Combined miRNA and mRNA Signature Identifies Key Molecular Players and Pathways Involved in Chikungunya Virus Infection in Human Cells

Since its discovery, Chikungunya fever caused by a virus (CHIKV) has ravaged most of Africa and Southeast Asia. Despite there being more than a million reported cases in India alone and the seriousness of the disease in the chronic phase, a clear understanding of the disease pathogenesis and host response remains elusive. Here, we use microarray technology and quantitative PCR method to establish the complete miRNA, snoRNA and mRNA signature of host response upon CHIKV infection in human cell line infection model, HEK293T. The results were further validated in human primary cells (dermal fibroblasts). miRNA expression profiling revealed regulation of 152 miRNAs post CHIKV infection. An interesting overlap in miRNA signature was seen majorly with HCV, HPV and HIV1 virus. The microarray data further validated by qRT-PCR revealed induction of miR-744, miR-638, miR-503 and others among the top upregulated miRNAs. Notably, we found induction of snoRNAs belonging to C/D cluster including close paralogs of U3, U44, U76 and U78 snoRNAs. Genes were found to be differentially expressed along 3 major pathways; TGF-β, endocytosis and the cell cycle pathways. qRT-PCR data confirmed strong induction of TGF-β (SMAD6, JUN, SKIL) and endocytosis pathway (CXCR4, HSPA8, ADRB1) genes while downregulation of cell cycle genes (CDC27 and CDC23). Interestingly, use of TGF-β inhibitor, SB-431542, increased CHIKV mediated cell death. Overall, this study aims at providing the first complete transcriptome signature of host response upon CHIKV infection to aid identification of possible biomarkers and therapeutic targets.