miRNA expression profile in non‐human primate in response to Yersinia pestis infection (1138.3)

miRNA expression profile in non‐human primate in response to Yersinia pestis infection George Dimitrov, Candace Moyler, Aarti Gautam, Raina Kumar, Rasha Hammamieh and Marti Jett Integrative Systems Biology Program, US Army Center for Environmental Health Research 568 Doughten Drive, Fort Detrick, MD 21702‐5010 MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non‐coding RNA molecules, 20‐30 nucleotides in size, that suppress gene expression at both transcriptional and post‐transcriptional levels. Recent studies indicate that miRNAs play significant roles in pathogen‐host interactions. Yersinia pestis is a gram‐negative obligate pathogen and the causative agent of plague, which throughout history has had a devastating effect on human population. We carried out miRNA profiling studies in tissues and blood samples collected from African green monkeys ( Cercopithecus aethiops ) exposed to aerosolized Y. pestis CO92. These studies enabled us to examine and identify the tissue‐specific differences in small RNA expression profiles during pathogen‐host interactions, and to detect their regulation patterns during the progression of disease. For this study, we used a small RNA Illumina deep sequencing method. Total yields of clean sequencing reads ranging from 17009208 to 11126920 were obtained after removing adaptor contamination and quality filtering. The size distribution of small RNAs (miRNA) ranged from 20 to 24 nt, which accounted for 38 percent of the total reads. The miRNA precursor and mature miRNA expression profiles were created. These will allow us to study the expression profile for tissue‐specific miRNA across different time points. Grant Funding Source : TMTI0029_09_WR_T from the Department of Defense