ELAC2, an Enzyme for tRNA Maturation, Plays a Role in the Cleavage of a Mature tRNA to Produce a tRNA-Derived RNA Fragment During Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection

Eun Jin Choi, Wenzhe Wu, Ke Zhang, Inhan Lee, In Hoo Kim, Yong Sun Lee, Xiaoyong Bao

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most common cause of lower respiratory tract infection in young children. However, effective treatment against RSV is unavailable. tRNA-derived RNA fragments (tRFs) are a recently discovered family of non-coding RNAs. We made an early observation that RSV infection causes significant induction of tRFs, which are mainly derived from the 5’-end of mature tRNAs (tRF5). However, their functions and biogenesis mechanism are not fully understood. Herein, we identified an enzyme responsible for the induction of a functional tRF5 derived from tRNA-Gln-CTG (tRF5-GlnCTG). We found that tRF5-GlnCTG promotes RSV replication and its induction, assessed by Northern blot and a new qRT-PCR-based method, is regulated by ribonuclease ELAC2. ELAC2-mediated tRF5 induction has never been reported. We also found that ELAC2 is associated with RSV N and NS1 proteins. Given the fact that tRF5-GlnCTG plays a role in RSV replication, the identification of ELAC2 being responsible for tRF5-GlnCTG induction could provide new insights into therapeutic strategy development against RSV infection.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number609732
JournalFrontiers in Molecular Biosciences
Volume7
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2 2021

Keywords

  • ELAC2
  • RSV
  • biogenesis
  • tRF
  • viral replication

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Biology
  • Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (miscellaneous)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'ELAC2, an Enzyme for tRNA Maturation, Plays a Role in the Cleavage of a Mature tRNA to Produce a tRNA-Derived RNA Fragment During Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this