Identification of microRNAs Involved in the Host Response to Enterovirus 71 Infection by a Deep Sequencing Approach

Role of microRNA (miRNA) has been highlighted in pathogen-host interactions recently. To identify cellular miRNAs involved in the host response to enterovirus 71 (EV71) infection, we performed a comprehensive miRNA profiling in EV71-infected Hep2 cells through deep sequencing. 64 miRNAs were found whose expression levels changed for more than 2-fold in response to EV71 infection. Gene ontology analysis revealed that many of these mRNAs play roles in neurological process, immune response, and cell death pathways, which are known to be associated with the extreme virulence of EV71. To our knowledge, this is the first study on host miRNAs expression alteration response to EV71 infection. Our findings supported the hypothesis that certain miRNAs might be essential in the host-pathogen interactions.