Key result
RNA polymerase III acts as a cytosolic sensor for AT-rich genomes of DNA viruses and potentially RNA viruses, inducing type I interferons in the innate immune response.
This review highlights the emerging role of RNA polymerase III and RNase P as cytosolic sensors of viral nucleic acids in the innate immune response.
No immediate clinical implications; leaves open cardiovascular applications of RNA polymerase III sensing.
The innate immune system has numerous signal transduction pathways that lead to the production of type I interferons in response to exposure of cells to external stimuli. One of these pathways comprises RNA polymerase (Pol) III that senses common DNA viruses, such as cytomegalovirus, vaccinia, herpes simplex virus-1 and varicella zoster virus. This polymerase detects and transcribes viral genomic regions to generate AU-rich transcripts that bring to the induction of type I interferons. Remarkably, Pol III is also stimulated by foreign non-viral DNAs and expression of one of its subunits is induced by an RNA virus, the Sindbis virus. Moreover, a protein subunit of RNase P, which is known to associate with Pol III in initiation complexes, is induced by viral infection. Accordingly, alliance of the two tRNA enzymes in innate immunity merits a consideration.
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Jarrous et al. (2021) conducted a review in Viral infection. RNA polymerase III was evaluated. RNA polymerase III acts as a cytosolic sensor for AT-rich genomes of DNA viruses and potentially RNA viruses, inducing type I interferons in the innate immune response.
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