Herpes simplex virus 1 miRNA sequence variations in latently infected human trigeminal ganglia

• Published in: Virus research 2018-09, Vol.256, p.90-95
• Main Authors: Cokarić Brdovčak, Maja, Zubković, Andreja, Ferenčić, Antun, Šoša, Ivan, Stemberga, Valter, Cuculić, Dražen, Rokić, Filip, Vugrek, Oliver, Hackenberg, Michael, Jurak, Igor
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Genetic Variation; Herpes Simplex - virology; Herpes simplex virus 1; Herpesvirus 1, Human - genetics; Herpesvirus 3, Human - genetics; Human trigeminal ganglia; Humans; Latency; MicroRNAs - genetics; miRNAs; RNA, Viral - genetics; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Sequence variation; Trigeminal Ganglion - virology; Virus Latency
• ISSN: 0168-1702; 1872-7492
• DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2018.08.002

•We analyzed human trigeminal ganglia infected with HSV-1.•Only a small subset of HSV-1 miRNAs is expressed in latently infected human TGs.•We revised the sequences of HSV-1 miRNAs.•HSV-1 expresses a high proportion of isomiRs.•No evidence for Varicella Zoster Virus miRNAs. Human herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) expresses numerous miRNAs, the function of which is not well understood. Several qualitative and quantitative analyses of HSV-1 miRNAs have been performed on infected cells in culture and animal models, however, there is very limited knowledge of their expression in human samples. We sequenced small-RNA libraries of RNA derived from human trigeminal ganglia latently infected with HSV-1 and Varicella zoster virus (VZV) and detected only a small subset of HSV-1 miRNA. The most abundantly expressed miRNAs are miR-H2, miRNA that regulates the expression of immediate early gene ICP0, and miR-H3 and –H4, both miRNAs expressed antisense to the transcript encoding the major neurovirulence factor ICP34.5. The sequence of many HSV-1 miRNAs detected in human samples was different from the sequences deposited in miRBase, which might significantly affect targeted functional analyses.