non-coding RNA Review Functional Interplay between RNA Viruses and Non-Coding RNA in Mammals Nkerorema Djodji Damas 1,2 , Nicolas Fossat 1,2 and Troels K. H. Scheel 1,2,3,* 1 Copenhagen Hepatitis C Program (CO-HEP), Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, DK-2200 Copenhagen, Denmark;
[email protected] (N.D.D.);
[email protected] (N.F.) 2 Department of Infectious Diseases, Hvidovre Hospital, DK-2650 Hvidovre, Denmark 3 Laboratory of Virology and Infectious Disease, Center for the Study of Hepatitis C, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA * Correspondence:
[email protected] Received: 4 December 2018; Accepted: 8 January 2019; Published: 14 January 2019 Abstract: Exploring virus–host interactions is key to understand mechanisms regulating the viral replicative cycle and any pathological outcomes associated with infection. Whereas interactions at the protein level are well explored, RNA interactions are less so. Novel sequencing methodologies have helped uncover the importance of RNA–protein and RNA–RNA interactions during infection. In addition to messenger RNAs (mRNAs), mammalian cells express a great number of regulatory non-coding RNAs, some of which are crucial for regulation of the immune system whereas others are utilized by viruses. It is thus becoming increasingly clear that RNA interactions play important roles for both sides in the arms race between virus and host. With the emerging field of RNA therapeutics, such interactions are promising antiviral targets. In this review, we discuss direct and indirect RNA interactions occurring between RNA viruses or retroviruses and host non-coding transcripts upon infection.