Authors:
Durairaj Sekar and Ramalingam Krishnan*
Affiliation(s):
Refsyn Biosciences Pvt Ltd, Puducherry, India
Dates:
Received: 18 November, 2014; Accepted: 09 January, 2015; Published: 11 January, 2015
*Corresponding author:
Ramalingam Krishnan PhD, Department of clinical Biochemistry, Narayana Medical College, Nellore, India – 524002, Tel: +91-9490166078; Email: @
Citation:
Sekar D, Krishnan R (2015) Commentary: Role of MicroRNAs in HIV Related Studies. J HIV Clin Scientific Res 2(1): 015. DOI: 10.17352/2455-3786.000008
Copyright:
© 2015 Sekar D, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Micro RNAs (miRNAs) are well known regulatory factor of physiological and developmental processes, it has been revealed that many miRNAs contribute the initiation and progression of various cancers. Micro RNAs are being reported in body fluids, such as serum, plasma, and urine, and can be readily used as non-invasive biomarkers for various diseases and served as a novel diagnostic and prognostic tools. Recently, microRNAs are considered as a powerful biomarker in HIV-related studies [1,2]. So this short Commendatory will explain information about the role of micro RNAs in HIV related studies.

A most recent study shows that cellular micro RNAs (miRNAs) can play crucial roles in controlling HIV-1 infection and replication. In addition, HIV-1 can manipulate the biogenesis of miRNAs as well as the expression profiles of cellular miRNAs [1]. It has been suggested that micro RNAs (miRNAs) contribute to the IFN-α-mediated suppression of HIV-1, moreover.

The specific reduction of miR-422a is associated with exogenous IFN-α treatment, and likely contributes to the IFN-α suppression of HIV-1 through the enhancement of anti-HIV-1 restriction factor expression and regulation of genes involved in programmed cell death [2].

Reynoso et al. 2014 explains about the levels of circulating miRNAs might be of diagnostic and/or prognostic value for HIV infection, and hsa-miR-29b-3p and miR-33a-5p may contribute to the design of new anti-HIV drugs [3]. In the case of anti-retroviral therapy (ART), CD4 T cell count and plasma viral load are surrogate markers of HIV/AIDS progression. But, their reliability has been questioned in patients on ART therapy [4]. In the same pilot study reported that expression of five miRNAs in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMCs) and two of these miRNAs (miR-146b-5p and miR-150) in the plasma of HIV/AIDS patients, which developed ART resistance in those patients [4,5].

According to the above recent studies, micro RNAs play an important role in HIV related studies, either it may enhance the viral activity or decrease the viral activity in HIV infected Patients [6]. The number of studies related to the role of micro RNAs in HIV related diseases is sparse. Concentrating micro RNAs signal transduction pathways may be a diagnostic and prognostic value in identifying the therapeutic target for HIV related studies [7].

  1. Sekar D, Hairul Islam VI, Thirugnanasambantham K, Saravanan S (2014) Relevance of miR-21 in HIV and non-HIV-related lymphomas. Tumour Biol 35: 8387-93.
  2. Phillips P, Sekar D, Sookhayi R, Govender D, Mohamed Z, et al. (2014) Hematopathology: Poster# 205 Micro rna 21 Expression Levels in hiv and non-hiv related diffuse large B Cell Lymphoma. Pathology-Journal of the RCPA doi: 10.1097/01.PAT.0000454452.85660.5c.
  3. Sekar D, Saravanan S, Karikalan K, Thirugnanasambantham K, Lalitha P, et al. (2015) Role of MicroRNA 21 in Mesenchymal Stem Cell (MSC) Differentiation: A Powerful Biomarker in MSCs Derived Cells. Curr Pharm Biotechnol 16: 43-48. .
  4. Swaminathan G1, Navas-Martín S, Martín-García (2014 ) Interplay between micro RNAs, Toll-like receptors, and HIV-1: potential implications in HIV-1 replication and chronic immune activation. Discov Med 18: 15-27.
  5. Abdel-Mohsen M, Deng X, Danesh A, Liegler T, Jacobs ES, et al. (2014) Role of Micro RNA Modulation in the Interferon-α/Ribavirin Suppression of HIV-1 in vivo. PLoS One 9: e109220.
  6. Reynoso R, Laufer N, Hackl M, Skalicky S, Monte forte R, et al. (2014) Micro RNAs differentially present in the plasma of HIV elite controllers reduce HIV infection in vitro. Sci Rep 4: 5915.
  7. Munshi SU, Panda H, Holla P, Rewari BB, Jameel S (2014) Micro RNA-150 is a potential biomarker of HIV/AIDS disease progression and therapy. PLoS One 9: e95920.
  8. Swaminathan G, Navas-Martín S, Martín-García J (2014) Micro RNAs and HIV-1 infection: antiviral activities and beyond. J Mol Biol 426: 1178-1197.

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