Identification of RNase L-Dependent, 3'-End-Modified, Viral Small RNAs in Sindbis Virus-Infected Mammalian Cells

Girardi, Erika; Chane-Woon-Ming, Béatrice; Messmer, Mélanie; Kaukinen, Pasi; Pfeffer, Sébastien

The arthropod-borne SINV is a small, enveloped, positive, single-stranded RNA virus and is the prototype for the alphavirus genus. Alphaviruses represent a group of widely distributed human and animal pathogens, which pose a serious public health threat (22) . Some of them induce febrile and arthritogenic diseases, while others can cause highly debilitating diseases, such as encephalitis. The SINV genomic RNA is capped and polyadenylated and is infectious as naked RNA. Upon entry into the cytoplasm by endocytosis, the host translational machinery recognizes the genomic RNA, and four nonstructural proteins are produced (23) . Their expression is sufficient for the establishment of replication complexes and the synthesis of a complementary antigenomic negative RNA strand. The antigenome is necessary for the replication of the viral genome and the production of a subgenomic RNA that ensures the translation of the structural proteins during the late phase of infection (24, 25) .