Expression Profiling of LPS Responsive miRNA in Primary Human Macrophages

Abstract

microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as important regulators of the innate and adaptive immune response. The purpose of the present study was to interrogate miRNA profiles of primary human macrophages challenged with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) with focus on expression kinetics. We employed Nanostring platform to precisely characterize the changes in miRNA expression following different doses and durations of LPS exposure. Differentially expressed miRNAs were identified in response to LPS challenge with convergent and divergent expression profiles. Pathway analysis of LPS-responsive miRNAs revealed regulation of biological processes linked to key cell signaling (including PIK3-Akt, MAP kinase, ErbB) and pathogen response pathways. Our data provide a comprehensive miRNA profiling of human primary macrophages treated with LPS. These results show that bacterial Toll like receptor (TLR) ligands can temporally modulate macrophage miRNA expression.