EB病毒感染诱发的炎症恶性转化是鼻咽癌等肿瘤的病因之一。EB病毒通过多种途径实现了非可控性炎向恶性肿瘤转化，如：持续保持潜伏感染状态，逃避免疫抑制，靶向易感人群，调控宿主的多种信号通路。在以往研究的坚实基础上，本项目以microRNA调控网络为途径，探索EB病毒基因组和宿主基因组编码的microRNA如何通过调控靶基因来维持EB病毒的潜伏感染，降低宿主的免疫反应，以及鼻咽癌易感基因区域的特定microRNA分子的功能。microRNA分子与靶基因构成的调控网络已经在多种疾病研究中出现端倪，本项目通过分析相关的“microRNA分子-靶基因-生物学功能”模块，以网络算法、文献和数据库挖掘、高通量实验分析为手段，构建出EB病毒潜伏感染-炎癌转化过程中的microRNA调控网络。而靶向microRNA分子的干预机制必将成为今后病毒感染导致的非可控性炎症的重要防治措施。

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is an oncogenic Herpes virus involved in the induction of a variety of human tumors including nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). EBV promotes the transition from infection-induced nonresolving inflammation to carcinogenesis by means of keeping in latency status, escaping immune surveillance, targeting susceptibility population, regulating host’s signaling pathways etc. Based on the previous studying, we proposal to investigate the microRNA regulation network involved in the EBV-induced inflammation-carcinogenesis, and try to understand the mechanism that the microRNAs encoded by the virus and host cellular genome regulate the latency infection, immune evasion, as well as the function of microRNA genes located in the NPC susceptibility locus. microRNAs-target genes network has been confirmed to play important roles in multiple diseases studying. In the current project, we will analysis the “microRNAs-target genes-biological function” modules and construct the microRNA regulation network involved in the EBV latency infection-inflammation-carcinogenesis by taking advantage of the network algorithm, literature and database mining, high-throughput techniques such as next-generation sequencing and microRNA-induced silencing complex immunoprecipitation. We believe that targeting of the microRNA network will be a promising strategy in control of virally induced inflammation-carcinogenesis.