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Updated: Apr 12, 2026

Generation and Assembly of Virus-Specific Nucleocapsids of the Respiratory Syncytial Virus
Published on: July 27, 2021
Mammalian RNA virus-derived small RNA: biogenesis and functional activity
Kuo-Feng Weng1, Po-Ting Hsieh2, Hsing-I Huang3
1Research Center for Emerging Viral Infections, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Abstract:
The role of virus-derived small RNAs (vsRNAs) has been identified as an antiviral mechanism in plants, arthropods, and nematodes. Although mammalian DNA viruses have been observed to encode functional miRNAs, whether RNA virus infection generates functional vsRNAs remains under discussion. This article reviews the most recent reports regarding pathways for generating vsRNAs and the identified vsRNA activity in mammalian cells infected with RNA viruses. We also discuss several hypotheses regarding the roles of mammalian vsRNAs and comment on the potential directions for this research field.
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