{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,2]],"date-time":"2026-03-02T22:21:06Z","timestamp":1772490066294,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,2]],"date-time":"2021-03-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1614643200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["ncRNA"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Sense-antisense interactions of long and short RNAs in human cells are integral to post-transcriptional gene regulation, in particular that of mRNAs by microRNAs. Many viruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 SARS-CoV-2 (the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19), have RNA genomes, and interactions between host and viral RNAs, while known to be functional in other viral diseases, have not yet been investigated in COVID-19. To remedy this gap in knowledge, we present miRCOVID-19, a computational meta-analysis framework identifying the predicted binding sites of human microRNAs along the SARS-CoV-2 RNA genome. To highlight the potential relevance of SARS-CoV-2-genome-complementary miRNAs to COVID-19 pathogenesis, we assessed their expression in COVID-19-relevant tissues using public transcriptome data. miRCOVID-19 identified 14 high-confidence mature miRNAs that are highly likely to interact with the SARS-CoV-2 genome and are expressed in diverse respiratory epithelial and immune cell types that are relevant to COVID-19 pathogenesis. As a proof of principle, we have shown that human miR-122, a previously known co-factor of another RNA virus, the hepatitis C virus (HCV) whose genome it binds as a prerequisite for pathogenesis, was predicted to also bind the SARS-CoV-2 RNA genome with high affinity, suggesting the perspective of repurposing anti-HCV RNA-based drugs, such as Miravirsen, to treat COVID-19. Our study is the first to identify all high-confidence binding sites of human miRNAs in the SARS-CoV-2 genome using multiple tools. Our work directly facilitates experimental validation of the reported targets, which would accelerate RNA-based drug discovery for COVID-19 and has the potential to provide new avenues for treating symptomatic COVID-19, and block SARS-CoV-2 replication, in humans.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ncrna7010018","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,2]],"date-time":"2021-03-02T10:36:37Z","timestamp":1614681397000},"page":"18","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":35,"title":["miRCOVID-19: Potential Targets of Human miRNAs in SARS-CoV-2 for RNA-Based Drug Discovery"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"7","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7033-3693","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tanvir","family":"Alam","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha 34110, Qatar"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Leonard","family":"Lipovich","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Medicine, Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, 505055 Dubai, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"35","article-title":"To trace or not to trace: Saving lives from COVID-19 at the cost of privacy breach in Bangladesh","volume":"2020","author":"Alam","year":"2020","journal-title":"Qatar Med. 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