Comparative Expression Profile of miRNA and mRNA in Primary Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells Infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1)

Host cells respond to exogenous infectious agents such as viruses, including HIV-1. Studies have evaluated the changes associated with virus infection at the transcriptional and translational levels of the cellular genes involved in specific pathways. While this approach is useful, in our view it provides only a partial view of genome-wide changes. Recently, technological advances in the expression profiling at the microRNA (miRNA) and mRNA levels have made it possible to evaluate the changes in the components of multiple pathways. To understand the role of miRNA and its interplay with host cellular gene expression (mRNA) during HIV-1 infection, we performed a comparative global miRNA and mRNA microarray using human PBMCs infected with HIV-1. The PBMCs were derived from multiple donors and were infected with virus generated from the molecular clone pNL4-3. The results showed that HIV-1 infection led to altered regulation of 21 miRNAs and 444 mRNA more than 2-fold, with a statistical significance of p