RSV M2-1 Protein in Complex with RNA: Old Questions Are Answered and a New One Emerges

Abstract

The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) M2-1 protein is essential for virus transcription. In this issue of Structure, Gao et al. (2020) describe the crystal structure of M2-1 in complex with RNA. This structure provides new insight into the RSV transcription mechanism but also raises an intriguing question regarding M2-1's function.

Keywords: M2-1 protein; RNA-dependent RNA polymerase; human metapneumovirus; non-segmented negative strand RNA virus; respiratory syncytial virus; transcription.