MiR-7 Regulates Pathogen-Induced Immune Response PAK1 in the Sea Cucumber .

MicroRNA-7 (miR-7) is a highly conserved short non-coding RNA involved in various bioprocesses the regulation of multiple target genes. To enrich our knowledge of the functions of miR-7 in innate immune regulation in echinoderms, we first investigated the targeting relationship between miR-7 and in the sea cucumber and then explored the functions of miR-7, the gene, and the miR-7/ axis in the pathogen-induced immune response of . Our results showed that miR-7 can bind to the 3'UTR of and negatively regulate the expression of in . Overexpression and inhibition of miR-7 and inhibition of the expression of can alter phagocytosis, cellular agglutination, and lysozyme contents in . Both miR-7 and the gene are involved in immune defense against infection; the miR-7/ axis showed immune regulatory function at 48 to 72 h post-infection (hpi) after infection in In summary, the results of this study established that miR-7 regulates the pathogen-induced immune response by targeting in .