Transcriptome analysis following enterovirus 71 and coxsackievirus A16 infection in respiratory epithelial cells

HMGB1 is involved in viral replication and the inflammatory response in coxsackievirus A16-infected 16HBE cells via proteomic analysis and identification

Coxsackievirus A16 (CV-A16) is still an important pathogen that causes hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in young children and infants worldwide. Previous studies indicated that CV-A16 infection is usually mild or self-limiting, but it was also found that CV-A16 infection can trigger severe neurological complications and even death. However, there are currently no vaccines or antiviral compounds available to either prevent or treat CV-A16 infection. Therefore, investigation of the virus‒host interaction and identification of host proteins that play a crucial regulatory role in the pathogenesis of CV-A16 infection may provide a novel strategy to develop antiviral drugs. Here, to increase our understanding of the interaction of CV-A16 with the host cell, we analyzed changes in the proteome of 16HBE cells in response to CV-A16 using tandem mass tag (TMT) in combination with LC‒MS/MS. There were 6615 proteins quantified, and 172 proteins showed a significant alteration during CV-A16 infection. These differentially regulated proteins were involved in fundamental biological processes and signaling pathways, including metabolic processes, cytokine‒cytokine receptor interactions, B-cell receptor signaling pathways, and neuroactive ligand‒receptor interactions. Further bioinformatics analysis revealed the characteristics of the protein domains and subcellular localization of these differentially expressed proteins. Then, to validate the proteomics data, 3 randomly selected proteins exhibited consistent changes in protein expression with the TMT results using Western blotting and immunofluorescence methods. Finally, among these differentially regulated proteins, we primarily focused on HMGB1 based on its potential effects on viral replication and virus infection-induced inflammatory responses. It was demonstrated that overexpression of HMGB1 could decrease viral replication and upregulate the release of inflammatory cytokines, but deletion of HMGB1 increased viral replication and downregulated the release of inflammatory cytokines. In conclusion, the results from this study have helped further elucidate the potential molecular pathogenesis of CV-A16 based on numerous protein changes and the functions of HMGB1 Found to be involved in the processes of viral replication and inflammatory response, which may facilitate the development of new antiviral therapies as well as innovative diagnostic methods.

Transcriptome sequencing analysis of echovirus 30 infection reveals its potential pathogenesis

Echovirus 30 (E30) causes various diseases, such as viral encephalitis; aseptic meningitis; hand, foot, and mouth diseases; and acute flaccid paralysis. Related neurological infections are most concerning. However, the molecular mechanisms of E30 pathogenesis are not fully understood. There is a growing research interest in E30 as a cause of neurological disease. The aim of this study was to describe E30 infection, especially the changes in differential factor expressions after infection, in human glioma (U251) cells and mice brains using transcriptome sequencing analysis. Clear changes in the gene expression of factors associated with the defense response to viruses, inflammation-related signaling pathways, and neurological complication-related pathways were observed. Our results suggest that after E30 infection, the genes related to immune response were induced in the human glioma cells and mice brains, whereas genes functioning in the development and function of neural tissue were inhibited. Overall, this study successfully established E30 infection of U251 and mouse brain tissue, profiled the infection-induced changes in cellular and organizational transcriptomes, and revealed the molecular level changes during E30 infection.