Artificial microRNA (amiRNA)-mediated inhibition of viral replication has recently gained importance as a strategy for antiviral therapy. In this study, we evaluated the benefit of using the amiRNA vector against Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). We designed three single amiRNA sequences against the consensus sequence of 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) of JEV and tested their efficacy against cell culture-grown JEV Vellore strain (P20778) in neuronal cells. The binding ability of three amiRNAs on 3'UTR region was tested in vitro in HEK293T cells using a JEV 3'UTR tagged with luciferase reporter vector. Transient transfection of amiRNAs was nontoxic to cells as evident from the MTT assay and caused minimal induction in interferon-stimulated gene expression. Furthermore, our result suggested that transient expression of two amiRNAs (amiRNA #1 and amiRNA #2) significantly reduced intracellular viral RNA and nonstructural 1 (NS1) protein, as well as diminished infectious viral particle release up to 95% in the culture supernatant as evident from viral plaque reduction assay. Overall, our results indicated that RNA interference based on amiRNAs targeting viral conserved regions at 3'UTR was a useful approach for improvements of nucleic acid inhibitors against JEV.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) released from the activated microglia upon neurotropic virus infection may exacerbate the neuronal damage. Here, we identified let-7a and let-7b (let-7a/b) as one of the essential miRNAs over-expressed upon Japanese Encephalitis virus (JEV) infection and released in the culture supernatant of the JEV-infected microglial cells through extracellular vesicles. The let-7a/b was previously reported to modulate inflammation in microglial cells through Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) pathways; although their role in accelerating JEV pathogenesis remain unexplored. Therefore, we studied the role of let-7a/b in modulating microglia-mediated inflammation during JEV infection and investigated the effect of let-7a/b-containing exosomes on primary neurons. To this end, we examined let-7a/b and NOTCH signaling pathway in TLR7 knockdown (KD) mice. We observed that TLR7 KD or inhibition of let-7a/b suppressed the JEV-induced NOTCH activation possibly via NF-κB dependent manner and subsequently, attenuated JEV-induced TNFα production in microglial cells. Furthermore, exosomes secreted from let-7a/b over-expressed microglia when transferred to uninfected mice brain induced caspase activation. Exosomes secreted from virus-infected or let-7a/b over-expressed microglia when co-incubated with mouse neuronal (Neuro2a) cells or primary cortical neurons also facilitated caspase activation leading to neuronal death. Thus, our results provide evidence for the multifaceted role of let-7a/b miRNAs in JEV pathogenesis. Let-7a/b can interact with TLR7 and NOTCH signaling pathway and enhance TNFα release from microglia. On the other hand, the exosomes secreted by JEV-infected microglia can activate caspases in uninfected neuronal cells which possibly contribute to bystander neuronal death. Cover Image for this issue: doi: 10.1111/jnc.14506.

Microglia cells in the brain play essential role during Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) infection and may lead to change in microRNA (miRNA) and mRNA profile. These changes may together control disease outcome. Using Affymetrix microarray platform, we profiled cellular miRNA and mRNA expression at multiple time points during viral infection in human microglial (CHME3) cells. In silico analysis of microarray data revealed a phased pattern of miRNAs expression, associated with JEV replication and provided unique signatures of infection. Target prediction and pathway enrichment analysis identified anti correlation between differentially expressed miRNA and the gene expression at multiple time point which ultimately affected diverse signaling pathways including Notch signaling pathways in microglia. Activation of Notch pathway during JEV infection was demonstrated in vitro and in vivo. The expression of a subset of miRNAs that target multiple genes in Notch signaling pathways were suppressed and their overexpression could affect JEV induced immune response. Further analysis provided evidence for the possible presence of cellular competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) associated with innate immune response. Collectively, our data provide a uniquely comprehensive view of the changes in the host miRNAs induced by JEV during cellular infection and identify Notch pathway in modulating microglia mediated inflammation.