Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 8
Structure and Dynamics in Viral
RNA Packaging
Thorsten Dieckmann*
,
†
and Marta Zumwalt
†
Interactions between RNA and proteins play a central role in numerous
crucial cellular processes ranging from protein synthesis to RNA editing
and translational control. In the course of the viral lifecycle molecular-level
interactions between the viral protein and RNA components are vital for the
control of the infection and correct assembly of newly produced virus par-
ticles. Many of these interactions are today the focus of research in order to
develop new strategies for anti-viral treatments. One area of interest is the
recognition process between viral coat or capsid proteins and the genomic
RNA, which is crucial in order to ensure the packaging of the required
genomic material. Here we present an overview of the molecular-level inter-
actions that control this process in three different types of RNA viruses.
RNA-Protein Interactions in Viral RNA Packaging
The lifecycle of RNA viruses depends in many steps on molecular-
level interactions between the viral genomic RNA and various cellular
and viral proteins. These include the translation or reverse transcrip-
tion of the RNA by enzymes, the interactions of regulatory elements,
and the packaging of the correct set of viral genomic RNA into the
*Corresponding author. Email: tdieckma@sciborguwaterloo.ca.
†
Deparment of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON
N2L 3G1, Canada.
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