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. 2023 Jan 1;13(1):125–147. doi: 10.7150/thno.78164

Figure 2.

Figure 2

Potential association of circulating miRNAs with COVID-19. Circulating miRNAs are involved in the regulation of SARS-CoV-2 replication, infection, and immune escape. When circulating miRNAs in body fluids enter cells, they activate immune responses and initiate a series of inflammatory cascades. MiR-223 controls inflammation by targeting NLRP3, IL-1β, IL-18, caspase-1, and other factors. Furthermore, miR-155 can also target SOCS1 to regulate viral infection by inhibiting the NF-κB and JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathways. In addition, the inflammatory marker miR-146 pair with the sequence bases in the 3'UTR of TLR downstream signaling factors, such as IRAK1 and TRAF6, which inhibits the expression of linked reporter genes and decreases the levels of NF-κB, IL-8, and MIP-3α. At the same time, miR-146a silencing reverses the reduction of IL-6 levels and double regulates the activity of NF-κB. In addition to regulating inflammatory mediators, miR-2392 can also drive downstream mitochondrial gene expression, thereby inhibiting OXPHOS and reducing the production of mROS to control the inflammatory response. Furthermore, circulating miRNAs are also involved in the regulation of viral immune escape. Silencing miR-150-5p can reduce the inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 through nsp 10, while nsp 10 can bind to nsp 14 to enhance viral replication, translation, and immune escape.