Viruses use a number of strategies to manipulate the cells of their host to ensure a successful infection. Herpesvirus saimiri (HVS) generates highly conserved small noncoding RNAs HSUR 1 and HSUR 2, which modulate expression of a number of proteins in infected primate T cells. Cazalla et al. (see the Perspective by Pasquinelli) observed complementarity between HSUR sequences and the seed regions of three different microRNAs (miRNAs)—miR-142-3p, miR-27, and miR-16—and found that these HSURs could bind to the miRNAs. Furthermore, the level of mature miR-27 was modulated by binding to HSUR 1, which targeted the miRNA for degradation.
D. Cazalla, T. Yario, J. Steitz, Down-regulation of a host microRNA by a Herpesvirus saimiri noncoding RNA. Science 328, 1563–1566 (2010). [Abstract] [Full Text]
A. E. Pasquinelli, Paring miRNAs through pairing. Science 328, 1494–1495 (2010). [Summary] [Full Text]
