RNA silencing is a conserved eukaryotic pathway involved in the suppression of gene expression via sequence-specific interactions that are mediated by 21–23 nt RNA molecules.During infection,RNAi can act as an innate...RNA silencing is a conserved eukaryotic pathway involved in the suppression of gene expression via sequence-specific interactions that are mediated by 21–23 nt RNA molecules.During infection,RNAi can act as an innate immune system to defend against viruses.As a counter-defensive strategy,silencing suppressors are encoded by viruses to inhibit various stages of the silencing process.These suppressors are diverse in sequence and structure and act via different mechanisms.In this review,we discuss whether RNAi is a defensive strategy in mammalian host cells and whether silencing suppressors can be encoded by mammalian viruses.We also review the modes of action proposed for some silencing suppressors.展开更多
基金the National Basic Research Program(973 Project)(Grant No.2011CB504805)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.30900759/C0709)the Postdoctoral Foundation of China.
文摘RNA silencing is a conserved eukaryotic pathway involved in the suppression of gene expression via sequence-specific interactions that are mediated by 21–23 nt RNA molecules.During infection,RNAi can act as an innate immune system to defend against viruses.As a counter-defensive strategy,silencing suppressors are encoded by viruses to inhibit various stages of the silencing process.These suppressors are diverse in sequence and structure and act via different mechanisms.In this review,we discuss whether RNAi is a defensive strategy in mammalian host cells and whether silencing suppressors can be encoded by mammalian viruses.We also review the modes of action proposed for some silencing suppressors.
