Importantly, as a follow-up to our in vitro findings, we have further ascertained the decreased expression of both miRNAs and increased expression of FGF2/FGFR1 mRNAs in the lungs as one of the major target organs to illustrate that altered miRNA/mRNA levels in three different types of cultured ECs potentially correlate with in vivo changes in an established murine model of spotted fever rickettsiosis. The gene discussed is FGFR1; the disease is spotted fever.