Comparative Expression Profile Analysis of Apoptosis-Related miRNA and Its Target Gene in Leishmania major Infected Macrophages

• Published in: Iranian journal of parasitology 2020-07, Vol.15 (3), p.332-340
• Main Authors: Lasjerdi, Zohreh, Ghanbarian, Hossein, Mohammadi Yeganeh, Samira, Seyyed Tabaei, Seyyed Javad, Mohebali, Mehdi, Taghipour, Niloofar, Koochaki, Ameneh, Hamidi, Faezeh, Gholamrezaei, Mostafa, Haghighi, Ali
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Apoptosis; Bioinformatics; Gene expression; In vitro; Leishmania major; Macrophage; MicroRNAs; Original; Parasitic diseases
• ISSN: 1735-7020; 2008-238X
• DOI: 10.18502/ijpa.v15i3.4197

Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is an emerging uncontrollable and neglected infectious disease worldwide including Iran. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression profile of apoptosis-related miRNA and its target gene in macrophages. This study was carried out in the Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran from January 2016 to November 2018. Applying literature reviews, bioinformatics software, and microarray expression analysis, we selected miRNA-24-3p interfering in apoptosis pathway. The expression profile of this miRNA and target gene were investigated in (MRHO/IR/75/ER)-infected primary and RAW 264.7 macrophages (IBRC-C10072) compared with non-infected macrophages (control group) using quantitative Real-time PCR. Results of bioinformatics analysis showed that miR-24-3p as anti-apoptotic miRNA inhibits pro-apoptotic genes (Caspases 3 and 7). Microarray expression data presented in Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) revealed a significant difference in the expression level of selected miRNA and its target gene between two groups. QRT-PCR results showed that the expression of miR-24-3p was upregulated in infectioned macrophages that approved the results of bioinformatics and microarray analysis. Parasite can alter miRNAs expression pattern in the host cells to establish infection and its survival. Alteration in miRNAs levels likely plays an important role in regulating macrophage functions following infection. These results could highlight current understanding and new insights concerning the gene expression in macrophages during leishmaniasis and will help to development of novel strategies for control and treatment of CL.