A Computational Approach for Predicting Role of Human MicroRNAs in MERS-CoV Genome.

Md Mahmudul Hasan,Rozina Akter,G M Ahsan Ullah,Md Shahin Ullah,Md Zakir Hossain,Md Jaynul Abedin

doi:10.1155/2014/967946

Abstract

The new epidemic Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is caused by a type of human coronavirus called MERS-CoV which has global fatality rate of about 30%. We are investigating potential antiviral therapeutics against MERS-CoV by using host microRNAs (miRNAs) which may downregulate viral gene expression to quell viral replication. We computationally predicted potential 13 cellular miRNAs from 11 potential hairpin sequences of MERS-CoV genome. Our study provided an interesting hypothesis that those miRNAs, that is, hsa-miR-628-5p, hsa-miR-6804-3p, hsa-miR-4289, hsa-miR-208a-3p, hsa-miR-510-3p, hsa-miR-18a-3p, hsa-miR-329-3p, hsa-miR-548ax, hsa-miR-3934-5p, hsa-miR-4474-5p, hsa-miR-7974, hsa-miR-6865-5p, and hsa-miR-342-3p, would be antiviral therapeutics against MERS-CoV infection.

Highlights

The new epidemic Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) has emerged since recent years
The clinical symptoms of MERS-CoV are almost similar to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARSCoV) which emerged in 2003 [1]
We computationally identified some potential targets of human microRNA on Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) genome

Summary

Introduction

The new epidemic Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) has emerged since recent years. The first case of MERS was reported at September 2012 in Saudi Arabia and severity rate is increasing day by day [1]. It is caused by a type of human coronavirus called MERS-CoV, a new member in the lineage C of β-coronavirus (β-CoV) [2]. The clinical symptoms of MERS-CoV are almost similar to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARSCoV) which emerged in 2003 [1]. Current severity rate of MERS-CoV is low this scenario could be changed rapidly globally. We hope this study will play significant role in order to develop a potential antiviral therapy against MERS-CoV

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion