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Meta Gene
. 2020 Nov 18;100831.
doi: 10.1016/j.mgene.2020.100831. Online ahead of print.
Therapeutic potential of miRNAs targeting SARS-CoV-2 host cell receptor ACE2
Ibrahim Bozgeyik 1
Affiliations
- PMID: 33224734
- PMCID: PMC7672338
- DOI: 10.1016/j.mgene.2020.100831
Abstract
In late December 2019, several cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology (COVID-19) were reported in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. Based on clinical findings, blood tests and chest radiographs, this disease was diagnosed as a virus-associated pneumonia. Sequence analysis revealed a novel coronavirus, called SARS-CoV-2 (formerly called 2019-nCoV), as the causative agent of pneumonia of unknown etiology. So far, the SARS-CoV-2 infection continues to spread, and this virus poses a serious public health threat. In this study, it was aimed to reveal potential miRNA targets for the regulation of SARS-CoV-2 host cell receptor ACE2. For the identification of potential miRNA targets for the ACE2 gene, TarBase v.8 (DIANA Tools), TargetScan, miRTarBase and miRDB miRNA-target prediction algorithms were used. FANTOM5 CAGE was used for the cellular ontology analysis. Expression levels of these miRNAs were determined using OncomiR Pan-Cancer miRNome Atlas. The results suggest that members of miR-200 family of miRNAs, especially miR-200c-3p, are strong candidate targets for the regulation of ACE2 in respiratory system cells. Consequently, the present study for the first time emphasizes potential use of miRNA-based therapeutics in the battle against SARS-CoV-2 infection and its deadly disease, COVID-19.
Keywords: ACE2; Coronavirus; Covid-19; SARS-CoV-2; miRNA; miRNA therapeutics.