Determining Immune and miRNA Biomarkers Related to Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Vaccine Types

EBV-microRNAs as Potential Biomarkers in EBV-related Fever: A Narrative Review

At present, timely and accurate diagnosis and effective treatment of Epstein- Barr Virus (EBV) infection-associated fever remain a difficult challenge. EBV encodes 44 mature microRNAs (miRNAs) that inhibit viral lysis, adjust inflammatory response, regulate cellular apoptosis, promote tumor genesis and metastasis, and regulate tumor cell metabolism. Herein, we have collected the specific expression data of EBV-miRNAs in EBV-related fevers, including infectious mononucleosis (IM), EBVassociated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (EBV-HLH), chronic active EBV infection (CAEBV), and EBV-related tumors, and proposed the potential value of EBVmiRNAs as biomarkers to assist in the identification, diagnosis, and prognosis of EBVrelated fever, as well as therapeutic targets for drug development.

RNA2Immune: A Database of Experimentally Supported Data Linking Non-coding RNA Regulation to The Immune System

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), such as microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs), have emerged as important regulators of the immune system and are involved in the control of immune cell biology, disease pathogenesis, as well as vaccine responses. A repository of ncRNA-immune associations will facilitate our understanding of ncRNA-dependent mechanisms in the immune system and advance the development of therapeutics and prevention for immune disorders. Here, we describe a comprehensive database, RNA2Immune, which aims to provide a high-quality resource of experimentally supported database linking ncRNA regulatory mechanisms to immune cell function, immune disease, cancer immunology, and vaccines. The current version of RNA2Immune documents 50,433 immune-ncRNA associations in 42 host species, including (1) 6690 ncRNA associations with immune functions involving 31 immune cell types; (2) 38,672 ncRNA associations with 348 immune diseases; (3) 4833 ncRNA associations with cancer immunology; and (4) 238 ncRNA associations with vaccine responses involving 26 vaccine types targeting 22 diseases. RNA2Immune provides a user-friendly interface for browsing, searching, and downloading ncRNA-immune system associations. Collectively, RNA2Immune provides important information about how ncRNAs influence immune cell function, how dysregulation of these ncRNAs leads to pathological consequences (immune diseases and cancers), and how ncRNAs affect immune responses to vaccines. RNA2Immune is available at http://bio-bigdata.hrbmu.edu.cn/rna2immune/home.jsp.

Using MicroRNA Arrays as a Tool to Evaluate COVID-19 Vaccine Efficacy

In order to solve COVID-19 pandemic, the entire world has invested considerable manpower to develop various new vaccines to temporarily alleviate the disaster caused by the epidemic. In addition to the development of vaccines, we need to also develop effective assessment methods to confirm vaccines’ efficacy and maximize the benefits that vaccines can bring. In addition to common evaluation methods, vaccine-specific and temporal expression of microRNAs have been shown to be related to vaccine efficacy or vaccine-associated diseases. In this article, we have introduced a microRNA-array-based approach, which could be potentially used for evaluating COVID-19 vaccine efficacy, specifically for pregnant women. As the mRNA in mRNA vaccines is decomposed by host cells within a few days, it is considered more suitable for pregnant women to utilize the method of vaccination during pregnancy. Moreover, pregnant women belong to a high-risk group for COVID-19, and there is currently no appropriate vaccine to newborns. Therefore, it’s important to find improved tools for evaluation of vaccine efficacy in response to the current situation caused by COVID-19.

Micro-Players of Great Significance-Host microRNA Signature in Viral Infections in Humans and Animals

Over time, more and more is becoming known about micro-players of great significance. This is particularly the case for microRNAs (miRNAs; miR), which have been found to participate in the regulation of many physiological and pathological processes in both humans and animals. One such process is viral infection in humans and animals, in which the host miRNAs—alone or in conjunction with the virus—interact on two levels: viruses may regulate the host’s miRNAs to evade its immune system, while the host miRNAs can play anti- or pro-viral roles. The purpose of this comprehensive review is to present the key miRNAs involved in viral infections in humans and animals. We summarize the data in the available literature, indicating that the signature miRNAs in human viral infections mainly include 12 miRNAs (i.e., miR-155, miR-223, miR-146a, miR-122, miR-125b, miR-132, miR-34a, miR -21, miR-16, miR-181 family, let-7 family, and miR-10a), while 10 miRNAs are commonly found in animals (i.e., miR-155, miR-223, miR-146a, miR-145, miR-21, miR-15a/miR-16 cluster, miR-181 family, let-7 family, and miR-122) in this context. Knowledge of which miRNAs are involved in different viral infections and the biological functions that they play can help in understanding the pathogenesis of viral diseases, facilitating the future development of therapeutic agents for both humans and animals.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus Nonstructural Protein 1 Promotes 5-Lipoxygenase via miR-19a-3p

Background

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection can regulate the expression of a wide range of noncoding microRNAs (miRNAs), in which mir-19a-3p can participate in airway inflammatory response by regulating 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) pathway. RSV nonstructural protein (NS) 1 is involved in the airway hyperresponsiveness during RSV infection.

