The parasitic nematode Angiostrongylus cantonensis is the primary pathogen causing eosinophilic meningitis and meningoencephalitis in nonpermissive hosts. The larval parasites are eliminated by the host's immune responses in the central nervous system (CNS) through infiltration of eosinophils and lymphocytes. This study aimed to determine primary alterations of microRNA (miRNA) during A. cantonensis infection in mice. Methods: miRNA array was used to analyze the expression of miRNA in

more »

... and A. cantonensis-infected mouse brains at 21 days postinfection (dpi). Target genes were predicted by miRDB software, and proteineprotein interaction network was analyzed using STRING v9.1. Expression levels of selected miRNAs and cytokine production were verified by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Results: Twenty-five mature miRNAs showed differential expression in infected mouse brains, of which 24 were upregulated and one was downregulated compared to the uninfected control. These 25 miRNAs were divided into five clusters, and the first upregulated cluster was selected for further bioinformatics analysis. Target gene prediction and gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis revealed that the miRNAs were mainly related to the immune response. (H. Li). e These authors contributed equally to this work. + MODEL Please cite this article in press as: Mo Z-X, et al., Infection by the nematode Angiostrongylus cantonensis induces differential expression of miRNAs in mouse brain, Journal of Microbiology, Immunology and Infection (2016), http://dx.