Development of miRNA-based Therapeutics against Zika Virus using Bioinformatics approaches.

ABSTRACT

Zika virus infection is characterized by numerous symptoms including fever, joint pain, conjunctivitis, andneurological complications like the Guillain-Barre syndrome in rare cases. To date, 89 countries and territories have been infected with this virus. There is no specific treatment or approved vaccine available forthe Zika virus. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop an efficient therapeutic against Zika virus.Previously, it was reported that during infection, viruses or other pathogens downregulate the human miRNAfor better growth. If we increase the level of these downregulated miRNAs, it can inhibit the growth of pathogens or viruses. In the present study, we have used 3'UTR (10367 to 10794) and polyprotein(YP_002790881.1) sequence of Zika virus (NC_012532) for the prediction of human miRNA using the miRNAProtPred webserver. We predicted 193 and 569 unique human miRNAs for the 3'UTR and polyprotein sequences, respectively. 22 human miRNAs were identified as common in both groups. Interestingly, several predicted human miRNAs were reported as downregulated miRNAs during Zika infection or inhibitors of the Zika virus replication/protein expression such as miR-30e-3p. This supports the reliability of the current approach, and the potential of the predicted miRNA to inhibit the growth of Zika virus. However, furthere xperimental validation is required before going to different stages of clinical trials. The current approach will facilitate the development of miRNA-based therapeutics against pathogenic diseases.