Targeted NGS on artificial microRNAs expressed by a pool of heterogeneous Sindbis viruses

Purpose: Next-generation sequencing (NGS) on targeted locus in Sindbis genome to determine frequency changes of artificial microRNAs expressed by viruses after passaging in cancer and normal cells Methods: RNA was harvested in Trizol 488 (Thermo Fisher). RNA was extracted using the manufacturer’s protocol and quantified by nanodrop. Sequencing was done by SeqMatic on a MiSeq v3 platform generating 75bp reads. Adapters were trimmed using Trimmomatic and adapter-free reads represent artificial microRNAs encoded by Sindbis virus in a sample. Results: We have identified changes in artificial microRNA frequency after passaging virus pool in cancer and normal cells and have identified microRNAs increasing viral fitness in cancer cells. Conclusions: Our study represents artificial microRNAs which target pathways that can aid oncolytic viral replication in cancer cells. artificial microRNA abundance profile before and after passaging of pooled Sindbis virus in cancer cells