Whole transcriptome analysis after JEV infection in SH-SY5Y

Infection by neurotropic virus Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) is characterized by profound neuronal cell death and neuroinflammation. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are critical regulatory players in diverse biological processes, including viral pathogenesis. We use whole transcriptomic sequencing to identify a lncRNA JINR1 (JEV-induced non-coding RNA 1) induced upon JEV infection in neuronal cells. Transcription factor NF-κB triggers JINR-1 expression during JEV infection. Loss of JINR-1 impairs virus replication and reduces JEV-induced neuronal cell death and expression of genes involved in ER stress and neuroinflammation. Mechanistically, JINR1 inhibits the expression of mir-216-5p, which inhibits host factors GRP78 and c-JUN and the viral genome. In line with its role as a pro-viral host factor, JINR1 interacts with RBM10 and NF-κB to promote the expression of genes involved in ER stress and neuroinflammation. Our results suggest a role for JINR-1 in promoting JEV-induced cell death and neuroinflammation. Cell line: SH-SY5Y; Sample names: control (C1, C2, C3) and JEV infected (I1, I2, I3); Total RNA was isolated from control (C1,C2,C3), or JEV (MOI 5) infected (I1, I2, I3) SH-SY5Y cells 48 h post-infection and RNA sequencing was performed.