Inhibition of hepatitis C virus IRES-mediated translation by small RNAs analogous to stem-loop structures of the 5’-untranslated region

Ray, Partho Sarothi and Das, Saumitra (2004) Inhibition of hepatitis C virus IRES-mediated translation by small RNAs analogous to stem-loop structures of the 5’-untranslated region. In: Nucleic Acids Research, 32 (5). pp. 1678-1687.

PDF Inhibition-495.pdf Restricted to Registered users only Download (315kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

Translation of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA is mediated by the interaction of ribosomes and cellular proteins with an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) located within the 5’-untranslated region (5’-UTR). We have investigated whether small RNA molecules corresponding to the different stem-loop (SL) domains of the HCV IRES, when introduced in trans, can bind to the cellular proteins and antagonize their binding to the viral IRES, thereby inhibiting HCV IRES-mediated translation. We have found that a RNA molecule corresponding to SL III could efficiently inhibit HCV IRES-mediated translation in a dose-dependent manner without affecting capdependent translation. The SL III RNA was found to bind to most of the cellular proteins which interacted with the HCV 5’-UTR. A smaller RNA corresponding to SL e+f of domain III also strongly and selectively inhibited HCV IRES-mediated translation. This RNA molecule interacted with the ribosomal S5 protein and prevented the recruitment of the 40S ribosomal subunit. This study reveals valuable insights into the role of the SL structures of the HCV IRES in mediating ribosome entry. Finally, these results provide a basis for developing anti-HCV therapy using small RNA molecules mimicking the SL structures of the 5’-UTR to specifically block viral RNA translation.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Nucleic Acids Research
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Additional Information:	The copyright belongs to Oxford University Press.
Department/Centre:	Division of Biological Sciences > Microbiology & Cell Biology
Date Deposited:	22 May 2006
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 04:26
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/6791

Actions (login required)

View Item