Virus- derived circular RNAs populate hepatitis C virus-infected cells

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Cao, Qian M.; Boonchuen, Pakpoom; Chen, Tzu-Chun; Lei, Shaohua; Somboonwiwat, Kunlaya; Sarnow, Peter
• 署名单位: Stanford University; Suranaree University of Technology; Chulalongkorn University; St Jude Children's Research Hospital; St Jude Children's Research Hospital; Natera, Inc.
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-13738
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2313002121
• 发表日期: 2024-02-13
• 关键词: identification

摘要

It is known that pre-mRNAs in eukaryotic cells can be processed to circular RNAs by a backsplicing mechanism. Circular RNAs have great stability and can sequester proteins or small RNAs to exert functions on cellular pathways. Because viruses often exploit host pathways, we explored whether the RNA genome of the cytoplasmic hepatitis C virus is processed to yield virus- derived circRNAs (vcircRNAs). Computational analyses of RNA-seq experiments predicted that the viral RNA genome is fragmented to generate hundreds of vcircRNAs. More than a dozen of them were experimentally verified by rolling-circle amplification. VcircRNAs that contained the viral internal ribosome entry site were found to be translated into proteins that displayed proviral functions. Furthermore, two highly abundant, nontranslated vcircRNAs were shown to enhance viral RNA abundance. These findings argue that novel vcircRNA molecules modulate viral amplification in cells infected by a cytoplasmic RNA virus.