Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 19, 2026
A Murine Model of Dengue Virus-induced Acute Viral Encephalitis-like Disease
Published on: April 28, 2019
Cellular microRNA-miR-548g-3p modulates the replication of dengue virus
Weitao Wen1, Zhenjian He2, Qinlong Jing3
1Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control (Sun Yat-sen University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou 510080, China; Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Functional Molecules in Oceanic Microorganism (Sun Yat-sen University), Bureau of Education, Guangzhou 510080, China; Department of Microbiology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
Objective:
It has been well recognized that microRNA plays a role in the host-pathogen interaction network. The significance of microRNA in the regulation of dengue virus (DENV) replication, however, remains unknown. The objective of our study was to determine the biological function of miR-548g-3p in modulating the replication of dengue virus.
Methods:
Here we report that employment of a microRNA target search algorithm to analyze the 5' untranslated region (5'UTR) consensus sequences of DENV (DENV serotypes 1-4) led to a discovery that miR-548g-3p directly targets the stem loop A promoter element within the 5'UTR, a region essential for DENV replication. Real-time PCR was used to measure the expression levels of miR-548g-3p under DENV infection. We performed overexpression and inhibition assays to test the role of miR-548g-3p on DENV replication. The protein and mRNA levels of interferon were measured by ELISA and real-time PCR respectively.
Result:
We found that overexpression of miR-548g-3p suppressed multiplication of DENV 1, 2, 3 and 4, and that miR-548g-3p was also found to interfere with DENV translation, thereby suppressing the expression of viral proteins.
Conclusion:
Our results suggest that miR-548g-3p directly regulates DENV replication and warrant further study to investigate the feasibility of microRNA-based anti-DENV approaches.
