{"title":"Shared and unique mechanisms of RNAi-mediated antiviral immunity in C. elegans","authors":"Teng Yan , Rui Lu","doi":"10.1016/j.virol.2025.110459","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), generated by Dicer proteins, play a pivotal role in antiviral immunity in eukaryotes. Dicer proteins also produce microRNAs (miRNAs), a class of endogenous small non-coding RNAs that regulate essential cellular functions through post-transcriptional mechanisms. In plants and insects, multiple Dicer proteins are produced and deployed to separately manage the biogenesis of antiviral siRNAs and miRNAs. This separation ensures that viral infections, especially the production of viral RNAi suppressors, do not severely compromise host growth or development. In contrast, nematode worms, such as <em>Caenorhabditis elegans,</em> rely on a single Dicer protein to produce both types of small RNAs. Probably as a strategy to mitigate the potential disruption of miRNA production by viral infections, nematodes have evolved distinct strategies for generating primary and secondary siRNAs for antiviral defense. This review explores the shared and unique features of siRNA-mediated antiviral immunity in <em>Caenorhabditis elegans</em>, shedding light on the specialized adaptations that enable robust antiviral defenses without compromising miRNA-mediated function.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23666,"journal":{"name":"Virology","volume":"605 ","pages":"Article 110459"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Virology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0042682225000716","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"VIROLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), generated by Dicer proteins, play a pivotal role in antiviral immunity in eukaryotes. Dicer proteins also produce microRNAs (miRNAs), a class of endogenous small non-coding RNAs that regulate essential cellular functions through post-transcriptional mechanisms. In plants and insects, multiple Dicer proteins are produced and deployed to separately manage the biogenesis of antiviral siRNAs and miRNAs. This separation ensures that viral infections, especially the production of viral RNAi suppressors, do not severely compromise host growth or development. In contrast, nematode worms, such as Caenorhabditis elegans, rely on a single Dicer protein to produce both types of small RNAs. Probably as a strategy to mitigate the potential disruption of miRNA production by viral infections, nematodes have evolved distinct strategies for generating primary and secondary siRNAs for antiviral defense. This review explores the shared and unique features of siRNA-mediated antiviral immunity in Caenorhabditis elegans, shedding light on the specialized adaptations that enable robust antiviral defenses without compromising miRNA-mediated function.
期刊介绍:
Launched in 1955, Virology is a broad and inclusive journal that welcomes submissions on all aspects of virology including plant, animal, microbial and human viruses. The journal publishes basic research as well as pre-clinical and clinical studies of vaccines, anti-viral drugs and their development, anti-viral therapies, and computational studies of virus infections. Any submission that is of broad interest to the community of virologists/vaccinologists and reporting scientifically accurate and valuable research will be considered for publication, including negative findings and multidisciplinary work.Virology is open to reviews, research manuscripts, short communication, registered reports as well as follow-up manuscripts.