RNA Modifications in Genomic RNA of Influenza A Virus and the Relationship between RNA Modifications and Viral Infection.

Yuki Furuse

doi:10.3390/ijms22179127

Abstract

Recent studies about the transcriptome-wide presence of RNA modifications have revealed their importance in many cellular functions. Nevertheless, information about RNA modifications in viral RNA is scarce, especially for negative-strand RNA viruses. Here we provide a catalog of RNA modifications including m1A, ac4C, m7G, inosine, and pseudouridine on RNA derived from an influenza A virus infected into A549 cells, as studied by RNA immunoprecipitation followed by deep-sequencing. Possible regions with RNA modifications were found in the negative-strand segments of viral genomic RNA. In addition, our analyses of previously published data revealed that the expression levels of the host factors for RNA modifications were affected by an infection with influenza A virus, and some of the host factors likely have a proviral effect. RNA modification is a novel aspect of host–virus interactions leading to the discovery of previously unrecognized viral pathogenicity mechanisms and has the potential to aid the development of novel antivirals.

Highlights

RNA modifications are widely distributed in the tRNA and rRNA of living organisms, including all prokaryotes, archaea, and eukaryotes
RNA modifications are found in viral transcripts as well [10,11]. m6A modifications of adenovirus transcripts are necessary for efficient splicing [12], and the same modifications in herpes virus transcripts regulate the viral life cycle [13]. m6A modifications in transcripts of Flaviviridae viruses, including dengue virus, zika virus, and the hepatitis C virus, regulate
We evaluated a relationship between host factors related to RNA modifications and viral infection by reanalyzing data from published studies

Summary

Introduction

RNA modifications are widely distributed in the tRNA and rRNA of living organisms, including all prokaryotes, archaea, and eukaryotes. RNA modifications are found in viral transcripts as well [10,11]. M6A modifications of adenovirus transcripts are necessary for efficient splicing [12], and the same modifications in herpes virus transcripts regulate the viral life cycle [13]. M6A modifications in transcripts of Flaviviridae viruses, including dengue virus, zika virus, and the hepatitis C virus, regulate. RNA stability and viral replication [14,15]. M5C is reported to regulate the translation efficiency of mRNA of the human immunodeficiency virus [16], and m6A and ac4C in transcripts of the virus increase its RNA stability [17,18]. RNA modifications are found in viral transcripts as well [10,11]. m6A modifications of adenovirus transcripts are necessary for efficient splicing [12], and the same modifications in herpes virus transcripts regulate the viral life cycle [13]. m6A modifications in transcripts of Flaviviridae viruses, including dengue virus, zika virus, and the hepatitis C virus, regulate

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