Functional characterization of 5' untranslated region (UTR) secondary RNA structures in the replication of tick-borne encephalitis virus in mammalian cells.

ABSTRACT: Tick-borne Encephalitis Virus (TBEV) is an emerging flavivirus that causes neurological disorders including viral encephalitis of varying severity. Whilst secondary RNA structures within the 5' untranslated regions (UTRs) of many flaviviruses determine both virus replication and pathogenic outcomes in humans, these elements have not been systematically investigated for TBEV. In this study, we investigated the role of predicted RNA secondary elements of the first 107 nucleotides (nts) of the viral genome forming the stem-loop A (SLA). Experiments were performed in replicons and infectious TBEV system. This region comprises three distinct structures: 5' stem 0 (S0), stem-loop 1 (SL1) and stem-loop 2 (SL2). S0 was found to be essential for virus infection as mutations in the lower stem of thi

SUBMITTER: Upstone L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9894543 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature