Human microRNAs in host–parasite interaction: a review

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of small noncoding RNA molecules with significant capacity to regulate the gene expression at the post-transcriptional level in a sequence-specific manner either through translation repression or mRNA degradation triggering a fine-tuning biological impact. They have been implicated in several processes, including cell growth and development, signal transduction, cell proliferation and differentiation, metabolism, apoptosis, inflammation, and immune response modulation. However, over the last few years, extensive studies have shown the relevance of miRNAs in human pathophysiology. Common human parasitic diseases, such as Malaria, Leishmaniasis, Amoebiasis, Chagas disease, Schistosomiasis, Toxoplasmosis, Cryptosporidiosis, Clonorchiasis, and Echinococcosis are the leading cause of death worldwide. Thus, identifying and characterizing parasite-specific miRNAs and their host targets, as well as host-related miRNAs, are important for a deeper understanding of the pathophysiology of parasite-specific diseases at the molecular level. In this review, we have demonstrated the impact of human microRNAs during host−parasite interaction as well as their potential to be used for diagnosis and prognosis purposes.

miR-548d-3p Alters Parasite Growth and Inflammation in Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis Infection

“…MicroRNAs can be modulated by different pathogens, such as viruses, bacteria, and protozoan parasites ( Chandan et al., 2019 ; Acuna et al., 2020 ). Differential expression of diverse miRNA has been identified in Leishmania -host interaction in vitro and experimental in vivo systems with visceral and cutaneous strains of Leishmania ( Acuna et al., 2020 ) as well as human leishmaniasis ( Paul et al., 2020 ). Specifically, in cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by L. braziliensis miR-361-3p, a regulator of GZMB and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) was down-regulated and related to treatment failure ( Lago et al., 2018 ).…”

Intestinal transcriptomes in Kazakh sheep with different haplotypes after experimentalEchinococcus granulosusinfection

“…Echinococcus granulosus infection in the host is a complex dynamic process, which involves the recognition and interaction of a variety of biological molecules, including genes [ 33 ], proteins [ 1 ], and miRNAs [ 42 ]. Upregulation or downregulation of molecular expression likely causes different individuals of the same host to have different resistance, similarly to reports about Plasmodium homocircumflexum [ 17 ].…”

MicroRNA Interference in Hepatic Host-Pathogen Interactions

“…Schistosomiasis (also known as bilharzia) is a parasitic infectious disease caused by blood flukes of the Schistosoma genus and is one of the most prevalent zoonotic diseases worldwide [ 110 ]. Schistosoma mansoni (mainly found in Africa, South America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East), Schistosoma haematobium (Africa and the Middle East), and Schistosoma japonicum (China and southeast Asia) are the main causes of this human disease [ 111 ]. Schistosomes get into the body from human skin, and schistosome cercariae migrate to the liver via portal-mesenteric vein system.…”

“…In addition, mmu-miR-223, mmu-miR-146a/b, mmu-miR-155, mmu-miR-34c, mmu-miR-199, and mmu-miR-134 exhibit peak expression levels during the late phase of infection and may symbolize the development of schistosomal hepatopathy [ 112 ]. The roles of miRNAs and the pathogenesis of hepatic fibrosis in schistosomiasis by both S. japonicum and S. mansoni were recently reported, which highlighted their roles in regulating antifibrotic and profibrotic mechanisms [ 111 ]. It was shown that miR-150-5p, miR-146b-5p, miR-143-3p, miR-199a-3p, miR-10a-5p, miR-4521, miR-31-5p, miR-222-3p, and miR-221-3p were upregulated, whereas miR-663b was downregulated.…”