Overlapping local and long-range RNA-RNA interactions modulate dengue virus genome cyclization and replication

DE BORBA L; VILLORDO SM; IGLESIAS NG; FILOMATORI CV; GEBHARD LG; GAMARNIK AV

JOURNAL OF VIROLOGY

AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY

Lugar: Washington; Año: 2015 vol. 89 p. 3430 - 3437

0022-538X

The dengue virus genome is a dynamic molecule that adopts different conformations in the infected cell. Here, using RNA folding predictions, chemical probing analysis, RNA binding assays, and functional studies, we identified new cis-acting elements present in the capsid coding sequence that facilitate cyclization of the viral RNA by hybridization with a sequence involved in a local dumbbell structure at the viral 3' untranslated region (UTR). The identified interaction differentially enhances viral replication in mosquito and mammalian cells.