Identification and expression analysis of cellular and viral microRNAs in CyHV3-infected KCF-1 cells

Host microRNA analysis in cyprinid Herpesvirus-3 (CyHV-3) infected common carp

“…Very little is known concerning the role of microRNA expression during CyHV3 infection. We found only two reports [9, 10] about this subject, however, they focus mainly on the virus encoded miRNAs while leaving the role of the host components largely uninvestigated. The authors of one of these reports [9] furthermore confirmed the expression of two identified virus encoded miRNAs in vivo i.e.…”

“…Both studies were performed using an in vitro model of infection, namely CCB and KCF-1 cell lines. Although for one of these reports [10] cellular miRNAs were also analysed in the course of CyHV-3 infection their value is greatly reduced because of the lack of a host immune component, which is a common shortcoming of the in vitro models [10]. To overcome this obstacle we performed an experiment in vivo using CyHV3 infected carps.…”

“…The small number of differentially expressed miRNAs in the latent versus clinical phase reflects the probable recovery of the host to more physiological (healthy) conditions with parallel physiological expression of relevant miRNAs. Such a situation is appropriate to the in vivo conditions therefore the results of the cited cell culture study [10] have only a limited value in the study of the pathogenesis of CyHV-3 infection in common carp and cannot be compared. Validation of four highly dysregulated miRNAs and three novel miRNAs confirmed the good correlation between findings using both NGS and qRT-PCR.…”

“…It is interesting to note that only very limited data concerning the role of miRNAs during CyHV-3 infection of carp exists to date. We found only two reports [9, 10] about this subject, however, they focus mainly on the role of virus encoded miRNAs while leaving the role of the host components largely uninvestigated. This is not surprising as both studies were performed using an in vitro model of infection namely CCB (common carp brain) and KCF − 1 (caudal fin of koi) cell lines.…”

“…This is not surprising as both studies were performed using an in vitro model of infection namely CCB (common carp brain) and KCF − 1 (caudal fin of koi) cell lines. Although analyses from one of the reports also indicate that cellular miRNAs are involved in the course of CyHV-3 infection, their value is greatly reduced due to the lack of a host immune component, which is a common shortcoming of in vitro models [10]. This shortcoming is especially significant in the herpesvirus infection as herpesviruses are masters in evading host immune response with miRNAs participating significantly in the underlying mechanisms.…”