Role of virally-encoded microRNAs in herpesvirus biology

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short RNAs of about 22 nucleotides in length that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression by binding to 3′ untranslated regions of mRNAs, thereby inducing translational silencing. Recently, more than 140 miRNAs have been identified in herpesviral genomes. Deciphering t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inTrends in microbiology (Regular ed.) Vol. 17; no. 12; pp. 544 - 553
Main Authors Boss, Isaac W., Plaisance, Karlie B., Renne, Rolf
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 12.10.2009
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Summary:MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short RNAs of about 22 nucleotides in length that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression by binding to 3′ untranslated regions of mRNAs, thereby inducing translational silencing. Recently, more than 140 miRNAs have been identified in herpesviral genomes. Deciphering their role in viral biology requires the identification of target genes, a challenging task, since miRNAs require only limited complementarity. The subject of this review will be the herpesvirus miRNAs and their respective target genes that have been experimentally determined thus far. These miRNAs regulate fundamental cellular processes including immunity, angiogenesis, apoptosis, and key steps in the herpesvirus life cycle, latency and the switch from latent to lytic replication.
Bibliography:To whom to address correspondence: Rolf Renne, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, 1376 Mowry Road, Gainesville, FL 32610, rrenne@ufl.edu, (352) 273-8204
ISSN:0966-842X
1878-4380
DOI:10.1016/j.tim.2009.09.002