Title
The role of microRNAs in solving COVID-19 puzzle from infection to therapeutics: A mini-review
Date Issued
15 January 2022
Access level
open access
Resource Type
review
Author(s)
Bravo Vázquez L.A.
Reyes-Pérez P.R.
Estrada-Meza C.
Aponte Alburquerque R.A.
Pathak S.
Banerjee A.
Bandyopadhyay A.
Chakraborty S.
Srivastava A.
Tecnológico de Monterrey
Publisher(s)
Elsevier B.V.
Abstract
Nowadays, one of the major global health concerns is coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Even though numerous treatments and vaccines to combat this virus are currently under development, the detailed molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of this disease are yet to be elucidated to design future therapeutic tools against SARS-CoV-2 variants. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small (20-24 nucleotides), non-coding RNA molecules that regulate post-transcriptional gene expression. Recently, it has been demonstrated that both host and viral-encoded miRNAs are crucial for the successful infection of SARS-CoV-2. For instance, dysregulation of miRNAs that modulate multiple genes expressed in COVID-19 patients with comorbidities (e.g., type 2 diabetes, lung adenocarcinoma, and cerebrovascular disorders) could affect the severity of the disease. Thus, altered expression levels of circulating miRNAs might be helpful to diagnose this illness and forecast whether a COVID-19 patient could develop a severe state of the disease. Besides, researchers have found a number of miRNAs could inhibit the expression of proteins, such as ACE2, TMPRSS2, spike, and Nsp12, involved in the life cycle of SARS-CoV-2. Accordingly, miRNAs represent potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for this devastating viral disease. Therefore, in this current review, we present the recent discoveries regarding the clinical relevance and biological roles of miRNAs in COVID-19.
Volume
308
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Epidemiología Genética humana Virología
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85119436755
PubMed ID
Source
Virus Research
ISSN of the container
01681702
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus