microRNAs are non-coding RNAs that induce
the degradation of mRNA in principle. Recently it has been discovered that
microRNA122 (miR122) significantly enhances the growth of Hepatitis C virus
(HCV). Some reports showed that miR122 are highly expressed in hepatocytes that
are the major target cells of HCV infection. miR122 complementarily hybridizes
with the header region (5’) of HCV RNA genome. A paper reported that miR122
prevents HCV genome RNA from RNA degradation, which strongly contributes to its
stability.
The opposite mechanism of the principle function of microRNAs is
applied for the HCV genome. This is a mystery.
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