A Review of the Interaction between miRNAs and Ebola Virus

Document Type : Review Article

Authors
Ehsan Kakavandi 1
Jila Yavarian 1
Mahdieh Farzanehpour 2
Mohammad Shayestehpour 3
1 Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
2 Applied Virology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
3 Department of Bacteriology and Virology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
10.22088/IJMCM.BUMS.13.2.210
Abstract
Ebola virus (EBOV) is a life-threatening and virulent pathogen that kills approximately 90
percent of infected individuals. Nowadays, microRNAs (miRNAs) have become a promising
option for more efficient screening, diagnosis, monitoring, and therapy of numerous diseases
such as cancer, stroke, Alzheimer's, and viral infections. Recent studies have revealed the
role of EBOV and host-encoded miRNAs in Ebola virus disease (EVD), opening an avenue
for developing novel drugs against EVD and diagnostic panels for EBOV infection. EBOV-
encoded miRNAs such as miR-VP-3p and miR-1-5p and anti-EBOV host cell miRNAs such
as has-miR-150-3p, has-miR-103b and has-miR-145-3p might be a possible diagnostic
biomarker or druggable targets. This paper highlights the importance of viral and cellular
miRNAs in EBOV infection and EVD.
Keywords
Ebola virus
MicroRNAs
virus diseases