MicroRNA regulation and host interaction in response to Aspergillus exposure

Abstract

Aspergillus is a group of conidial fungi, isolated from soil and litter, cause serious diseases in humans and animals. This ubiquitous fungus is prevalent in the air and inhalation of fungal spores is common. Fungal diseases from Aspergillus became a major health problem and are difficult to manage because they tend to be chronic and invasive, hard to diagnose and difficult to exterminate with antifungal drugs. Although, immune responses play vital roles in monitoring the fate of fungal infections and regulation of the immune responses against fungal infections might be an effective approach for controlling and reducing the pathological damages. Recent studies have shown that microRNAs (miRNAs) are assembly of regulators which modulates the immune responses during fungal infections through diversified cellular mechanisms. These small non-coding RNA sequences regulate gene expression, mostly at the post-transcriptional level and have emerged as the controller of gene expression of at least 30% human genes. Therefore, miRNAs might be considered as one of the potential goals in immunotherapy for fungal infections. The objective of this review is to explore the role of miRNAs in host recognition processes and understanding the modulation of regulatory pathways in response to Aspergillus exposure.