Contradicting roles of miR-182 in both NK cells and their host target hepatocytes in HCV.

Background And Aim: Natural killer cells are part of the innate immunity involved in viral eradication and were shown to be greatly affected by HCV infection. Epigenetic regulation of NK cell function by microRNAs was not efficiently studied before and was never studied in HCV infection; therefore the aim of this study was to assess for the first time the role of microRNAs in regulating the function of NK cells of HCV-infected patients and hence viral replication in the target HCV-infected Huh7 cells.

Methodology: NK cells were isolated from PBMCs of HCV-infected patients as well as controls, and HCV-infected liver biopsies as well as Huh7 cells infected with the virus were used.