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Immunol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a globally distributed zoonotic disease caused by Echinococcus granulosus (Eg) that often presents with insidious onset and asymptomatic progression. Although several Eg-based recombinant vaccines have been developed for the prevention of CE, our previous study demonstrated that recombinant Eg.P29 (r<jats:italic>E<\/jats:italic>g.P29) is a potent immunogen that induces a robust Th1 immune response. Furthermore, microarray data from miRNA profiling of CD4<jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>T cells isolated from mouse spleens showed that miR-378a-5p was significantly upregulated one week after immunization with r<jats:italic>E<\/jats:italic>g.P29.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>In this context, bioinformatics predictions and dual-luciferase reporter assays identified BRAF as a direct miR-378a-5p target, with downstream signaling involving the MAPK\/ERK pathway.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Our research demonstrated that r<jats:italic>E<\/jats:italic>g.P29 immunization increased miR-378a-5p expression in na\u00efve CD4<jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>T cells, reduced BRAF, MEK1\/2, and ERK1\/2 expression, and promoted Th1 differentiation while inhibiting Th2 differentiation. Overexpression of miR-378a-5p in na\u00efve CD4<jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>T cells yielded similar results, whereas knockdown of miR-378a-5p had the opposite effect.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>In summary, our findings reveal that under the induction of r<jats:italic>E<\/jats:italic>g.P29, miR-378a-5p targeted to BRAF regulation and initiated the differentiation of CD4<jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>T cells in mouse spleen to Th1 direction, and MAPK\/ERK pathway may be involved in this process, identifying miR-378a-5p as apotential biomarker and immunomodulatory target in CE.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2025.1620225","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,4]],"date-time":"2025-09-04T05:34:24Z","timestamp":1756964064000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["miR-378a-5p targeting BRAF regulates CD4+T cells differentiation to Th1 under 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