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Priming of Influenza Viral RNA Transcription by Capped Heterologous RNAs

  • Chapter
Initiation Signals in Viral Gene Expression

Part of the book series: Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology ((CT MICROBIOLOGY,volume 93))

Abstract

Influenza virus is a negative-stranded RNA virus, i.e., the viral messenger RNA (mRNA) is complementary to the genome RNA (which is segmented), and the virion contains the enzyme system which transcribes the genome RNA into the viral mRNA. This virus employs a unique mechanism for the initiation of the synthesis of its mRNA. Specifically, the virion-associated transcriptase system needs to cannibalize capped heterologous RNAs, i.e., eukaryotic cellular mRNAs and/or their precursors, in order to synthesize the viral mRNA. This process involves the clipping off by a virion-associated endonuclease of a small piece of the eukaryotic mRNA near its 5’-end, followed by the utilization of this RNA fragment as a primer to initiate the synthesis of the viral mRNA. The methylated cap structure (m7GpppNm, where Nm = 2’ -O-methylated nucleoside) found at the 5J -end of all mammalian cellular mRNAs is part of the RNA fragment that is used as primer and transferred from the cellular to the viral mRNA, and this cap structure is absolutely necessary for the viral nuclease and the priming reaction. In fact, the 5;-methylated cap structure is more stringently required for priming influenza viral mRNA synthesis than for the process in which it had previously been shown to play a role, the translation of mRNAs in cell-free systems. This mechanism for viral mRNA synthesis explains why influenza virus requires the functioning of the host-cell nuclear RNA polymerase II in order to replicate: newly synthesized host mRNAs and/or their precursors are needed as primers for viral mRNA synthesis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Biology and Genetics Unit of the Graduate School, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, N.Y., 10021, USA

    Robert M. Krug

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  1. Robert M. Krug
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Molecular Virology, Roche Institute of Molecular Biology, 07110, Nutley, New Jersey, USA

    Aaron J. Shatkin Ph.D. Head

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© 1981 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Krug, R.M. (1981). Priming of Influenza Viral RNA Transcription by Capped Heterologous RNAs. In: Shatkin, A.J. (eds) Initiation Signals in Viral Gene Expression. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, vol 93. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68123-3_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68123-3_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-68125-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-68123-3

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