pathogens Article Transcriptomic Profiling of Equine and Viral Genes in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells in Horses during Equine Herpesvirus 1 Infection Lila M. Zarski 1, Patty Sue D. Weber 2, Yao Lee 1 and Gisela Soboll Hussey 1,* 1 Department of Pathobiology and Diagnostic Investigation, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA;
[email protected] (L.M.Z.);
[email protected] (Y.L.) 2 Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract: Equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) affects horses worldwide and causes respiratory dis- ease, abortions, and equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM). Following infection, a cell- associated viremia is established in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). This viremia is essential for transport of EHV-1 to secondary infection sites where subsequent immunopathol- ogy results in diseases such as abortion or EHM. Because of the central role of PBMCs in EHV-1 pathogenesis, our goal was to establish a gene expression analysis of host and equine herpesvirus genes during EHV-1 viremia using RNA sequencing. When comparing transcriptomes of PBMCs during peak viremia to those prior to EHV-1 infection, we found 51 differentially expressed equine genes (48 upregulated and 3 downregulated). After gene ontology analysis, processes such as the interferon defense response, response to chemokines, the complement protein activation cascade, cell adhesion, and coagulation were overrepresented during viremia. Additionally, transcripts for EHV-1, EHV-2, and EHV-5 were identified in pre- and post-EHV-1-infection samples. Looking at Citation: Zarski, L.M.; Weber, P.S.D.; micro RNAs (miRNAs), 278 known equine miRNAs and 855 potentially novel equine miRNAs were Lee, Y.; Soboll Hussey, G.