Epstein barr virus encodes miRNAs to assist host immune escape

Weiming Li; Cong He; Jiayi Wu; Dazhi Yang; Weihong Yi

doi:10.7150/jca.42498

Epstein barr virus encodes miRNAs to assist host immune escape

J Cancer. 2020 Feb 3;11(8):2091-2100. doi: 10.7150/jca.42498. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Weiming Li¹, Cong He¹, Jiayi Wu², Dazhi Yang^{1

2}, Weihong Yi^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of orthopedics, Union Shenzhen Hospital, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
² Department of orthopedics, The 6th Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Health Science Center, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.

Abstract

Epstein-barr virus (EBV) is a definite tumorigenic virus, which can form life-long latency in the host, which is difficult to be recognized and completely eliminated by the immune system. It is closely related to the occurrence and development of nasopharyngeal cancer, gastric cancer and various types of lymphoma. At present, a total of 44 Epstein-barr virus-encoded microRNAs (EBV miRNAs) have been found. In response to the immune system of the body, EBV miRNAs can inhibit the expression and presentation of viral antigens, inhibit immune activation and immunotoxicity, assisting host cells to escape from immunity, and providing conditions for further immortalized tumorigenesis of the host cells.

Keywords: EBV miRNAs; immune escape; tumor.

Publication types

Review