title: Silencing suppressors: viral weapons for countering host cell defenses.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Pathogens and Immunology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Liping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Shijuan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Shuai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yanjun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Wenlin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D020868:Gene Silencing; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D008322:Mammals / Q000821:virology; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010942:Plant Viruses / Q000502:physiology*; D010944:Plants / Q000821:virology; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014780:Viruses / Q000254:growth & development*
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins