The Roles of MicroRNAs and PiRNAs in Virus-Host Interactions

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Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) and Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are two groups of small non-coding RNAs with different functional roles. miRNAs are post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression in a plethora of critical processes in multicellular eukaryotes. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that viral pathogens have evolved ways to subvert the miRNA network. It is increasingly evident that miRNAs have functional roles in viral replication as well as their potential employment by host cells to combat viral infection. A number of viruses are now known to encode for miRNAs, predominantly in DNA viruses such as herpesviruses. Although virus-encoded miRNAs have been reported in retroviruses such as HIV-1 , their functional significance is under debate. This controversy also extends to RNA viruses and their ability to express miRNAs. Identification of target genes for some of these viral miRNAs suggests they may function in the regulation of lytic and latent viral replication and in restricting antiviral responses. Viruses have also evolved the ability to downregulate or upregulate the expression of specific cellular miRNAs to enhance their replication. I will also briefly review evidence that demonstrate the role of piRNAs in silencing transposable elements to maintain germline genome integrity . This chapter provides an overview of our current understanding of the complex relationship between viruses and cellular miRNA and piRNA machineries.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Dr. Brent Derry and Dr. Kevin Coombs for their reviews of the manuscript. ATT is supported by the Garron Family Cancer Centre and SickKids Research Training Centre Fellowship.

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Correspondence to Anh T. Tran .

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Tran, A.T. (2016). The Roles of MicroRNAs and PiRNAs in Virus-Host Interactions. In: Leitão, A., Enguita, F. (eds) Non-coding RNAs and Inter-kingdom Communication. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39496-1_1

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