miRNA profiling of human naive CD4 T cells links miR-34c-5p to cell activation and HIV replication

Cell activation is a vital step for T-cell memory/effector differentiation as well as for productive HIV infection. To identify novel regulators of this process, we used next-generation sequencing to profile changes in microRNA expression occurring in purified human naive CD4 T cells in response to TCR stimulation and/or HIV infection. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, the transcriptional up-regulation of miR-34c-5p in response to TCR stimulation in naive CD4 T cells. The induction of this miR was further consistently found to be reduced by both HIV-1 and HIV-2 infections. Overexpression of miR-34c-5p led to changes in the expression of several genes involved in TCR signaling and cell activation, confirming its role as a novel regulator of naive CD4 T-cell activation. We additionally show that miR-34c-5p promotes HIV-1 replication, suggesting that its down-regulation during HIV infection may be part of an anti-viral host response.

Source: EMBO Journal - January 31, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Amaral, A. J., Andrade, J., Foxall, R. B., Matoso, P., Matos, A. M., Soares, R. S., Rocha, C., Ramos, C. G., Tendeiro, R., Serra-Caetano, A., Guerra-Assuncao, J. A., Santa-Marta, M., Goncalves, J., Gama-Carvalho, M., Sousa, A. E. Tags: Immunology, Microbiology, Virology & Host Pathogen Interaction Articles Source Type: research