Cross Talk between MicroRNAs and Dengue Virus

Abstract

Dengue fever (DF) is an endemic infectious tropical disease and is rapidly becoming a global problem. Dengue fever is caused by one of the four dengue virus (DENV) serotypes and is spread by the female Aedes mosquito. Clinical manifestations of DF may range from asymptomatic to life-threatening severe illness with conditions of hemorrhagic fever and shock. Early and precise diagnosis is vital to avoid mortality from DF. A different approach is required to combat DF because of the challenges with the vaccines currently available, which are nonspecific; each is capable of causing cross-reaction and disease-enhancing antibody responses against the residual serotypes. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are known to be implicated in DENV infection and are postulated to be involved in most of the host responses. Thus, they might be a suitable target for new strategies against the disease. The involvement of miRNAs in cellular activities and pathways during viral infections has been explored under numerous conditions. Interestingly, miRNAs have also been shown to be involved in viral replication. In this review, we summarize the role of known miRNAs, specifically the role of miRNA Let-7c (miR-Let-7c), miR-133a, miR-30e, and miR-146a, in the regulation of DENV replication and their possible effects on the initial immune reaction.

Figure 1.

Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network for MIRLET7C, MIR133A1, MIR146A, and MIR30E. The four microRNAs (miRNAs) were used as queries against the Bisogenet application in Cytoscape 3.1.0. The PPI network consisted of four miRNAs with 75 predicted interacting partners or genes and 198 edges. The node colors refer to the studied genes: yellow, genes that interact with the miRNA that are involved in immunity; purple, genes that interact with the miRNA that are involved in immunity and dengue fever; green, genes that interact with the miRNA that are involved in dengue fever; blue, genes that interact with the miRNA. Three different colors represent different types of edges: miRNA silencing interactions are represented in red, PPIs are represented in blue, and protein-DNA interactions are represented in green.

Figure 2.

Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network for MIRLET7C, MIR146A, and MIR30E with interacting partners that are involved in dengue fever. The PPI network was extracted from Figure 1 and constructed using the Bisogenet application in Cytoscape 3.1.0. The PPI network consists of 10 interacting partners or genes and 15 edges. The node color refers to the studied genes: purple, genes that interact with the miRNA that are involved in dengue fever. Two different colors represent different types of edges: miRNA silencing interactions are represented in red, and PPIs are represented in blue.

Figure 3.

Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network for MIRLET7C, MIR146A, and MIR30E with interacting partners that are involved in immunity. The PPI network was extracted from Figure 1 and constructed using the Bisogenet application in Cytoscape 3.1.0. It consists of 71 interacting partners or genes and 181 edges. The node color refers to the studied genes: yellow, genes that interact with the miRNA that are involved in immunity. Three different colors represent different types of edges: miRNA silencing interactions are represented in red, PPIs are represented in blue, and protein-DNA interactions are represented in green.