Abstract
MicroRNA are short and non-coding RNA, 18-25 nucleotides in length. They are produced at the early stage of viral infection. The roles played by cellular miRNAs and miRNA-mediated gene-silencing in the COVID-19 epidemic period is critical in order to develop novel therapeutics. We analyzed SARS-CoV-2 Surface Glycoprotein (S) nucleotide sequence originating from India as well as Iran, Australia, Germany, Italy, Russia, China, Japan and Turkey and identified mutation in potential seed location of several human miRNA. Seventy single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were detected in the S gene out of which, 36, 32 and 2 were cases of transitions, transversions and deletions respectively. Eleven human miRNA targets were identified on the reference S gene sequence with a score >80 in the miRDB database. Mutation A845S erased a common binding site of 7 human miRNA (miR-195-5p, miR-16-5p, miR-15b-5p, miR-15a-5p, miR-497-5p, miR-424-5p and miR-6838-5p). A synonymous mutation altered the wild type Ochre stop codon within the S gene sequence (Italy) to Opal thereby changing the seed sequence of miR-511-3p. Similar (synonymous) mutations were detected at amino acid position 659 and 1116 of the S gene where amino acids serine and threonine were retained, abolishing potential seed location for miR-219a-1-3p and miR-20b-3p respectively. The significance of this finding in reference to the strategy to use synthetic miRNA combinations as a novel therapeutic tool is discussed.
Highlights
The recent epidemic of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 or the COVID-19 is caused by a new coronavirus that was detected in December 2019 in the Wuhan city of China
The roles played by cellular miRNAs and miRNA-mediated gene-silencing in the COVID-19 epidemic period is critical in order to develop novel therapeutics
A set of 31 nucleotide sequences for the surface glycoprotein gene of SARS CoV-2 virus submitted from India and with collection dates ranging from the period of 11-06-2020 to 01-04-2021 were analysed
Summary
The recent epidemic of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 or the COVID-19 is caused by a new coronavirus that was detected in December 2019 in the Wuhan city of China. Thereafter it has rapidly spread across the world like wildfire and turned into a global pandemic [1]. The Genus Coronaviruses, abbreviated as CoVs, are classified into the family Coronaviridae and sub family Coronavirinae. These viruses are characterized by typical crown-like spikes on their surface (Latin: Corona = Crown) and the name ‘’Coronavirus’’ [2]. These viruses infect humans, birds and other mammals and the infection causes a varied degree of complexities ranging from respiratory, neurological, enteric to hepatic diseases [3]
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