HIV-induced cancer--all paths leading to Rome

Although several viruses have been proved to induce host specific microRNAs (miRNAs, miRs), the expression of functional miRNAs induced by Human Immunodeficiency Virus 1 (HIV-1) infection is still unknown. The variation of the expression of HIV-1 inducing miRNAs both in vitro and in vivo (in all types of infected patient groups) implies that these specific miRNAs have potential roles in the development of diseases. However, few researches have noticed the roles of these serum miRNAs. In this study, we attempted to establish a macrocontrol regulation system and simulate the influence of HIV-1 inducing miRNAs during the development of cancer. The miRbase, FunRich software, miRtarbase, STRING, TargetScanhuman, Cytoscape plugin ClueGO/Cluepedia/STRING, DAVID Bioinformatics Resources and GEO database were comprehensively employed in this bioinformatics study. The miRNAs in the serum of AIDS patients and its target genes have different expression levels in serum, an array of which are associated with cancer and metabolism signaling pathways. Moreover, the emerging role of miRNAs in HIV-1 infection is also involved in human cancer, using TCGA data integrative analysis. Therefore, we infer that serum miRNAs in HIV-1 infection may play important roles in HIV-induced cancer and could be used as a potential biomarker for HIV-cancers detection. •We could conclude that genes and pathways beyond the immune mechanisms may play important roles in the development of HIV-1 infection.•This study provides novel insights into miRNA in the route cause of the tumor and identifies several new molecular targets for AIDS related cancers of major public-health relevance.•This study summarized multiple pathways for interaction with cancer.