International Journal of Molecular Sciences

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Dear Colleagues,

Mosquito-transmitted RNA viruses (arboviruses), such as dengue, Japanese encephalitis, West Nile, yellow fever, Zika, chikungunya, Ross River, and Rift Valley fever, are becoming major public health concerns due to their global dispersion. In the context of increasing numbers of outbreaks and severity of infection, it is urgent to understand the mechanisms underlying enhanced virulence of arboviruses in humans. Consequently, molecular research is important for improving our knowledge on viral and cellular factors that impact the pathogenicity of arboviruses in their mosquito vectors and mammalian hosts, including humans. In addition, the analysis of interdependent consequences of viral factors and host responses has the potential to reveal important pathways involved in the pathogenicity of arboviruses in humans.

In this Special Issue, the contributors are warmly invited to publish their original research articles and comprehensive review papers on molecular biology of arboviruses, molecular basis of their pathogenicity in link with the host–cell response to infection, and innate immune evasion strategies in arthropod vectors and mammalian hosts.

Prof. Kristy Murray
Prof. Philippe Desprès
Guest Editors

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Related Special Issues

Published Papers (1 paper)

Research

15 pages, 2474 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Genomic 3′ UTR of Flaviviruses Is a Translation Initiation Enhancer

by Alfredo Berzal-Herranz, Beatriz Berzal-Herranz, Sara Esther Ramos-Lorente and Cristina Romero-López

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(15), 8604; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23158604 - 03 Aug 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2012

Abstract

Viruses rely on the cellular machinery of host cells to synthesize their proteins, and have developed different mechanisms enabling them to compete with cellular mRNAs for access to it. The genus Flavivirus is a large group of positive, single-stranded RNA viruses that includes several important human pathogens, such as West Nile, Dengue and Zika virus. The genome of flaviviruses bears a type 1 cap structure at its 5′ end, needed for the main translation initiation mechanism. Several members of the genus also use a cap-independent translation mechanism. The present work provides evidence that the WNV 5′ end also promotes a cap-independent translation initiation mechanism in mammalian and insect cells, reinforcing the hypothesis that this might be a general strategy of flaviviruses. In agreement with previous reports, we show that this mechanism depends on the presence of the viral genomic 3′ UTR. The results also show that the 3′ UTR of the WNV genome enhances translation of the cap-dependent mechanism. Interestingly, WNV 3′ UTR can be replaced by the 3′ UTR of other flaviviruses and the translation enhancing effect is maintained, suggesting a molecular mechanism that does not involve direct RNA-RNA interactions to be at work. In addition, the deletion of specific structural elements of the WNV 3′ UTR leads to increased cap-dependent and cap-independent translation. These findings suggest the 3′ UTR to be involved in a fine-tuned translation regulation mechanism. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Research on Emerging Mosquito-Transmitted RNA Viruses 3.0)

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