Structural diversity and biological role of the 5' untranslated regions of picornavirus

Tingyu Peng; Fayu Yang; Fan Yang; Weijun Cao; Haixue Zheng; Zixiang Zhu

doi:10.1080/15476286.2023.2240992

Structural diversity and biological role of the 5' untranslated regions of picornavirus

RNA Biol. 2023 Jan;20(1):548-562. doi: 10.1080/15476286.2023.2240992.

Authors

Tingyu Peng¹, Fayu Yang¹, Fan Yang¹, Weijun Cao¹, Haixue Zheng¹, Zixiang Zhu¹

Affiliation

¹ State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, College of Veterinary Medicine, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, P.R. China.

Abstract

The genomic arrangement of most picornavirus of the Picornaviridae family shares a similar monocistronic genomic pattern and a defining organizational feature. A defining feature of picornavirus is the presence of evolutionarily conserved and highly-structured RNA elements in untranslated regions (UTRs) at the genome' 5'and 3' ends, essential for viral replication and translation. Given the diversity and complexity of RNA structure and the limitations of molecular biology techniques, the functional characterization and biological significance of UTRs remain to be fully elucidated, especially for 5' UTR. Here, we summarize the current knowledge of the 5' UTR of picornavirus. This review focuses on the structural characterization and the biological function of the RNA secondary and tertiary structures in the 5' UTR of picornavirus. Understanding the role of the 5' UTR of picornavirus can provide a deep insight into the viral replication cycle and pathogenic mechanisms.

Keywords: 5’ untranslated regions; IRES; function; picornavirus; structure.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

3' Untranslated Regions
5' Untranslated Regions
Nucleic Acid Conformation
Picornaviridae* / chemistry
Picornaviridae* / genetics
RNA, Viral / chemistry
RNA, Viral / genetics
Ribosomes* / genetics

Substances

5' Untranslated Regions
RNA, Viral
3' Untranslated Regions

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Key R&D Program of China (2021YFD1800300), the Key Technologies R&D Program of Gansu Province (21ZD3NA001, 20ZD7NA006, and 19ZDNA001), the Open Competition Program of Top Ten Critical Priorities of Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation for the 14th Five-Year Plan of Guangdong Province (2022SDZG02), the Project of National Center of Technology Innovation for Pigs (NCTIP-XD/C03), the Earmarked Fund for CARS-35 and CARS-39-13, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.