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. Overall design: artificial microRNA abundance profile before and after passaging of pooled Sindbis virus in cancer cells