Project description:Cryptosporidium parvum is an important zoonotic parasitic disease worldwide, but the molecular mechanisms of the host–parasite interaction are not fully understood. Noncoding microRNAs (miRNAs) are considered key regulators of parasitic diseases. Therefore, we used microarray, qPCR, and bioinformatic analyses to investigate the intestinal epithelial miRNA expression profile after Cryptosporidium parvum infection.Twenty miRNAs were differentially expressed after infection (four upregulated and 16 downregulated). Further analysis of the differentially expressed miRNAs revealed that many important cellular responses were triggered by Cryptosporidium parvum infection, including cell apoptosis and the inflammatory and immune responses.This study demonstrates for the first time that the miRNA expression profile of human intestinal epithelium cells is altered by C. parvum infection. This dysregulation of miRNA expression may contribute to the regulation of host biological processes in response to C. parvum infection, including cell apoptosis and the immune responses. These results provide new insight into the regulatory mechanisms of host miRNAs during cryptosporidiosis, which may offer potential targets for future C. parvum control strategies.
Project description:Cryptosporidium parvum is an important opportunistic parasite pathogen for immunocompromised individuals and a common cause of diarrhea in young children in developing countries. Infection by this parasite causes significant alterations in the gene expression profiles in infected host cells. This study aims to measure the genomic wide alterations in gene expression profiles in host intestinal epithelial cells following C. parvum infection. Mouse intestinal epithelial (IEC4.1) cells were grown to 80% confluence and exposed to C. parvum infection for 24h. Total RNA was collected for the genome-wide analysis. The Agilent SurePrint G3 mouse Gene Expression Microarray (G4852A) was used for the genome-wide analysis, which provides full coverage of genes and transcripts with the most up-to-date content, including mRNAs and lincRNAs (http://www.chem.agilent.com/store/en_US/Prod-G4852A/G4852A).