Viral RNA Outfoxes Human Immune System

A newly identified role in infection for viral RNA shows that this molecule does more than encode viral proteins. New research shows herpesviruses use short strands of RNA called microRNA to evade the human immune system (Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1140956). Yael Altuvia, Ofer Mandelboim, and their colleagues at Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, in Jerusalem, report that a herpesvirus microRNA blocks the production of a human protein whose presence at the surface of an infected cell recruits the human immune system. Recently, John Sinclair's group at the University of Cambridge revealed that another herpesvirus RNA binds to components of the mitochondria respiratory chain, protecting an important protein at the mitochondrial membrane. This protection prevents the infected cell from committing suicide and maintains energy production essential for the virus's survival (Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1142984). The studies suggest that these viral RNAs "merit serious consideration as potentially attractive targets for chemotherapeutic intervention in herpes-induced diseases," notes Bryan R. Cullen, a virologist at Duke University, in a Science commentary.