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Review
. 2020 Sep 10;6(3):38.
doi: 10.3390/ncrna6030038.

Non-Coding RNAs: Strategy for Viruses' Offensive

Alessia Gallo  1 , Matteo Bulati  1 , Vitale Miceli  1 , Nicola Amodio  2 , Pier Giulio Conaldi  1   3
Affiliations
Review

Non-Coding RNAs: Strategy for Viruses' Offensive

Alessia Gallo et al. Noncoding RNA. .

Abstract

The awareness of viruses as a constant threat for human public health is a matter of fact and in this resides the need of understanding the mechanisms they use to trick the host. Viral non-coding RNAs are gaining much value and interest for the potential impact played in host gene regulation, acting as fine tuners of host cellular defense mechanisms. The implicit importance of v-ncRNAs resides first in the limited genomes size of viruses carrying only strictly necessary genomic sequences. The other crucial and appealing characteristic of v-ncRNAs is the non-immunogenicity, making them the perfect expedient to be used in the never-ending virus-host war. In this review, we wish to examine how DNA and RNA viruses have evolved a common strategy and which the crucial host pathways are targeted through v-ncRNAs in order to grant and facilitate their life cycle.

Keywords: immune evasion; miRNA mimicry; viral circRNA; viral non-coding RNA.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Viral mechanisms for host immune surveillance evasion by production of v-ncRNAs. The production of v-ncRNAs acts on the main mechanisms by which host immune effector cells oppose virus infection. This leads to escape from immune recognition with consequent virus proliferation/propagation.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Role of v-ncRNAs in the virus pathogenesis mechanisms. V-ncRNAs act as fine regulators between the latent and lytic phase and as regulators of both survival and cell transformation. The control of these host physiological processes contribute to virus replication/propagation and cell pathogenesis.
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