The ribosome is the macromolecular machinery in the host cell for which all viruses have to compete. Early in infection, the viral mRNAs have to compete with the host for both the ribosomes and for the limited pool of eukaryotic initiation factors that are needed to facilitate the recruitment of ribosomes to both viral and cellular mRNAs. To circumvent this competition, certain viruses have evolved to recruit ribosomes to IRESs (internal ribosome entry sites), highly specialized RNA elements that are located at the 5′-end of the viral genomes. Here, we discuss how divergent IRES elements can recruit ribosomes and start protein synthesis with only a minimal set of eukaryotic translation initiation factors, and how this mode of translation initiation aids viral gene amplification during early onset of innate immune responses.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
October 2005
-
Cover Image
Cover Image
- PDF Icon PDF LinkFront Matter
- PDF Icon PDF LinkTable of Contents
Conference Article|
October 26 2005
Takeover of host ribosomes by divergent IRES elements
P. Sarnow;
P. Sarnow
1
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, U.S.A.
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (email psarnow@stanford.edu).
Search for other works by this author on:
R.C. Cevallos;
R.C. Cevallos
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, U.S.A.
Search for other works by this author on:
E. Jan
E. Jan
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, U.S.A.
Search for other works by this author on:
Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
July 25 2005
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© 2005 The Biochemical Society
2005
Biochem Soc Trans (2005) 33 (6): 1479–1482.
Article history
Received:
July 25 2005
Citation
P. Sarnow, R.C. Cevallos, E. Jan; Takeover of host ribosomes by divergent IRES elements. Biochem Soc Trans 26 October 2005; 33 (6): 1479–1482. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST0331479
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Sign in to your personal account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Could not validate captcha. Please try again.