Methods

The expression levels of miR-19a-3p and inflammatory signaling-related indicators were detected using quantitative real-time PCR and western blot analyses on the A549 cells transfected with NS1 expression plasmids (pNS1). The 5-LO-mediated inflammatory signaling pathway was assessed when the miR-19a-3p or 5-LO was inhibited.

Results

The immunofluorescence analysis showed that the plasmid-mediated NS1 protein was observed in both the cytoplasm and nucleus. The expression level of miR-19a-3p was significantly upregulated in the pNS1 or RSV-treated cells, which was reversed by the NS1 small interfering RNA. In addition, pNS1 also upregulated the expression of 5-LO, interleukin-5 (IL-5), and leukotriene B4 (LTB4), which was also significantly inhibited by the miR-19a-3p antagonists. The 5-LO inhibitor MK886 prevented the increase in the expression level of IL-5 induced by pNS1.

Conclusions

These results suggested that the RSV NS1 might play an important role in the pathogenesis of RSV by activating the 5-LO and subsequent inflammatory cytokines through miR-19a-3p.

The Influence of Host miRNA Binding to RNA Within RNA Viruses on Virus Multiplication

microRNAs (miRNAs), non-coding RNAs about 22 nt long, regulate the post-transcription expression of genes to influence many cellular processes. The expression of host miRNAs is affected by virus invasion, which also affects virus replication. Increasing evidence has demonstrated that miRNA influences RNA virus multiplication by binding directly to the RNA virus genome. Here, the knowledge relating to miRNAs’ relationships between host miRNAs and RNA viruses are discussed.

Integrated Trinity Test With RPA-CRISPR/Cas12a-Fluorescence for Real-Time Detection of Respiratory Syncytial Virus A or B

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common virus that causes respiratory infection, especially severe respiratory infection in infants and young children, the elderly people over 65 years old, and people with weak immunity. Currently, RSV infection has no effective vaccine and antiviral treatment. The number of deaths due to RSV infection increases every year. Moreover, RSV A infection occurs in a large number and has severe clinical symptoms and complications than RSV B infection. Therefore, the development of a simple, rapid, and inexpensive detection method with high amplification efficiency, high sensitivity, and specificity is very important for the diagnosis of RSV A or RSV B infection, which can help in the early clinical medication and prevent the progress of the disease. Therefore, we developed an integrated trinity test with an RPA-CRISPR/Cas12a-fluorescence (termed IT-RAISE) assay system to detect RSV A or RSV B. The characteristic of the IT-RAISE system is that after target recognition, the reporter single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) is cleaved by Cas12a that is activated by different crRNAs to detect the generated fluorescent signal. This method is simple and helps in adding all reagents rapidly. It is a high-sensitive method that can detect 1.38 × 10¹ copies/μl of the target sequences, and it can distinguish RSV A or RSV B infection within 37 min. In addition, clinical specimens were detected for IT-RAISE system. It was found that the sensitivity and specificity of RSV A were 73.08 and 90%, respectively, and those of RSV B were 42.86 and 93.33%, respectively. The cost of ONE specimen for IT-RAISE system was approximately $ 2.6 (excluding rapid RNA extraction and reverse transcription costs). IT-RAISE system has good clinical application prospects for detecting RSV A or RSV B infection; it is a simple, rapid, and inexpensive method with high amplification efficiency, high sensitivity, and high specificity. The IT-RAISE system might also detect other viral or bacterial infections.

microRNAs: An opportunity to overcome significant challenges in malaria detection and control

Organ damage and pathological disease states lead to the rapid release of microRNAs (miRNAs), a class of endogenous small non-coding RNAs, into the blood circulation. Because secreted miRNAs can be detected in biologic fluids such as plasma, they are currently being explored as promising non-invasive biomarkers of infectious and non-infectious diseases. Malaria remains a major global health challenge but still the potential of miRNAs has not been explored extensively in the context of malaria compared to other diseases. Here, we highlight important miRNAs found during different phases of the malaria life cycle in the anopheline vector and the human host. We have also put forward our opinion on how malaria parasite-stage-specific miRNAs can be incorporated into new diagnostic and prognostic tools to detect carrier mosquitoes and infected patients. In addition, we have emphasised the potential of miRNAs to be used as new therapeutics to treat severe malaria patients, an unresearched area of malaria control.

