Global miRNA expression profiling of domestic cat livers following acute Toxoplasma gondii infection

Cong, Wei; Zhang, Xiao-Xuan; He, Jun-Jun; Li, Fa-Cai; Elsheikha, Hany M.; Zhu, Xing-Quan

The feline genome already encodes roughly 3,182 microRNA (miRNA) homologues, which can regulate the expression of signalling cascades that perform key cellular functions, such as cell cycle regulation, proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and carcinogenesis. miRNAs constitute a group of endogenous non-coding small RNAs (18 to 25 nucleotides [nt] long) that regulate gene expression by binding to mRNA and inhibiting translation [15] [16] [17] [18] . miRNAs play an important role in liver homeostasis, and aberrant expression of miRNAs has been associated with a variety of liver diseases, such as viral hepatitis, hepatocellular carcinoma and fatty liver disease [19] . Alterations of host miRNA expression have also been observed in some parasitic infections, such as Cryptosporidium parvum, Plasmodium falciparum and T. gondii (reviewed in [20] ), underscoring the potential role of miRNAs in mediating the interaction between T. gondii and host cells. Despite the impact of T. gondii infection on hepatic function the mechanisms underlying the alterations of hepatic miRNAs expression following acute T. gondii infection remain poorly understood.