The long non-coding RNA expression profile of Coxsackievirus A16 infected RD cells identified by RNA-seq

Coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16) is one of major pathogens of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in children. Long non-coding RNAs (IncRNAs) have been implicated in various biological processes, but they have not been associated with CVA16 infection. In this study, we comprehensively characterized the landscape of IncRNAs of normal and CVA16 infected rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) cells using RNA-Seq to investigate the functional relevance of IncRNAs. We showed that a total of 760 IncRNAs were upregulated and 1210 IncRNAs were downregulated. Out of these dysregulated IncRNAs, 43.64% were intergenic, 22.31% were sense, 15.89% were intronic, 8.67% were bidirectional, 5.59% were antisense, 3.85% were sRNA host IncRNAs and 0.05% were enhancer. Six dysregulated IncRNAs were validated by quantitative PCR assays and the secondary structures of these IncRNAs were projected. Moreover, we conducted a bioinformatics analysis of an IncRNAs (ENST00000602478) to elucidate the diversity of modification and functions of IncRNAs. In summary, the current study compared the dysregulated IncRNAs profile upon CVA16 challenge and illustrated the intricate relationship between coding and IncRNAs transcripts. These results may not only provide a complete picture of transcription in CVA16 infected cells but also provide novel molecular targets for treatments of HFMD.