Riboswitching on RNA virus replication

Positive-strand RNA viruses direct different virus-specific processes during their infection of host cells. Fundamental events such as viral RNA genome replication are controlled by viral regulatory RNA elements (REs). Here, we have investigated the possibility of specifically modulating the action of a viral RE using RNA aptamer technology. Through rational design, a tombusvirus RE, which has the structure of a perfect RNA stem loop in the plus-strand RNA genome, was replaced with a theophylline-binding RNA aptamer sequence, an imperfect stem loop. The aptamer-RE hybrid was designed so that, upon binding theophylline, it would become more stable and structurally mimic the functional RE (i.e., represent a ligand-inducible RE riboswitch). Initial experiments were conducted with a small noncoding virus genome-derived RNA replicon, and the results showed that replication was inducible, up to approximately 10-fold, in a theophylline-specific and dose-dependent manner. A similar level of theophylline-dependent induction was also observed when a full-length viral genome containing an RE riboswitch was tested. Analysis of this engineered viral genome revealed that this RE, located in the 5' untranslated region, specifically mediates efficient accumulation of plus-strands of the virus genome. Therefore, in addition to allowing for modulation of virus reproduction, the RE riboswitch system also provided insight into RE function. The ability to chemically induce a viral process via modulation of virus genome structure could be useful for basic and applied aspects of research.