Human MicroRNAs Interacting With SARS-CoV-2 RNA Sequences: Computational Analysis and Experimental Target Validation.

ABSTRACT: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel RNA virus affecting humans, causing a form of acute pulmonary respiratory disorder named COVID-19, declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. MicroRNAs (miRNA) play an emerging and important role in the interplay between viruses and host cells. Although the impact of host miRNAs on SARS-CoV-2 infection has been predicted, experimental data are still missing. This study started by a bioinformatics prediction of cellular miRNAs potentially targeting viral RNAs; then, a number of criteria also based on experimental evidence and virus biology were applied, giving rise to eight promising binding miRNAs. Their interaction with viral sequences was experimentally validated by transfecting luciferase-based reporter p

SUBMITTER: Siniscalchi C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8215607 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature