RNA Interference Functions as an Antiviral Immunity Mechanism in Mammals (original) (raw)

“…However, Dicer's catalytic function appears mainly confined to precursor microRNA (pre‐miRNA) processing, and its antiviral capacity in mammals remains much debated (Parameswaran et al , 2010; Cullen et al , 2013; Li et al , 2013, 2016; Maillard et al , 2013; Backes et al , 2014; Ding & Voinnet, 2014; Kennedy et al , 2015; Jeffrey et al , 2017; tenOever, 2017). Some studies have reported that RNAi can impact antiviral immunity in mammals during influenza A virus, hepatitis C virus, Nodamura virus and, more recently, human enterovirus 71 infection (Wang et al , 2006; Matskevich & Moelling, 2007; Li et al , 2013, 2016; Maillard et al , 2013; Qiu et al , 2017). In contrast, others have found low abundance of viRNAs in mammalian somatic cells infected with various viruses, and only a modest effect of Dicer deficiency on viral replication, suggesting that RNAi is not an active mechanism of antiviral defence in most mammalian cell types (Parameswaran et al , 2010; Girardi et al , 2013; Backes et al , 2014; Bogerd et al , 2014; Schuster et al , 2017).…”