The role of alternative polyadenylation in the antiviral innate immune response

Alternative polyadenylation (APA) is an important regulatory mechanism of gene functions in many biological processes. However, the extent of 3′ UTR variation and the function of APA during the innate antiviral immune response are unclear. Here, we show genome-wide poly(A) sites switch and average 3′ UTR length shortens gradually in response to vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) infection in macrophages. Genes with APA and mRNA abundance change are enriched in immune-related categories such as the Toll-like receptor, RIG-I-like receptor, JAK-STAT and apoptosis-related signalling pathways. The expression of 3′ processing factors is down-regulated upon VSV infection. When the core 3′ processing factors are knocked down, viral replication is affected. Thus, our study reports the annotation of genes with APA in antiviral immunity and highlights the roles of 3′ processing factors on 3′ UTR variation upon viral infection.