Effect of Zika virus noncoding RNA (sfRNA) on gene expression in human placental cells

Transcriptome-wide gene expression profiling of cells infected with WT and sfRNA-deficient ZIKV was performed to fully map the effects of sfRNA on the entire spectrum of host antiviral responses. The human placental cell line BeWo was used for this experiment as it is known to support ZIKV replication, is capable of responding to all three types of IFNs, and has a placental origin. BeWo cells were infected with WT ZIKV or xrRNA2’-mutant viruses and at 72 hpi and total RNA was isolated and used for RNA-Seq. RNA Seq data was subjected to the differential gene expression analysis, which demonstrated that production of sfrNA inhibits expression of antiviral genes. Comparison of gene expression in cells human placental cells infecetd with WT and sfRNA-deficient Zika virus agains mock-infected cells.