ISLAMABAD, August 23 (online): A team of researchers proposes that the SARS-CoV-2 virus acts as a microRNA “sponge” to reduce microRNA levels in ways that assist viral replication and block the host immune response.
Coronaviruses (CoVs) are single-stranded RNA viruses that experts originally considered to be relatively mild. They include the viruses that cause the common cold.
However, researchers have stopped thinking of these viruses as mild after the outbreaks of severe acute respiratory coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in 2002, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV) in 2012, and the current global COVID-19 pandemic, for which the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible.
Currently, there is no vaccine available for SARS-CoV-2. Research has focused on understanding virus pathogenicity and, importantly, on restoring and enhancing patients’ immunity. Researchers are now considering innovative approaches, such as the use of human microRNAs (miRNAs).
MiRNAs are vital players in the body’s immune defense against viruses. They are short, noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression through their complementary pairing with specific messenger RNAs of the cell.
By latching onto and cutting the viral RNA, miRNAs control the cell’s response to create an antiviral effect. However, viruses also have the capability to maneuver the host miRNA networks according to their own rules.
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