MicroRNAs help control HIV life cycle

Friday, June 26, 2009 - 08:35 in Health & Medicine

Scientists at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have discovered that specific microRNAs (non-coding RNAs that interfere with gene expression) reduce HIV replication and infectivity in human T-cells. In particular, miR29 plays a key role in controlling the HIV life cycle. The study suggests that HIV may have co-opted this cellular defence mechanism to help the virus hide from the immune system and antiviral drugs. The research was published in the journal Molecular Cell...

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