SARS-CoV-2 encoded microRNAs are involved in the process of virus infection and host immune response

• Published in: Journal of biomedical research 2021-01, Vol.35 (3), p.1-227
• Main Authors: Liu, Zhi, Wang, Jianwei, Ge, Yiyue, Xu, Yuyu, Guo, Mengchen, Mi, Kai, Xu, Rui, Pei, Yang, Zhang, Qiankun, Luan, Xiaoting, Hu, Zhibin, Chi, Ying, Liu, Xingyin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Original
• ISSN: 1674-8301; 2352-4685
• DOI: 10.7555/JBR.35.20200154

The outbreak of COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 is spreading worldwide, with the pathogenesis mostly unclear. Both virus and host-derived microRNA (miRNA) play essential roles in the pathology of virus infection. This study aims to uncover the mechanism for SARS-CoV-2 pathogenicity from the perspective of miRNA. We scanned the SARS-CoV-2 genome for putative miRNA genes and miRNA targets and conducted experiments to validate the virus-encoded miRNAs and their regulatory role on the putative targets. One of such virus-encoded miRNAs, MR147-3p, was overexpressed that resulted in significantly decreased transcript levels of all of the predicted targets in human, , , , and in the virus-infected cells. The analysis showed that the immune response and cytoskeleton organization are two of the most notable biological processes regulated by the infection-modulated miRNAs. Additionally, the genomic mutation of SARS-CoV-2 contributed to the changed miRNA repository and targets, suggesting a possible role of miRNAs in the attenuated phenotype of SARS-CoV-2 during its evolution. This study provided a comprehensive view of the miRNA-involved regulatory system during SARS-CoV-2 infection, indicating possible antiviral therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2 through intervening miRNA regulation.