CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and CARLSBAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulus Therapeutics, a joint venture between Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY) and Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ISIS) formed to discover, develop, and commercialize microRNA therapeutics, announced today the publication of new research in the Journal of Virology on the role of microRNAs in regulating pathways of viral infection. The research was performed in collaboration with the Max von Pettenkofer Institute for Virology in Munich, Germany and the National Center for Scientific Research in Strasbourg, France. microRNAs are small non-coding RNAs expressed in mammalian genomes and certain viral genomes and are believed to regulate whole networks of genes that can be involved in discrete disease processes. The new findings add to a growing body of research demonstrating that certain viral microRNAs play a role in the viral life cycle, likely by regulating host gene expression, and suggest that microRNA therapeutics that target specific viral microRNAs could provide a novel approach for anti-viral medicines.
