Small RNA sequencing and profiling of serum-derived exosomes from African swine fever virus-infected pigs


 African swine fever (ASF) virus (ASFV) is responsible for one of the most severe swine diseases worldwide, with a morbidity rate of up to 100%; no vaccines or antiviral medicines are available against the virus. Exosomal miRNAs from individual cells can regulate the immune response to infectious diseases. In this study, pigs were infected with an ASFV Pig/HN/07 strain that classified as acute form, and exosomal miRNA expression in the serum of infected pigs was analyzed using small RNA sequencing (small RNA-seq). Twenty-seven differentially expressed (DE) miRNAs were identified in the ASFV-infected pigs compared to that in the uninfected controls. Of these, 10 were upregulated and 17 were downregulated in the infected pigs. All DE miRNAs were analyzed using Gene Ontology (GO) terms and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database, and the DE miRNAs were found to be highly involved in T cell receptor signaling, cGMP-PKG signaling, Toll-like receptor, MAPK signaling, and mTOR signaling pathways. Furthermore, the Cytoscape network analysis identified the network of interactions between DE miRNAs and target genes. Finally, the transcription levels of four miRNA genes (ssc-miR-24-3p, ssc-miR-130b-3p, ssc-let-7a, and ssc-let-7c) were examined using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and were found to be consistent with the small RNA-seq data. These DE miRNAs were associated with cellular genes involved in the pathways related to immune response, virus–host interactions, and several viral genes. Overall, our findings provide an important reference and improve our understanding of ASF pathogenesis and the immune or protective responses during an acute infection in the host.