Nucleic Acids Research Advance Access originally published online on December 18, 2008
Nucleic Acids Research 2009 37(4):1035-1048; doi:10.1093/nar/gkn1004
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Nucleic Acids Research, 2009, Vol. 37, No. 4 1035-1048
© 2008 The Author(s)
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Cellular versus viral microRNAs in host–virus interaction
1Computational Biology Group, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Jadavpur, Calcutta 700 032 and 2Gyanxet, BF-286, Salt Lake, Calcutta 700 064, India
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +91 33 2473 4971; Fax: +91 33 2473 2805; Email: tpzg{at}iacs.res.in, ghosh.jhumur{at}gmail.com
Received July 25, 2008. Revised November 25, 2008. Accepted November 30, 2008.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) mark a new paradigm of RNA-directed gene expression regulation in a wide spectrum of biological systems. These small non-coding RNAs can contribute to the repertoire of host-pathogen interactions during viral infection. This interplay has important consequences, both for the virus and the host. There have been reported evidences of host-cellular miRNAs modulating the expression of various viral genes, thereby playing a pivotal role in the host–pathogen interaction network. In the hide-and-seek game between the pathogens and the infected host, viruses have evolved highly sophisticated gene-silencing mechanisms to evade host-immune response. Recent reports indicate that virus too encode miRNAs that protect them against cellular antiviral response. Furthermore, they may exploit the cellular miRNA pathway to their own advantage. Nevertheless, our increasing knowledge of the host–virus interaction at the molecular level should lead us toward possible explanations to viral tropism, latency and oncogenesis along with the development of an effective, durable and nontoxic antiviral therapy. Here, we summarize the recent updates on miRNA-induced gene-silencing mechanism, modulating host–virus interactions with a glimpse of the miRNA-based antiviral therapy for near future.
The authors wish it to be known that, in their opinion, the first two authors should be regarded as joint First Authors.