Date of Award

5-21-2007

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Biology

First Advisor

Margo Brinton - Chair

Second Advisor

Teryl Frey

Third Advisor

W. David Wilson

Abstract

RNase footprinting and nitrocellulose filter-binding assays were previously used to map one major and two minor binding sites for the cell protein eEF1A on the 3’(+) stem loop (SL) RNA of West Nile virus (WNV) (2). Base substitutions in the major eEF1A binding site or adjacent areas of the 3’(+) SL were engineered into a WNV infectious clone. Mutations that decreased, as well as ones that increased, eEF1A binding in in vitro assays had a negative affect on viral growth. None of these mutations affected the efficiency of translation of the viral polyprotein from the genomic RNA, but all of the mutations that decreased in vitro eEF1A binding to the 3’ SL RNA also decreased viral minus-strand RNA synthesis in transfected cells. Also, mutations that increased the efficiency of eEF1A binding to the 3’ SL RNA increased minus-strand RNA synthesis in transfected cells, which resulted in decreased synthesis of genomic RNA. These results strongly suggest that the interaction between eEF1A and the WNV 3’ SL facilitates viral minus-strand initiation. eEF1A colocalized with viral replication complexes (RC) in infected cells and antibody to eEF1A coimmunoprecipitated viral RC proteins, suggesting that eEF1A facilitates an interaction between the 3’ end of the genome and the RC. eEF1A bound with similar efficiency to the 3’ terminal SL RNAs of four divergent flaviviruses, including a tick-borne flavivirus, and colocalized with dengue RC in infected cells. These results suggest that eEF1A plays a similar role in the RNA replication of all flaviviruses.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.57709/1202960

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