Numerous conserved and divergent microRNAs expressed by herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2.

Autor: Jurak I; Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, 250 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115, USA., Kramer MF, Mellor JC, van Lint AL, Roth FP, Knipe DM, Coen DM
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of virology [J Virol] 2010 May; Vol. 84 (9), pp. 4659-72. Date of Electronic Publication: 2010 Feb 24.
DOI: 10.1128/JVI.02725-09
Abstrakt: Certain viruses use microRNAs (miRNAs) to regulate the expression of their own genes, host genes, or both. Previous studies have identified a limited number of miRNAs expressed by herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and -2), some of which are conserved between these two viruses. To more comprehensively analyze the miRNAs expressed by HSV-1 or HSV-2 during productive and latent infection, we applied a massively parallel sequencing approach. We were able to identify 16 and 17 miRNAs expressed by HSV-1 and HSV-2, respectively, including all previously known species, and a number of previously unidentified virus-encoded miRNAs. The genomic positions of most miRNAs encoded by these two viruses are within or proximal to the latency-associated transcript region. Nine miRNAs are conserved in position and/or sequence, particularly in the seed region, between these two viruses. Interestingly, we did not detect an HSV-2 miRNA homolog of HSV-1 miR-H1, which is highly expressed during productive infection, but we did detect abundant expression of miR-H6, whose seed region is conserved with HSV-1 miR-H1 and might represent a functional analog. We also identified a highly conserved miRNA family arising from the viral origins of replication. In addition, we detected several pairs of complementary miRNAs and we found miRNA-offset RNAs (moRs) arising from the precursors of HSV-1 and HSV-2 miR-H6 and HSV-2 miR-H4. Our results reveal elements of miRNA conservation and divergence that should aid in identifying miRNA functions.
Databáze: MEDLINE