Global profiling of the alternative splicing landscape reveals transcriptomic diversity during the early phase of enterovirus 71 infection

Virology. 2020 Sep:548:213-225. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2020.06.011. Epub 2020 Jul 27.

Abstract

The alteration of host cell splicing is a major strategy favouring viral replication; however, the interaction between human tonsillar epithelial cells (HTECs) and enterovirus 71 (EV71) has not been fully elucidated. Here, a total of 201 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 3266 novel genes with coding potential were identified. A total of 3479 skipped exons (SEs), 515 alternative 3' splice sites (A3SSs), 391 alternative 5' splice sites (A5SSs), 531 mutually exclusive exons (MXEs) and 825 retained introns (RIs) were identified as significantly altered alternative splicing (AS) events. The enriched DEGs were mainly related to the cell cycle, spliceosome, and Toll-like receptor (TLR) signalling pathways. Finally, the replication of EV71 was significantly inhibited by TLR2 heterodimers. Our findings suggest that AS events induced by EV71 increase the transcriptomic diversity of HTECs in response to EV71 infection. Additionally, TLR2 heterodimers have the potential to protect HTECs against EV71.

Keywords: Enterovirus 71; Human tonsillar epithelial cells; RNA-Seq; Toll-like receptor 2 heterodimers; Transcriptome analysis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Alternative Splicing
  • Enterovirus A, Human / genetics
  • Enterovirus A, Human / physiology*
  • Enterovirus Infections / genetics*
  • Enterovirus Infections / metabolism
  • Enterovirus Infections / virology
  • Epithelial Cells / metabolism
  • Epithelial Cells / virology
  • Host-Pathogen Interactions
  • Humans
  • RNA Splice Sites
  • Transcriptome

Substances

  • RNA Splice Sites