Exploratory analysis of EVs-derived miRNAs in HCV and HCV/HIV patients with different stages of liver fibrosis.

CAIROLI V; VALLE MILLARES D; TERRÓN ORELLANO MC; LUQUE D; RYAN P; DOMINGUEZ L; MARTÍN-CARBONERO L; AMEIGEIRAS B; BRIZ V ; PRECIADO MV; VALVA P; FERNANDEZ RODRIGUEZ A

Simposio; GEIVEX-TeNTaCLES 2021; 2021

GEIVEX

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) hijack the host exosomal machinery as an additional mechanism of infection and evasion of the immune system, modifying the small RNA (smRNA) cargo during infection.The aim of this study was to characterize the miRNA of extracellular vesicles (EVs) purified from plasma of HCV and HCV/HIV patients and to compare them according to fibrosis stages in each group.EVs were isolated from plasma of 19 HCV [54 ys. (34-71), 57.9 % female, 52.63% F≥2] and 28 HCV/HIV coinfected patients [50 ys. (31-71), 45.4% female, 25% F≥2] using the exoRNeasy Serum/ Plasma midi kit (QIAGEN) with custom modifications. EVs characterization (size and concentration) was performed by Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA) and electron microscopy. Total EV-containing smRNA was isolated and high-throughput sequenced (1x50) to characterize the miRNA cargo. Raw data was processed with miRDeep2 to identify expressed human miRNAs and miRNA discrimination power between infection groups, and fibrosis status [no significant fibrosis (F2).The analysis of miRNA expression profiles from EVs allowed us to identify miRNAs as potential differential markers for liver damage.