Harnessing the Potential of miRNAs in Malaria Diagnostic and Prevention

Despite encouraging progress over the past decade, malaria remains a major global health challenge. Its severe form accounts for the majority of malaria-related deaths, and early diagnosis is key for a positive outcome. However, this is hindered by the non-specific symptoms caused by malaria, which often overlap with those of other viral, bacterial and parasitic infections. In addition, current tools are unable to detect the nature and degree of vital organ dysfunction associated with severe malaria, as complications develop silently until the effective treatment window is closed. It is therefore crucial to identify cheap and reliable early biomarkers of this wide-spectrum disease. microRNAs (miRNAs), a class of small non-coding RNAs, are rapidly released into the blood circulation upon physiological changes, including infection and organ damage. The present review details our current knowledge of miRNAs as biomarkers of specific organ dysfunction in patients with malaria, and both promising candidates identified by pre-clinical models and important knowledge gaps are highlighted for future evaluation in humans. miRNAs associated with infected vectors are also described, with a view to expandind this rapidly growing field of research to malaria transmission and surveillance.

Immunopathology of RSV: An Updated Review

RSV is a leading cause of respiratory tract disease in infants and the elderly. RSV has limited therapeutic interventions and no FDA-approved vaccine. Gaps in our understanding of virus-host interactions and immunity contribute to the lack of biological countermeasures. This review updates the current understanding of RSV immunity and immunopathology with a focus on interferon responses, animal modeling, and correlates of protection.

Elucidation of the Host Bronchial Lymph Node miRNA Transcriptome Response to Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) causes substantial morbidity and mortality, affecting cattle of all ages. One of the main causes of BRD is an initial inflammatory response to bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV). MicroRNAs are novel and emerging non-coding small RNAs that regulate many biological processes and are implicated in various inflammatory diseases. The objective of the present study was to elucidate the changes in the bovine bronchial lymph node miRNA transcriptome in response to BRSV following an experimental viral challenge. Holstein-Friesian calves were either administered a challenge dose of BRSV (103.5 TCID50/ml × 15 ml) (n = 12) or were mock inoculated with sterile phosphate buffered saline (n = 6). Daily scoring of clinical signs was performed and calves were euthanized at day 7 post-challenge. Bronchial lymph nodes were collected for subsequent RNA extraction and sequencing (75 bp). Read counts for known miRNAs were generated using the miRDeep2 package using the UMD3.1 reference genome and the bovine mature miRNA sequences from the miRBase database (release 22). EdgeR was used for differential expression analysis and Targetscan was used to identify target genes for the differentially expressed (DE) miRNAs. Target genes were examined for enriched pathways and gene ontologies using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (Qiagen). Multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) based on miRNA gene expression changes, revealed a clearly defined separation between the BRSV challenged and control calves, although the clinical manifestation of disease was only mild. One hundred and nineteen DE miRNAs (P < 0.05, FDR < 0.1, fold change > 1.5) were detected between the BRSV challenged and control calves. The DE miRNAs were predicted to target 465 genes which were previously found to be DE in bronchial lymph node tissue, between these BRSV challenged and control calves. Of the DE predicted target genes, 455 had fold changes that were inverse to the corresponding DE miRNAs. There were eight enriched pathways among the DE predicted target genes with inverse fold changes to their corresponding DE miRNA including: granulocyte and agranulocyte adhesion and diapedesis, interferon signalling and role of pathogen recognition receptors in recognition of bacteria and viruses. Functions predicted to be increased included: T cell response, apoptosis of leukocytes, immune response of cells and stimulation of cells. Pathogen recognition and proliferation of cytotoxic T cells are vital for the recognition of the virus and its subsequent elimination.

The role of cigarette smoke-induced pulmonary vascular endothelial cell apoptosis in COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the most common chronic respiratory diseases with high morbidity and mortality. It has become the fifth most burdened and the third most deadly disease in the global economy and increases year by year. The prevention and treatment of COPD are urgent. Smoking is the main and most common risk factor for COPD. Cigarette smoke (CS) contains a large number of toxic substances, can cause a series of changes in the trachea, lung tissue, pulmonary blood vessels, and promotes the occurrence and development of COPD. In recent years, the development of epigenetics and molecular biology have provided new guidance for revealing the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases. The latest research indicates that pulmonary vascular endothelial cell apoptosis initiates and participates in the pathogenesis of COPD. In this review, we summarize the current research on the epigenetic mechanisms and molecular biology of CS-induced pulmonary vascular endothelial cell apoptosis in COPD, providing a new research direction for pathogenesis of COPD and a new target for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of COPD.

miRNAs and Leukotrienes in Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNAs that regulate posttranscription by binding to 3'-untranslated regions of target mRNAs. Recent functional studies have elucidated mechanisms that miRNAs regulate leukotriene synthesis by perturbing arachidonic acid metabolism. Both microarrays and high-throughput sequencing revealed distinct differential expression of miRNAs in children with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection compared with healthy controls. Abnormal miRNA expression may contribute to higher leukotriene levels, which is associated with airway hyperreactivity. Targeting miRNAs may benefit to restore the homeostasis of inflammatory reaction and provide new strategies to alleviate airway hyperreactivity induced by RSV. In this article, we provide an overview of the current knowledge about miRNAs modulating leukotrienes through regulation of arachidonic acid metabolism with a special focus on miRNAs aberrantly expressed in children with RSV infection.