Small RNAs as Fundamental Players in the Transference of Information During Bacterial Infectious Diseases

Abstract

Communication shapes life on Earth. Transference of information has played a paramount role on the evolution of all living or extinct organisms since the appearance of life. Success or failure in this process will determine the prevalence or disappearance of a certain set of genes, the basis of Darwinian paradigm. Among different molecules used for transmission or reception of information, RNA plays a key role. For instance, the early precursors of life were information molecules based in primitive RNA forms. A growing field of research has focused on the contribution of small non-coding RNA forms due to its role on infectious diseases. These are short RNA species that carry out regulatory tasks in cis or trans. Small RNAs have shown their relevance in fine tuning the expression and activity of important regulators of essential genes for bacteria. Regulation of targets occurs through a plethora of mechanisms, including mRNA stabilization/destabilization, driving target mRNAs to degradation, or direct binding to regulatory proteins. Different studies have been conducted during the interplay of pathogenic bacteria with several hosts, including humans, animals, or plants. The sRNAs help the invader to quickly adapt to the change in environmental conditions when it enters in the host, or passes to a free state. The adaptation is achieved by direct targeting of the pathogen genes, or subversion of the host immune system. Pathogens trigger also an immune response in the host, which has been shown as well to be regulated by a wide range of sRNAs. This review focuses on the most recent host-pathogen interaction studies during bacterial infectious diseases, providing the perspective of the pathogen.

Non-Random Genome Editing and Natural Cellular Engineering in Cognition-Based Evolution

“…A range of empirical evidence has established the crucial role of non-coding DNA acting through RNA expression along complex regulatory pathways. In addition, increasing weight is being given to the contribution of regulatory RNAs from infectious events that alter genomic content [ 166 ]. These genome-invading RNA networks contradict traditional concepts of how genomes accrete heritable genetic content that represents functional biological information [ 167 ].…”

Interspecies RNA Interactome of Pathogen and Host in a Heritable Defensive Strategy

“…However bacterial Hfq protein analogously presents and stabilizes sRNAs ( De Lay et al, 2013 ; Diallo and Provost, 2020 ). Trans -asRNAs are typically 100–1,000 nucleotides, in contrast to microRNAs that are 21–25 nucleotides ( Layton et al, 2020 ), but we know that shorter RNAs in bacteria have been largely overlooked despite the indications that they could be relevant players in interspecies communication ( Zhao et al, 2017 ; Felden and Gilot, 2018 ; González Plaza, 2020 ; Layton et al, 2020 ). Interestingly, we found microRNA-sized fragments in the group of sRNAs responsive to interaction or induced RNAs , but not in the constitutive sRNA group.…”

The Expression Profile of mRNA and tRNA Genes in Splenocytes and Neutrophils after In Vivo Delivery of Antitumor Short Hairpin RNA of Indoleamine 2,3- Dioxygenase

“…In addition, the potential miRNA-mediated network was not validated by experimental evidence. Recent studies have determined the physiological roles of the small non-coding immune cells [ 39 , 40 ]. However, the funtions of the tRNAs and non-coding RNAs identified in this study were mainly unknown.…”