Asian Zika Virus Isolate Significantly Changes the Transcriptional Profile and Alternative RNA Splicing Events in a Neuroblastoma Cell Line

Authors

Morgan A. Sammons, University at Albany, State University of New York
Gaston Bonenfant, University at Albany, State University of New York
Pheonah Badu, University at Albany, State University of New York
J. Andrew Berglund, University at Albany, State University of New York
Cara T. Pager, University at Albany, State University of New York
Ryan Meng, University at Albany, State University of New York
Carl Shotwell, University at Albany, State University of New York
Anne F. Payne, New York State Department of Health
Alexander T. Ciota, University at Albany, State University of New York

Preview

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-5-2020

DOI

https://doi.org/10.3390/v12050510

Abstract

The alternative splicing of pre-mRNAs expands a single genetic blueprint to encode multiple, functionally diverse protein isoforms. Viruses have previously been shown to interact with, depend on, and alter host splicing machinery. The consequences, however, incited by viral infection on the global alternative slicing (AS) landscape are under-appreciated. Here, we investigated the transcriptional and alternative splicing profile of neuronal cells infected with a contemporary Puerto Rican Zika virus (ZIKV^PR) isolate, an isolate of the prototypical Ugandan ZIKV (ZIKV^MR), and dengue virus 2 (DENV2). Our analyses revealed that ZIKV^PR induced significantly more differential changes in expressed genes compared to ZIKV^MR or DENV2, despite all three viruses showing equivalent infectivity and viral RNA levels. Consistent with the transcriptional profile, ZIKV^PR induced a higher number of alternative splicing events compared to ZIKV^MR or DENV2, and gene ontology analyses highlighted alternative splicing changes in genes associated with mRNA splicing. In summary, we show that ZIKV affects cellular RNA homeostasis not only at the transcriptional levels but also through the alternative splicing of cellular transcripts. These findings could provide new molecular insights into the neuropathologies associated with this virus.

Comments

This is the Publisher’s PDF of the following article made available by Viruses: Bonenfant G, Meng R, Shotwell C, Badu P, Payne AF, Ciota AT, Sammons MA, Berglund JA, Pager CT. Asian Zika Virus Isolate Significantly Changes the Transcriptional Profile and Alternative RNA Splicing Events in a Neuroblastoma Cell Line. Viruses. 2020; 12(5):510. https://doi.org/10.3390/v12050510

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Sammons, Morgan A.; Bonenfant, Gaston; Badu, Pheonah; Berglund, J. Andrew; Pager, Cara T.; Meng, Ryan; Shotwell, Carl; Payne, Anne F.; and Ciota, Alexander T., "Asian Zika Virus Isolate Significantly Changes the Transcriptional Profile and Alternative RNA Splicing Events in a Neuroblastoma Cell Line" (2020). Biological Sciences Faculty Scholarship. 22.
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/biology_fac_scholar/22