scholarly journals Small stable RNA maturation and turnover inBacillus subtilis

2014 ◽  
Vol 95 (2) ◽  
pp. 270-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laetitia Gilet ◽  
Jeanne M. DiChiara ◽  
Sabine Figaro ◽  
David H. Bechhofer ◽  
Ciarán Condon
2006 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 1242-1249 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Fu ◽  
Que Dang ◽  
Kunio Nagashima ◽  
Eric O. Freed ◽  
Vinay K. Pathak ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT After their release from host cells, most retroviral particles undergo a maturation process, which includes viral protein cleavage, core condensation, and increased stability of the viral RNA dimer. Inactivating the viral protease prevents protein cleavage; the resulting virions lack condensed cores and contain fragile RNA dimers. Therefore, protein cleavage is linked to virion morphological change and increased stability of the RNA dimer. However, it is unclear whether protein cleavage is sufficient for mediating virus RNA maturation. We have observed a novel phenotype in a murine leukemia virus capsid mutant, which has normal virion production, viral protein cleavage, and RNA packaging. However, this mutant also has immature virion morphology and contains a fragile RNA dimer, which is reminiscent of protease-deficient mutants. To our knowledge, this mutant provides the first evidence that Gag cleavage alone is not sufficient to promote RNA dimer maturation. To extend our study further, we examined a well-defined human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Gag mutant that lacks a functional PTAP motif and produces immature virions without major defects in viral protein cleavage. We found that the viral RNA dimer in the PTAP mutant is more fragile and unstable compared with those from wild-type HIV-1. Based on the results of experiments using two different Gag mutants from two distinct retroviruses, we conclude that Gag cleavage is not sufficient for promoting RNA dimer maturation, and we propose that there is a link between the maturation of virion morphology and the viral RNA dimer.


2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian P. Davies ◽  
Christoph Arenz

Author(s):  
Matthew J. Szucs ◽  
Parker J. Nichols ◽  
Rachel A. Jones ◽  
Quentin Vicens ◽  
Jeffrey S. Kieft

ABSTRACTViruses have developed innovative strategies to exploit the cellular machinery and overcome the host antiviral defenses, often using specifically structured RNA elements. Examples are found in flaviviruses; during flaviviral infection, pathogenic subgenomic flaviviral RNAs (sfRNAs) accumulate in the cell. These sfRNAs are formed when a host cell 5’ to 3’ exoribonuclease degrades the viral genomic RNA but is blocked by an exoribonuclease resistant RNA structure (xrRNA) located in the viral genome’s 3’untranslated region (UTR). Although known to exist in several Flaviviridae genera the full distribution and diversity of xRNAs in this virus family was unknown. Using the recent high-resolution structure of an xrRNA from the divergent flavivirus Tamana bat virus (TABV) as a reference, we used bioinformatic searches to identify xrRNA in the Pegivirus, Pestivirus, and Hepacivirus genera. We biochemically and structurally characterized several examples, determining that they are genuine xrRNAs with a conserved fold. These new xrRNAs look superficially similar to the previously described xrRNAs but possess structural differences making them distinct from previous classes of xrRNAs. Our findings thus require adjustments of previous xrRNA classification schemes and expand on the previously known distribution of the xrRNA in Flaviviridae, indicating their widespread distribution and illustrating their importance.IMPORTANCEThe Flaviviridae comprise one of the largest families of positive sense single stranded (+ssRNA) and it is divided into the Flavivirus, Pestivirus, Pegivirus, and Hepacivirus genera. The genus Flavivirus contains many medically relevant viruses such as Zika Virus, Dengue Virus, and Powassan Virus. In these, a part of the virus’s RNA twists up into a very special three-dimensional shape called an xrRNA that blocks the ability of the cell to “chew up” the viral RNA. Hence, part of the virus’ RNA remains intact, and this protected part is important for viral infection. This was known to occur in Flaviviruses but whether it existed in the other members of the family was not known. In this study, we not only identified a new subclass of xrRNA found in Flavivirus but also in the remaining three genera. The fact that this process of viral RNA maturation exists throughout the entire Flaviviridae family makes it clear that this is an important but underappreciated part of the infection strategy of these diverse human pathogens.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Kirstein ◽  
Sadat Dokaneheifard ◽  
Pradeep Reddy Cingaram ◽  
Monica Guiselle Valencia ◽  
Felipe Beckedorff ◽  
...  

MicroRNA (miRNA) homeostasis is crucial for the post-transcriptional regulation of their target genes and miRNA dysregulation has been linked to multiple diseases, including cancer. The molecular mechanisms underlying miRNA biogenesis from processing of primary miRNA transcripts to formation of mature miRNA duplex are well understood. Loading of miRNA duplex into members of the Argonaute (Ago) protein family, representing the core of the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC), is pivotal to miRNA-mediated gene silencing. The Integrator complex has been previously shown to be an important regulator of RNA maturation, RNA polymerase II pause-release, and premature transcriptional termination. Here, we report that loss of Integrator results in global diminution of mature miRNAs. By incorporating 4-Thiouridine (s4U) in nascent transcripts, we traced miRNA fate from biogenesis to stabilization and identified Integrator to be essential for proper miRNA assembly into RISC. Enhanced UV crosslinking and immunoprecipitation (eCLIP) of Integrator confirms a robust association with mature miRNAs. Indeed, Integrator potentiates Ago2-mediated cleavage of target RNAs. These findings highlight an essential role for Integrator in miRNA abundance and RISC function.


Nature ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 227 (5257) ◽  
pp. 441-441
Author(s):  

1972 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 219-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Fantoni ◽  
Sandra Bordin ◽  
Mario Lunadei

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