Whole-Transcriptome Sequencing Analysis of Fowl Adenovirus Serotype 4 Infection in LMH Cells

Fowl adenovirus serotype 4 (FAdV-4) is the major pathogen responsible for avian hepatitis-hydropericardium syndrome (HHS), which poses a severe threat to the global poultry industry. This study aimed to systematically explore virus-host interactions and elucidate the transcriptomic alterations and underlying molecular mechanisms in LMH cells following FAdV-4 infection. LMH cells were infected with FAdV-4 at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 1 for 24 h, and whole-transcriptome sequencing was subsequently performed. Differential expression analysis was conducted between the FAdV-4-infected group and the uninfected Mock group, followed by functional interaction prediction. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to verify the expression profiles of differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The results identified a total of 8292 differentially expressed messenger RNAs (dif-mRNAs), 80 differentially expressed microRNAs (dif-miRNAs), 3263 differentially expressed long non-coding RNAs (dif-lncRNAs), and 52 differentially expressed circular RNAs (dif-circRNAs) in the infected group compared with the Mock group. The identified DEGs were further validated and subjected to Gene Ontology (GO) functional enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis. Additionally, protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis and regulatory network analyses of lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA and circRNA-miRNA-mRNA were performed. This study provides novel insights and research perspectives into the potential mechanisms underlying FAdV-4-host interactions and further deepens the current understanding of the pathogenesis of FAdV-4 infection.