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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2009 Jul 13.
Published in final edited form as: Trends Immunol. 2008 Dec 6;30(1):1–7. doi: 10.1016/j.it.2008.08.009

Figure 3.

Figure 3

Co-evolution of the miRNA pathway in hosts and viruses. The interaction between hosts and viruses involving miRNAs is illustrated in this figure from the perspective of host-virus co-evolution. Being obligate cellular parasites, viruses exploit numerous cellular components for their replication and survival, including components of the host-miRNA pathway such as (a) miRNA genes, (b) miRNA targets and (c) regulators of RNAi machinery. (a) miRNA genes have been observed in host and viral genomes. The genetic interchange of miRNA genes between viruses and their hosts might have contributed to the origin of some viral miRNAs in addition to the diversification of host miRNAs. (b) Viruses have evolved targets for host miRNAs for the regulation of their own genes by host miRNAs. (c) The RNAi machinery is accompanied by several regulatory components in the host as it has a crucial role in host gene regulation. These regulatory components might have also been co-opted by viruses and given rise to VSRs.