Measuring the Stability of RNA5.0 in Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV)

Abstract

Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a member of the beta herpesvirus family. HCMV establishes a lifelong latent infection in its host, and although it infects a variety of cell types and replicates persistently, it has an asymptomatic effect in healthy humans. Primary or reactivated HCMV infections have the ability to be transferred via bodily secretions such as saliva, urine, or breast milk, and through organ transplants. Unfortunate organ recipients who contract the virus may suffer from pneumonia and/or acute organ rejection. HCMV is the largest of the human herpesviruses containing a DNA genome of approximately 240 kilobases encoding 225 open reading frames (ORFs). It's large and complex genome also encodes long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA) which are known for not being translated, but rather function as RNA. In HCMV, one of the lncRNA, known as RNA5.0, is a stable intron that is believed to play an important role in viral pathogenesis. Recent studies have shown that RNA5.0 is a nuclear localized stable intron that is transcribed by RNA polymerase II, and that it also consists of high adenine and thymine sequences. The true role of RNA5.0 is still unknown, so it could activate transcription, regulate gene silencing, or play a role in HCMV latency. To begin to understand why an intron that should be degraded within minutes is stable for hours, we will measure the half‐lives of viral noncoding RNAs using transfected cultured 293T cells.Support or Funding InformationNIH MARC T34GM092711This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.