Takeover of host ribosomes by divergent IRES elements

2005 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 1479-1482 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Sarnow ◽  
R.C. Cevallos ◽  
E. Jan
Keyword(s):  
Translation Initiation ◽  
Viral Gene ◽  
Viral Mrnas ◽  
Internal Ribosome Entry ◽  
Eukaryotic Translation ◽  
Viral Genomes ◽  
Initiation Factors ◽  
Translation Initiation Factors ◽  
Cellular Mrnas ◽  
Eukaryotic Translation Initiation Factors

The ribosome is the macromolecular machinery in the host cell for which all viruses have to compete. Early in infection, the viral mRNAs have to compete with the host for both the ribosomes and for the limited pool of eukaryotic initiation factors that are needed to facilitate the recruitment of ribosomes to both viral and cellular mRNAs. To circumvent this competition, certain viruses have evolved to recruit ribosomes to IRESs (internal ribosome entry sites), highly specialized RNA elements that are located at the 5′-end of the viral genomes. Here, we discuss how divergent IRES elements can recruit ribosomes and start protein synthesis with only a minimal set of eukaryotic translation initiation factors, and how this mode of translation initiation aids viral gene amplification during early onset of innate immune responses.

scholarly journals Hijacking the translation apparatus by RNA viruses

2002 ◽  
Vol 158 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Bushell ◽  
Peter Sarnow
Keyword(s):  
Host Cell ◽  
Translation Initiation ◽  
Rna Viruses ◽  
Viral Mrnas ◽  
Viral Genomes ◽  
Initiation Factors ◽  
Translation Initiation Factors ◽  
Translation Apparatus ◽  
Cellular Mrnas ◽  
Successful Amplification

As invading viruses do not harbor functional ribosomes in their virions, successful amplification of the viral genomes requires that viral mRNAs compete with cellular mRNAs for the host cell translation apparatus. Several RNA viruses have evolved remarkable strategies to recruit the host translation initiation factors required for the first steps in translation initiation by host cell mRNAs. This review describes the ways that three families of RNA viruses effectively usurp limiting translation initiation factors from the host.

scholarly journals Dynamic competition between SARS-CoV-2 NSP1 and mRNA on the human ribosome inhibits translation initiation

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (6) ◽  
pp. e2017715118
Author(s):  
Christopher P. Lapointe ◽  
Rosslyn Grosely ◽  
Alex G. Johnson ◽  
Jinfan Wang ◽  
Israel S. Fernández ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Translation Initiation ◽  
Ribosomal Subunit ◽  
Start Codon ◽  
Messenger Rnas ◽  
Eukaryotic Translation ◽  
Initiation Factors ◽  
Translation Initiation Factors ◽  
40S Ribosomal Subunit ◽  
Eukaryotic Translation Initiation Factors

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a beta-CoV that recently emerged as a human pathogen and is the causative agent of the COVID-19 pandemic. A molecular framework of how the virus manipulates host cellular machinery to facilitate infection remains unclear. Here, we focus on SARS-CoV-2 NSP1, which is proposed to be a virulence factor that inhibits protein synthesis by directly binding the human ribosome. We demonstrate biochemically that NSP1 inhibits translation of model human and SARS-CoV-2 messenger RNAs (mRNAs). NSP1 specifically binds to the small (40S) ribosomal subunit, which is required for translation inhibition. Using single-molecule fluorescence assays to monitor NSP1–40S subunit binding in real time, we determine that eukaryotic translation initiation factors (eIFs) allosterically modulate the interaction of NSP1 with ribosomal preinitiation complexes in the absence of mRNA. We further elucidate that NSP1 competes with RNA segments downstream of the start codon to bind the 40S subunit and that the protein is unable to associate rapidly with 80S ribosomes assembled on an mRNA. Collectively, our findings support a model where NSP1 proteins from viruses in at least two subgenera of beta-CoVs associate with the open head conformation of the 40S subunit to inhibit an early step of translation, by preventing accommodation of mRNA within the entry channel.

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