Characterization of microRNA expression in B cells derived from Japanese black cattle naturally infected with bovine leukemia virus by deep sequencing

PLoS One. 2021 Sep 10;16(9):e0256588. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256588. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is the causative agent of enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL), a malignant B cell lymphoma. However, the mechanisms of BLV-associated lymphomagenesis remain poorly understood. Here, after deep sequencing, we performed comparative analyses of B cell microRNAs (miRNAs) in cattle infected with BLV and those without BLV. In BLV-infected cattle, BLV-derived miRNAs (blv-miRNAs) accounted for 38% of all miRNAs in B cells. Four of these blv-miRNAs (blv-miR-B1-5p, blv-miR-B2-5p, blv-miR-B4-3p, and blv-miR-B5-5p) had highly significant positive correlations with BLV proviral load (PVL). The read counts of 90 host-derived miRNAs (bta-miRNAs) were significantly down-regulated in BLV-infected cattle compared to those in uninfected cattle. Only bta-miR-375 had a positive correlation with PVL in BLV-infected cattle and was highly expressed in the B cell lymphoma tissue of EBL cattle. There were a few bta-miRNAs that correlated with BLV tax/rex gene expression; however, BLV AS1 expression had a significant negative correlation with many of the down-regulated bta-miRNAs that are important for tumor development and/or tumor suppression. These results suggest that BLV promotes lymphomagenesis via AS1 and blv-miRNAs, rather than tax/rex, by down-regulating the expression of bta-miRNAs that have a tumor-suppressing function, and this downregulation is linked to increased PVL.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • B-Lymphocytes / cytology
  • B-Lymphocytes / metabolism*
  • Cattle
  • Enzootic Bovine Leukosis / metabolism*
  • Leukemia Virus, Bovine / isolation & purification*
  • MicroRNAs / metabolism*
  • Proviruses / isolation & purification
  • Viral Load

Substances

  • MicroRNAs

Grants and funding

This study was partly supported by the Japan Racing and Livestock Promotion Foundation.