Regulation of Tacaribe Mammarenavirus Translation: Positive 5' and Negative 3' Elements and Role of Key Cellular Factors.

ABSTRACT: Mammarenaviruses are enveloped viruses with a bisegmented negative-stranded RNA genome that encodes the nucleocapsid protein (NP), the envelope glycoprotein precursor (GPC), the RNA polymerase (L), and a RING matrix protein (Z). Viral proteins are synthesized from subgenomic mRNAs bearing a capped 5' untranslated region (UTR) and lacking 3' poly(A) tail. We analyzed the translation strategy of Tacaribe virus (TCRV), a prototype of the New World mammarenaviruses. A virus-like transcript that carries a reporter gene in place of the NP open reading frame and transcripts bearing modified 5' and/or 3' UTR were evaluated in a cell-based translation assay. We found that the presence of the cap structure at the 5' end dramatically increases translation efficiency and that the viral 5' UTR comprise

SUBMITTER: Foscaldi S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5487564 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature