MicroRNA-199a Inhibits Cellular Autophagy and Downregulates IFN-β Expression by Targeting TBK1 in Infected Cells.

The mechanism by which microRNAs (miRNAs) modulate innate immunity and autophagy has not been fully elucidated in () infections. In this study, we identified that miR-199a inhibited key innate immune responses and autophagy in murine macrophages infected with . Using and approaches we show that the expression of miR-199a was significantly increased during infection. Furthermore, miR-199a suppressed autophagy and interferon-β (IFN-β) production by directly targeting TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1) mRNA in both J774a.1 and BMDM cells. Upregulation of miR-199a or TBK1 silencing (siTBK1) inhibited maturation of autophagosomes and increased survival. Our results demonstrate that, by targeting of TBK1, miR-199a modulates innate immune responses and promote the intracellular survival and growth of .