Nuclease escape elements protect messenger RNA against cleavage by multiple viral endonucleases

Mandy Muller; Britt A. Glaunsinger

The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not peer-reviewed) is the author/funder. . https://doi.org/10.1101/155457 doi: bioRxiv preprint this regard, they have proven to be invaluable tools to dissect mechanisms of gene 328 regulation. Here, we reveal that a ~200 nt sequence present in the 3' UTR of the cellular IL-329 6 mRNA functions as a broad-acting, virus-specific endonuclease escape element, and 330 identify a similar element in the GADD45B 3' UTR. Although these two SREs are not 331 identical in their protective capacity, they display some sequence and putative structural 332 similarities and are both functionally dependent on HuR binding. We hypothesize that 333 these may therefore be representative members of a new type of RNA regulatory element 334 engaged during viral endonuclease-triggered mRNA decay. Determining whether other 335 such elements exist in mammalian or viral mRNAs is an important future goal, as is 336