Transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms that regulate the genetic program in Zika virus-infected macrophages

Besides our understanding of the effects of ZIKA virus (ZIKV) infection on neural progenitors' cells the pathogenesis of this RNA virus also involves antigen-presenting cells, including macrophages. However, the molecular mechanisms that control gene activation and repression associated with the macrophage response to acute ZIKV infection are not fully understood. We approached the issue by RNA-seq and miRNA-seq datasets to understand the genetic program of ZIKV-infected macrophages. Results indicate that macrophage activates a regulatory program, involving 1067 differentially expressed genes. These genetic programs induced an inflammatory response mediated by chemokines as well as an interferon-independent anti-viral response, presumptively activated by IL-27. Additionally, the pathogenetic process involves changes in other signaling pathways such as cellular stress, cell signaling, metabolism, and cell differentiation. Furthermore, transcriptional control analysis revealed regulatory functions of key transcription factors principally, NFκB and STAT1, as well as HIF1A, ETV7, and PRMD1 that are associated with metabolic reprogramming during viral infection. We also noted six long-noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) that may act in the regulation of gene expression, including MROCKI and ZC2HC1A-2, that are involved in the inflammatory response and expression of the cytokines, respectively. On the other hand, post-transcriptional control by miRNAs, including miR-155–5p and miR-146a-5p, are associated with modulation of genes related to inflammatory and antiviral responses. Relevant to the post-transcriptional control, our data unveiled the role of RNA binding proteins that have diverse functions such as ribonucleases (PNPT1, ZC3H12A, and ZC3HAV1), splicing factors (SSB, RBM11, and RAVER2), and RNA modifiers (PARP10 and PARP14). Overall, the results establish an unbiased approach to discerning the wiring of a regulatory mechanism controlling the genetic program in ZIKV-infected macrophages.