Microrna Expression Profiling of Macrophage Line Raw264.7 Infected by Candida Albicans.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to clarify the microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles of RAW264.7 macrophages infected by Candida albicans to elucidate the roles of differentially expressed miRNAs and to further explore the mechanisms underlying the immune response to C. albicans infection.

Methods: High-throughput miRNA microarray analysis was performed to detect differentially expressed miRNAs in control and C. albicans-infected RAW264.7 cells. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis was used to verify the microarray results. Target genes of differentially expressed miRNAs were predicted with bioinformatics software. The cell biological processes and signaling pathways of these miRNA-targeted genes involved in C. albicans infection were predicted by gene ontology (GO) enrichment and pathway analyses.

Results: Significant upregulation of eight miRNAs (mmu-miR-140-5p, mmu-miR-96-5p, mmu-miR-8109, mmu-miR-466i-3p, mmu-miR-222-5p, mmu-miR-301b-3p, mmu-miR-466g, and mmu-miR-7235-5p) and downregulation of eight miRNAs (mmu-miR-3154, mmu-miR-223-3p, mmu-miR-494-3p, mmu-miR-6908-5p, mmu-miR-188-5p, mmu-miR-6769b-5p, mmu-miR-7002-5p, and mmu-miR-1224-5p) were observed, as compared with the control (fold change ≥2.0 and P < 0.05). GO analysis revealed that both mmu-miR-140-5p and mmu-miR-223-3p participated in immune responses, inflammatory reactions, and cell apoptosis in C. albicans infection. Also, the MAPK signaling pathway was found to play an important role in the immune response against C. albicans infection.

Conclusions: This study revealed comprehensive expression and functional profiles of differentially expressed miRNAs in macrophage RAW264.7 cells infected by C. albicans. These findings should help to further elucidate the mechanisms underlying the immune response to C. albicans infection.