EBV BART MicroRNAs Target Multiple Pro-apoptotic Cellular Genes to Promote Epithelial Cell Survival

Here, we report a systematic effort to identify pro-apoptotic mRNA targets for the EBV miR-BART miRNAs. We demonstrate that at least five of the 22 miR-BART pre-miRNAs have anti-apoptotic activity and we identify seven pro-apoptotic cellular mRNA targets, six of them novel, that contribute significantly to the observed anti-apoptotic phenotype. Together, these data represent a substantial increase in our understanding of the role of the miR-BART miRNAs in promoting EBV infection and latency. Overall design: Use of deep sequencing to identify all the miRNAs expressed in C666 cells and PAR-CLIP to comprehensively profile EBV miRNA targets in C666 cells.