Role of MicroRNAs as Regulators of Host-virus Interactions
Sassan Asgari and Christopher S. Sullivan
from: Insect Virology (Edited by: Sassan Asgari and Karyn N. Johnson). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2010)
Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA molecules that play a central role in the regulation of gene expression impacting many biological processes. These include development, cancer, apoptosis, immunity, and longevity. In addition, accumulating evidence suggest that miRNAs are likely to be involved in host-virus interactions by modulating expression levels of either defence genes or virus genes. Several groups of animal viruses, as well as insect viruses, encode miRNAs that are instrumental in virus biology, including replication, pathogenesis and latency. In this chapter, we present an overview of the biogenesis of miRNAs, current approaches to the discovery of miRNAs, their mode of action and strategies for determining viral miRNA function read more ...
