Toxoplasma gondii

Xie, Shi-Chen, Zhou, Chun-Xue, Zhai, Bin-Tao, Zheng, Wen-Bin, Liu, Guo-Hua & Zhu, Xing-Quan, 2022, A combined miRNA-piRNA signature in the serum and urine of rabbits infected with ToxoplaSMa gondii oocysts, Parasites & Vectors (490) 15 (1), pp. 1-12 : 6

DE miRNAs and DE piRNAs in serum and urine following T. gondii infection

Ten, the volcano plots were used to analyze DE miRNAs and DE piRNAs in serum and urine from uninfected, acutely infected and chronically infected rabbits. In serum, 210 upregulated and 968 downregulated miRNAs were identified between acutely infected rabbits and control groups ( Fig. 6a ). Comparison between chronically infected and control rabbits showed more dysregulated miRNAs, including 414 upregulated and 903 downregulated miRNAs ( Fig. 6b ). As shown in Fig. 6d , 107 miRNAs were shared among the three comparison groups. Compared to the control group, the majority of DE piRNAs were common in both the acute and chronic infection groups. More DE piRNAs (n = 1814) were found in CI versus Con ( Fig. 7d ). Compared with serum, there are fewer DE miRNAs identified in urine. As shown in Fig. 8a, b , there are 311 and 294 DE miRNAs in AI versus Con and CI versus Con, respectively. Moreover, there are 226 common DE miRNAs in both AI versus Con and CI versus Con ( Fig. 8d ). Meanwhile, there are 597 and 708 DE piRNAs in AI versus Con and CI versus Con, respectively ( Fig. 9a, b ). Tere are 431 common DE piRNAs in both AI versus Con and CI versus Con ( Fig. 9d ).

Furthermore, there are 88 common DE miRNAs found in both serum and urine samples of infected rabbits, which include 20 known miRNAs and 68 novel miRNAs ( Fig. 10a ). A complete list of the above-mentioned DE miRNAs is available in Additional file 3: Table S3. It is worth mentioning that the majority of the common DE miRNA were downregulated in all infected sera (78/88) and infected urine samples (73/88). However, two miRNAs (miR-138-5p and miR-509c-5p) in infected sera and miR-191-3p in urine were up-expressed during the whole toxoplasmosis progression. As shown in Fig. 10b, a total of 120 DE novel piRNAs were identified in all infected serum and urine samples, of which 110 piRNAs were downregulated in infected sera and 98 piRNAs were downregulated in the infected urine. Detailed information of the common DE piRNAs are shown in Additional file 4: Table S4.

Figures

Fig. 6 Serum miRNA profile analysis among different groups. a The volcano plot shows the individual statistically significant miRNA between acutely infected group and control group. In this plot, the x-axis is log2 fold-change,which shows the direction of the change (negative scale is decrease and positive scale is increase) in the levels of miRNA expression,while the y-axis is the –log10 FDR, which shows the significance of the change. b The volcano plot shows the individual statistically significant miRNA between chronically infected rabbits and control rabbits. c The volcano plot shows the individual statistically significant miRNA between acutely infected rabbits and chronically infected rabbits. d Venn diagram shows number of differentially expressed miRNA among different comparison pairs. FDR represents false discovery rate

Fig. 7 Serum piRNA profile analysis among different groups.a The volcano plot shows the individual statistically significant piRNA between acutely infected rabbits and control rabbits. In this plot, the x-axis is log2 fold-change, which shows the direction of the change (negative scale is decrease and positive scale is increase) in the levels of piRNA expression, while the y-axis is the –log10 FDR, which shows the significance of the change.b The volcano plot shows the individual statistically significant piRNA between chronically infected rabbits and control rabbits.c The volcano plot shows the individual statistically significant piRNA between acutely infected rabbits and chronically infected rabbits. d Venn diagram shows number of differentially expressed piRNA among different comparison pairs.FDR represents false discovery rate

Fig. 8 Urine miRNA profile analysis among different groups.a The volcano plot shows the individual statistically significant miRNA between acutely infected rabbits and control rabbits. In this plot, the x-axis is log2 fold-change,which shows the direction of the change (negative scale is decrease and positive scale is increase) in the levels of miRNA expression,while the y-axis is the –log10 FDR, which shows the significance of the change. b The volcano plot shows the individual statistically significant miRNA between chronically infected rabbits and control rabbits. c The volcano plot shows the individual statistically significant miRNA between acutely infected rabbits and chronically infected rabbits. d Venn diagram shows number of differentially expressed miRNA among different comparison pairs

Fig. 9 Urine piRNA profile analysis among different groups. a The volcano plot shows the individual statistically significant piRNA between acutely infected group and control group. In this plot, the x-axis is log2 fold-change, which shows the direction of the change (negative scale is decrease and positive scale is increase) in the levels of piRNA expression, while the y-axis is the –log10 FDR, which shows the significance of the change.b The volcano plot shows the individual statistically significant piRNA between chronically infected group and control group. c The volcano plot shows the individual statistically significant piRNA between acutely infected group and chronically infected group.d Venn diagram shows number of differentially expressed piRNA among different comparison pairs

Fig. 10 Venn diagrams showing the common and unique DE miRNAs (a) and DE piRNAs (b) in both serum and urine between the acutely and chronically infected rabbits versus uninfected rabbits