Structural switching dynamically controls the doubly pseudoknotted Rous sarcoma virus-programmed ribosomal frameshifting element.

ABSTRACT: A hallmark of retrovirus replication is the translation of two different polyproteins from one RNA through programmed -1 frameshifting. This is a mechanism in which the actively translating ribosome is induced to slip in the 5' direction at a defined codon and then continues translating in the new reading frame. Programmed frameshifting controls the stoichiometry of viral proteins and is therefore under stringent evolutionary selection. Forty years ago, the first frameshifting stimulatory element was discovered in the Rous sarcoma virus. The ~120 nt RNA segment was predicted to contain a pseudoknot, but its 3D structure has remained elusive. Now, we have determined cryoEM and X-ray crystallographic structures of this classic retroviral element, finding that it adopts a butterfly-like doubl

SUBMITTER: Jones CP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12002268 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature