Roles of host small RNAs in the evolution and host tropism of coronaviruses

Meng，Qingren1; Chu，Yanan2; Shao，Changjun2; Chen，Jing2; Wang，Jian2; Gao，Zhancheng3; Yu，Jun2; Kang，Yu2

2021-03-22

10.1093/bib/bbab027

Briefings in bioinformatics   影响因子和分区

1477-4054

Human coronaviruses (CoVs) can cause respiratory infection epidemics that sometimes expand into globally relevant pandemics. All human CoVs have sister strains isolated from animal hosts and seem to have an animal origin, yet the process of host jumping is largely unknown. RNA interference (RNAi) is an ancient mechanism in many eukaryotes to defend against viral infections through the hybridization of host endogenous small RNAs (miRNAs) with target sites in invading RNAs. Here, we developed a method to identify potential RNAi-sensitive sites in the viral genome and discovered that human-adapted coronavirus strains had deleted some of their sites targeted by miRNAs in human lungs when compared to their close zoonic relatives. We further confirmed using a phylogenetic analysis that the loss of RNAi-sensitive target sites could be a major driver of the host-jumping process, and adaptive mutations that lead to the loss-of-target might be as simple as point mutation. Up-to-date genomic data of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and Middle-East respiratory syndromes-CoV strains demonstrate that the stress from host miRNA milieus sustained even after their epidemics in humans. Thus, this study illustrates a new mechanism about coronavirus to explain its host-jumping process and provides a novel avenue for pathogenesis research, epidemiological modeling, and development of drugs and vaccines against coronavirus, taking into consideration these findings.

adaptive mutation coronavirus host tropisms miRNA RNAi

SCI

英语

第一

WOS:000642298000038

COMPUTER SCIENCE

2-s2.0-85103474430

Scopus

1.Southern University of Science and Technology School of Medicine,China
2.Beijing Institute of Genomics,Chinese Academy of Sciences,China
3.Peking University People's Hospital,China

Meng，Qingren,Chu，Yanan,Shao，Changjun,et al. Roles of host small RNAs in the evolution and host tropism of coronaviruses[J]. Briefings in bioinformatics,2021,22(2):1096-1105.

Meng，Qingren.,Chu，Yanan.,Shao，Changjun.,Chen，Jing.,Wang，Jian.,...&Kang，Yu.(2021).Roles of host small RNAs in the evolution and host tropism of coronaviruses.Briefings in bioinformatics,22(2),1096-1105.

Meng，Qingren,et al."Roles of host small RNAs in the evolution and host tropism of coronaviruses".Briefings in bioinformatics 22.2(2021):1096-1105.