MicroRNAs, HIV and HCV: a complex relation towards pathology
Diogo Piedade1, José Miguel Azevedo-Pereira1
1Host-Pathogen Interaction Unit, iMed.ULisboa, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal.
Reviews in Medical Virology
|April 10, 2016
Summary
Viruses hijack microRNAs (miRNAs) to infect cells, replicate, and persist. This review explores how viral and cellular miRNAs regulate host pathways crucial for HIV and HCV infection, replication, and immune evasion.
Area of Science:
- Molecular Biology
- Virology
- Genetics
Background:
- MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs regulating gene expression post-transcriptionally.
- Viruses utilize host-cell miRNA machinery for infection, replication, and persistence.
- Complex interplay exists between viral and host-cell miRNAs during infection.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review mechanisms of cellular and viral-encoded miRNA functions in HIV and HCV infections.
- To identify deregulated miRNAs upon viral infection and their impact on host-pathogen dynamics.
- To elucidate the role of miRNA fine-tuning in viral replication and immune escape.
Main Methods:
- Literature review focusing on cellular and viral miRNA functions.
- Analysis of miRNA expression alterations in HIV and HCV infections.
- Discussion of mechanisms of miRNA-mediated gene regulation in viral pathogenesis.
Main Results:
- Viruses significantly alter host-cell miRNA expression or produce their own miRNAs.
- Specific miRNAs are differentially expressed and deregulated during HIV and HCV infections.
- Altered miRNA profiles dictate viral fate and host cell response.
Conclusions:
- MicroRNA dysregulation is critical for viral infection, replication, immune escape, and persistence.
- Understanding miRNA roles provides insights into HIV and HCV pathogenesis.
- Targeting miRNA pathways may offer therapeutic strategies against viral infections.
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