Transcriptome-level assessment of the impact of deformed wing virus on honey bee larvae.

Deformed wing virus (DWV) prevalence is high in honey bee (Apis mellifera) populations. The virus infects honey bees through vertical and horizontal transmission, leading to behavioural changes, wing deformity, and early mortality. To better understand the impacts of viral infection in the larval stage of honey bees, artificially reared honey bee larvae were infected with DWV (1.55 × 1010 copies/per larva). No significant mortality occurred in infected honey bee larvae, while the survival rates decreased significantly at the pupal stage. Examination of DWV replication revealed that viral replication began at 2 days post inoculation (d.p.i.), increased dramatically to 4 d.p.i., and then continuously increased in the pupal stage. To better understand the impact of DWV on the larval stage, DWV-infected and control groups were subjected to transcriptomic analysis at 4 d.p.i. Two hundred fifty-five differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (fold change ≥ 2 or ≤ -2) were identified. Of these DEGs, 168 genes were downregulated, and 87 genes were upregulated. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis showed that 141 DEGs (55.3%) were categorized into molecular functions, cellular components and biological processes. One hundred eleven genes (38 upregulated and 73 downregulated) were annotated by KO (KEGG Orthology) pathway mapping and involved metabolic pathways, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and glycine, serine and threonine metabolism pathways. Validation of DEGs was performed, and the related gene expression levels showed a similar tendency to the DEG predictions at 4 d.p.i.; cell wall integrity and stress response component 1 (wsc1), cuticular protein and myo-inositol 2-dehydrogenase (iolG) were significantly upregulated, and small conductance calcium-activated potassium channel protein (SK) was significantly downregulated at 4 d.p.i. Related gene expression levels at different d.p.i. revealed that these DEGs were significantly regulated from the larval stage to the pupal stage, indicating the potential impacts of gene expression levels from the larval to the pupal stages. Taken together, DWV infection in the honey bee larval stage potentially influences the gene expression levels from larvae to pupae and reduces the survival rate of the pupal stage. This information emphasizes the consequences of DWV prevalence in honey bee larvae for apiculture.

Global assessment of Antrodia cinnamomea-induced microRNA alterations in hepatocarcinoma cells.

Recent studies have demonstrated a potent anticancer potential of medicinal fungus Antrodia cinnamomea, especially against hepatocarcinoma. These studies, however, were performed with prolonged treatments, and the early anticancer events remain missing. To probe the early anticancer mechanisms of A. cinnamomea, we treated SK-Hep-1 liver cancer cell with A. cinnamomea fruiting body extract for 2 and 4 hours, sequenced RNA samples with next-generation sequencing approach, and profiled the genome-wide miRNA and mRNA transcriptomes. Results unmistakably associated the early anticancer effect of A. cinnamomea fruiting body extract with a global downregulation of miRNAs which occurred solely in the A. cinnamomea fruiting body extract-treated SK-Hep-1 cells. Moreover, the inhibitory effect of A. cinnamomea fruiting body extract upon cancer miRNAs imposed no discrimination against any particular miRNA species, with oncomirs miR-21, miR-191 and major oncogenic clusters miR-17-92 and miR-106b-25 among the most severely downregulated. Western blotting further indicated a decrease in Drosha and Dicer proteins which play a key role in miRNA biogenesis, together with an increase of XRN2 known to participate in miRNA degradation pathway. Transcriptome profiling followed by GO and pathway analyses indicated that A. cinnamomea induced apoptosis, which was tightly associated with a downregulation of PI3K/AKT and MAPK pathways. Phosphorylation assay further suggested that JNK and c-Jun were closely involved in the apoptotic process. Taken together, our data indicated that the anticancer effect of A. cinnamomea can take place within a few hours by targeting multiple proteins and the miRNA system. A. cinnamomea indiscriminately induced a global downregulation of miRNAs by simultaneously inhibiting the key enzymes involved in miRNA maturation and activating XRN2 protein involved in miRNA degradation. Collapsing of the miRNA system together with downregulation of cell growth and survival pathways and activation of JNK signaling unleash the extrinsic and intrinsic apoptosis pathways, leading to the cancer cell death.