Microarray profiling of microRNA changes in cells that express HIV-1 proteins

Abstract

Mammalian microRNAs (miRNAs) are small RNAs of 18-25 nucleotides (nt) in length that are transcribed from the genome and serve a variety of regulatory functions. Recent studies have verified that miRNAs in addition to playing anti-pathogen roles in plants and lower eukaryotes also serve important roles in defending mammalian cells against endogenous and exogenous viral infection. In a setting where miRNAs may act to restrict viral infection, it stands to reason that viruses may have a vested interest to change the miRNA expression profile of infected cells. Here, we describe our experience in establishing a microarray for measuring 327 human miRNAs. We illustrate an example whereby this microarray approach was used to measure miRNA changes in human cells transfected to express human immunodeficiency virus proteins.