A new role for an old player: The rabies virus phosphoprotein as an RNA chaperone, helicase, and immune evasion hub

Rabies virus (RABV) remains one of the most lethal pathogens known, with a case-fatality rate approaching 100% once clinical symptoms appear. Despite effective post-exposure prophylaxis, thousands of deaths occur annually, and breakthrough infections remain a concern.1 The viral phosphoprotein (P) is a multifunctional hub essential for transcription, replication, and immune evasion, yet its full repertoire of activities has remained incompletely understood. The study by Mu and colleagues, published in the March issue of Molecular Therapy Nucleic Acids, uncovers a remarkable new facet of this protein: RABV-P possesses both NTP-dependent helicase-like and NTP-independent RNA chaperone activities, representing the first demonstration of such functions in the Rhabdoviridae family.