title: MicroRNA-mediated regulation of immune responses to intestinal helminth infections.
abstract: Intestinal helminth infections are highly prevalent in the developing world, often resulting in chronic infection and inflicting high host morbidity. With the emergence of drug-resistant parasites, a limited number of chemotherapeutic drugs available and stalling vaccine efforts, an increased understanding of antihelminth immunity is essential to provide new avenues to therapeutic intervention. MicroRNAs are a class of small, nonprotein coding RNAs which negatively regulate mRNA translation, thus providing finite control over gene expression in a plethora of biological settings. The miRNA-mediated coordinated control of gene expression has been shown to be essential in infection and immunity, in promoting and fine-tuning the appropriate immune response. This review gathers together and discusses observations of miRNA-mediated effects on the immune system and the subsequent impact on our understanding of antihelminth immunity.
authors.affiliation: Allergy and Anti-Helminth Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK.
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Entwistle
authors.affiliation: Allergy and Anti-Helminth Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D056704:Adaptive Immunity / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006373:Helminthiasis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D051379:Mice; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D009351:Nematospiroides dubius / Q000276:immunology; D009559:Nippostrongylus / Q000276:immunology; D017206:Strongylida Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D017160:Trichinella spiralis / Q000276:immunology; D014235:Trichinellosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D014257:Trichuriasis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D014258:Trichuris / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords:  Heligmosomoides polygyrus ;  Nippostrongylus brasiliensis ;  Trichinella spiralis ; Dendritic cell; T lymphocyte; Th2 cell; Trichuris spp.