MX1, IFN-α Expressions In Herpes Simplex Encephalitis Mice Brain

Objective By observing the changes and correlations of the expressions ofMx1mRNA and IFN-α mRNA in Herpes Simplex Encephalitis (HSE) mice brain tissue,preliminary discussion is investigated on their anti-virus biological functions andpotential mechanism.Methods HSV-1infected mice from early work are established as the virus group,accompanied with sham group and normal control group. Then cDNA is obtained by a reversetranscription on the total RNA. RT-qPCR method is then used to detect the relativeexpressions of Mx1and mRNA in the mice of different groups. Sequencing isapplied to the amplification products. Then the results are compared in BLAST.RT-PCR method is used to detect the relative expression of IFN-α mRNA in the mice.The correlation between the expressions of Mx1and IFN-α is analyzed throughPearson method. ANOVA analysis with single factor is employed for the comparisonamong the means of variety groups. Any difference with P <0.05is treated as ofstatistical significance.Results A significant increment in the relative expression of Mx1mRNA wasobserved in the virus group compared with the Sham group and the normal control group.The difference was statistically significant (P<0.01). But this difference was notstatistically significant (P>0.05) between the Sham group and the normal control group.The sequencing result of amplification product of Mx1gene matches Mx1gene inthe BLAST, with a homology of99%. The relative expression of IFN-α mRNA is muchhigher in the virus group than in the sham group and the normal control. The differencewas statistically significant (P <0.01). However, this difference was not statisticallysignificant (P>0.05) between the sham group and the normal control group. The correlation between the expressions of Mx1and IFN-α, through Pearson analysis, was shown to bepositive with R=0.806and P<0.01.Conclusion There exists significant increment in the expressions of bothMx1mRNA and IFN-α mRNA in brain tissue of mice in the virus group. Moreover, theircorrelation has been confirmed to be positive. These results indicate that Mx1may induce the expression of IFN-α in HSE and thus motivate its anti-virusfunction. The results provide valuable experimental evidences for the discoveryof new HSE therapeutic targets and the development of vaccine.