The role of microRNAs in enteroviral infections

ABSTRACTThe genus Enterovirus, a member of thePicornavirus family, are RNA viruses that can cause poliomyelitis, hand-food-mouth disease, viral meningitis or meningoencephalitis, viral myocarditis and so on. MicroRNAs are a class of highly conserved, small noncoding RNAs recognized as important regulators of gene expression. Recent studies found that MicroRNAs play a significant role in the infection ofEnterovirus, such as enterovirus 71, coxsackievirus B3 and other Enterovirus. Enteroviral infection can alter the expression of cellular MicroRNAs, and cellular MicroRNAs can modulate viral pathogenesis and replication by regulating the expression level of viral or host's genes. Herein, this review summarizes the role of MicroRNAs in enteroviral infection.

Expression of fljB: z66 on a linear plasmid of Salmonella enterica serovar typhi is dependent on FliA and FlhDC and regulated by OmpR

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi z66-positive strains have two different flagellin genes, fliC:d/j and fljB:z66, located on the chromosome and on a linear plasmid, respectively. To investigate the mechanism underlying the expressional regulation of fljB:z66, gene deletion mutants of the regulators FliA, FlhDC, and OmpR were constructed in this study. The expression levels of fliC and fljB:z66 were analyzed by qRT-PCR in the wild-type strain and mutants at high and low osmolarity. The results show that the expression levels of both fljB:z66 and fliC were greatly reduced in fliA and flhDC mutants under both high and low osmotic conditions. In the ompR mutant, the expression levels of fljB:z66, fliC, fliA, and flhD were increased at low osmotic conditions. SDS-PAGE and western blotting analysis of the secreted proteins revealed that the FljB:z66 was almost absent in the fliA and flhDC mutants at both high and low osmolarity. In the wild-type strain, the fljB:z66 was more highly expressed under high-osmolarity conditions than under low-osmolarity conditions. However, this difference in expression disappeared in the ompR mutant. Translational expression assay of FljB:z66 showed that the FljB:z66 expression was decreased in ompR mutant at both low and high osmolarity. These results suggest that the expression of fljB:z66 in S. enterica serovar Typhi is dependent on FliA and FlihDC, and OmpR can regulate the expression and secretion of FljB:z66 in different osmolarity.