cells (shRIP2) and shRIP2 vs. wild-type cells (WT), respectively. Among those identified DE miRNAs, the biological function of gga-miR-455-5p was investigated. It was found that gga-miR-455-5p regulated by RIP2 was involved in the immune and inflammatory response against APEC infection via targeting of IRF2 to modulate the expression of type I interferons. Additionally, RIP2 could directly regulate the production of the type I interferons. Altogether, these findings highlighted the crucial role of miRNAs, especially gga-miR-455-5p, in host defense against APEC infection.

Differential responses to avian pathogenic E. coli and the regulatory role of splenic miRNAs in APEC infection in Silkie chickens

“…MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that modulate gene expression at the posttranscriptional level either by inhibiting mRNA translation or by promoting mRNA degradation ( Correia de Sousa et al., 2019 ). As essential regulators, many miRNAs are involved in regulating pathological and physiological processes after APEC infection ( Jia et al., 2016 ; Sun et al, 2022a ; Yin et al., 2022 ). Several studies have suggested that the miRNA expression profile may be a valuable biomarker for the diagnosis, prognosis, and prediction of response to therapy, as well as a powerful tool for disease prevention and treatment ( Jia et al., 2016 ; Hrach and Mangone, 2019 ; Becker et al., 2021 ).…”

Editorial of Special Issue “Roles of Inflammasomes and Methyltransferases in Inflammation”

“…Another research article by the same research group further reported new microRNAs (miRNAs) that are potentially involved in the modulation of the APEC infection-induced inflammatory response. This study identified gga-miR-445-5p, which is differentially regulated by RIP2, and demonstrated that gga-miR-445-5p played a critical role in the inflammatory response against APEC infection via targeting IRF2 to regulate type I interferons expression [ 14 ].…”