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Review
. 2023 May 26;28(11):4357.
doi: 10.3390/molecules28114357.

MicroRNA Regulation in Infectious Diseases and Its Potential as a Biosensor in Future Aquaculture Industry: A Review

Aileen See SiouNing  1   2 , Tang Swee Seong  2   3 , Hidehiro Kondo  4 , Subha Bhassu  1   2
Affiliations
Review

MicroRNA Regulation in Infectious Diseases and Its Potential as a Biosensor in Future Aquaculture Industry: A Review

Aileen See SiouNing et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

An infectious disease is the most apprehensive problem in aquaculture as it can lead to high mortality in aquatic organisms and massive economic loss. Even though significant progress has been accomplished in therapeutic, prevention, and diagnostic using several potential technologies, more robust inventions and breakthroughs should be achieved to control the spread of infectious diseases. MicroRNA (miRNA) is an endogenous small non-coding RNA that post-transcriptionally regulates the protein-coding genes. It involves various biological regulatory mechanisms in organisms such as cell differentiation, proliferation, immune responses, development, apoptosis, and others. Furthermore, an miRNA also acts as a mediator to either regulate host responses or enhance the replication of diseases during infection. Therefore, the emergence of miRNAs could be potential candidates for the establishment of diagnostic tools for numerous infectious diseases. Interestingly, studies have revealed that miRNAs can be used as biomarkers and biosensors to detect diseases, and can also be used to design vaccines to attenuate pathogens. This review provides an overview of miRNA biogenesis and specifically focuses on its regulation during infection in aquatic organisms, especially on the host immune responses and how miRNAs enhance the replication of pathogens in the organism. In addition to that, we explored the potential applications, including diagnostic methods and treatments, that can be employed in the aquaculture industry.

Keywords: aquaculture; biomarker; biosensor; infectious diseases; microRNA; therapeutics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Overview illustration of miRNA biogenesis in animals. (Created with Biorender.com).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic diagram of comparisons between IMD and Toll pathways (Created with Biorender.com).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Schematic diagram of inhibition of Ras/Raf/ERK signalling pathway by SPRED1. (Created with Biorender.com).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Schematic representation of oxidative phosphorylation pathway in mitochondrial to generate ATP energy (Created with Biorender.com).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Schematic representation of how shrimp miR-10a is targeting 5′ untranslated region of WSSV genes to enhance viral replication. Reprinted from [75].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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