Binding of the Zika virus genome to endogenous human transcripts

This study aims to study binding events between the Zika virus RNA genome and endogenous transcripts during infection of a human cell line. We develop a novel psolaren-based cross-linking technique to preserve interactions between mRNA and the Zika genome. Interacting RNA molecules are ligated together prior to reversal of the cross-links and selection for Zika-containing fragments. Reverse transcription and paired-end high-throughput sequencing then allow us to identify the interacting transcripts. We generated three batches of libraries, where all samples in each batch were generated from the same pool of RNA. Within each batch, we have the livefire sample, where the protocol was performed as described above; a reverse-control sample, where the protocol was performed by reversing the cross-links prior to ligation; and a no-cross-link control, where the protocol was performed without any cross-linking. The latter two samples represent negative controls where no genuine interactions should be observed.