Hepatitis C virus internal ribosome entry site (IRES) stem loop IIId contains a phylogenetically conserved GGG triplet essential for translation and IRES folding
R. Jubin et al., Hepatitis C virus internal ribosome entry site (IRES) stem loop IIId contains a phylogenetically conserved GGG triplet essential for translation and IRES folding, J VIROLOGY, 74(22), 2000, pp. 10430-10437
The hepatitis C virus (HCV) internal ribosome entry site (IRES) is a highly
structured RNA element that directs cap-independent translation of the vir
al polyprotein. Morpholino antisense oligonucleotides directed towards stem
loop md drastically reduced HCV IRES activity. Mutagenesis studies of this
region showed that the GGG triplet (nucleotides 266 through 268) of the he
xanucleotide apical loop of stem loop Ind is essential for IRES activity bo
th in vitro and in vivo. Sequence comparison showed that apical loop nucleo
tides (UUGGGU) were absolutely conserved across HCV genotypes and the GGG t
riplet was strongly conserved among related Flavivirus and Pestivirus nontr
anslated regions. Chimeric IRES elements with IIId derived from GB virus B
(GBV-B) in the context of the HCV IRES possess translational activity. Muta
tions within the IIId stem loop that abolish IRES activity also affect the
RNA structure in RNase T-1-probing studies, demonstrating the importance of
correct RNA folding to IRES function.