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Viral miRNAs and Immune Avasion
Xiang Rong, Liang Long, Liu Yanping*
Department of Cell Biology, School of Biological Science and Technology, Central South University, Changsha 410013, China
Abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNA molecules with ~22 nucleotides in length that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression by complementary binding to 3'UTR of the target mRNAs. MiRNAs have been identified in lots of species from plant to human. MiRNAs modulate multiple cellular processes including development， immunity and apoptosis. Recently， DNA viruses were found to express miRNAs which play an important role in immune evasion during host infection. Viral infection is a complex process requiring immune evasion in order to establish persistent infection of the host. During this process， viruses express non-coding miRNAs， which help modulate cellular and viral gene expression making it more favorable for infection. These viral miRNAs are nonimmunogenic and therefore are important tools used to evade immune responses. However， the function of most viral miRNAs are not well understood. We summarized our current knowledge of virus-encoded miRNAs， and how they contribute to immune evasion by targeting viral and host cellular genes.
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