Computational Analysis Reveals Three Micro-RN as in Hepatitis A Virus Genome

Micro RNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous non-coding RNAs, 19—25 nt in length, that play pivotal role in the regulation of gene expression by degrading the messenger RNAs of target genes in a sequence-specific manner. Dysregulation of miRNAs results in abnormal gene expression and has been linked to the initiation, advancement and maintenance of some human diseases. Recent studies show that genomes of both virus and host have the potential to encode miRNAs, which may be beneficial either for host or for virus. Hepatitis A is one of the liver inflammations, instigated by the hepatitis A virus (HAV). In this study we, for the first time, computationally identified miRNAs in HAV genome. Initial searches through VMir software extracted 7 sequences with potential hairpin-like structures from HAV genome. MiPred program confirmed 6 candidates as real pre-miRNA hairpin structures. After measurements of free energy and applying other parameters, we confirmed three mature miRNAs in HAV genome. These findings will not only help researchers to explore the role of these miRNAs in viral pathogenesis but also in developing novel