Long Noncoding RNA MIR122HG Inhibits MAVS-Mediated Antiviral Immune Response by Deriving miR-122 in Miiuy Croaker (Miichthys miiuy)

Abstract

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) function as micro regulators to impact gene expression after multiple pathogen infections, which have been largely studied in the last few years. Although lncRNA studies on lower vertebrates have received less attention than those on mammals, current studies suggest that lncRNA plays an important role in the immune response of fish to pathogen infections. Here, we studied the effect of MIR122HG as the host gene of miR-122 and indirectly negatively regulate MAVS-mediated antiviral immune responses in miiuy croaker (Miichthysmiiuy). We found that poly(I:C) significantly increases the host MIR122HG expression. The increased MIR122HG expression inhibited the production of the antiviral immune-related genes IFN-1, ISG15 and Viperin upon SCRV treatment. In addition, MIR122HG can act as a pivotally negative regulator involved in the MAVS-mediated NF-κB and IRF3 signaling pathways, which can effectively avoid an excessive immune response. Additionally, we found that MIR122HG can promote the replication of SCRV. Our study provides evidence about the involvement of lncRNAs in the antiviral immune response of fish and broadens the understanding of the function of lncRNAs as a precursor miRNA in teleost fish.

MicroRNA Regulation in Infectious Diseases and Its Potential as a Biosensor in Future Aquaculture Industry: A Review

“…There are four action modes in lncRNAs mechanism to interact with a range of DNAs, RNAs, and proteins to modulate the biological functions: (1) acts as molecular signalling inducer that can be used alone or interact with other transcriptional factors or enzymes to mediate the transcription; (2) acts as a molecular decoy which binds to functional proteins or miRNAs, thereby blocking the gene regulation or inhibitory effect of miRNAs on mRNA; (3) acts as a molecular guide to carry the functional proteins and localize on the target DNA area to perform the function; (4) acts as a molecular scaffold in which the same lncRNA binds to multiple transcription factors to regulate gene transcription [8][9][10]. Among these, the interaction between lncRNAs and miRNAs is the predominant action mode found in aquaculture that has been revealed by several studies [11][12][13][14]. However, lncRNAs are less genetically conserved across the species compared to miRNAs, but they can regulate most levels of gene regulations [15].…”