Datasets

Title	Zika Virus Non-Coding RNAs Antagonize Antiviral Responses by PKR-Mediated Translational Arrest (Ribo-Seq)
Organism
Number of Samples	6
Release Date	2024/01/25 00:00
Sequencing Types
Protocol Details

Title
Authors	Pallarés HM, González López Ledesma MM, Oviedo-Rouco S, Castellano LA, Costa Navarro GS, Fernández-Alvarez AJ, D'Andreiz MJ, Aldas-Bulos VD, Alvarez DE, Bazzini AA, Gamarnik AV
Journal	Nucleic acids research
Publication Date	2024 Oct 14
Abstract	Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging mosquito-borne flavivirus that causes severe outbreaks in human populations. ZIKV infection leads to the accumulation of small non-coding viral RNAs (known as sfRNAs) that are crucial for evasion of antiviral responses and for viral pathogenesis. However, the mechanistic understanding of how sfRNAs function remains incomplete. Here, we use recombinant ZIKVs and ribosome profiling of infected human cells to show that sfRNAs block translation of antiviral genes. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that specific RNA structures present in sfRNAs trigger PKR activation, which instead of limiting viral replication, enhances viral particle production. Although ZIKV infection induces mRNA expression of antiviral genes, translation efficiency of type I interferon and interferon stimulated genes were significantly downregulated by PKR activation. Our results reveal a novel viral adaptation mechanism mediated by sfRNAs, where ZIKV increases its fitness by repurposing the antiviral role of PKR into a proviral factor. © The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.
PMC	PMC11472168
PMID	38917323
DOI

Pallarés et al. 2024 (PRJNA1069085)