Insights into Structural and Mechanistic Features of Viral IRES Elements.

Internal ribosome entry site (IRES) elements are -acting RNA regions that promote internal initiation of protein synthesis using cap-independent mechanisms. However, distinct types of IRES elements present in the genome of various RNA viruses perform the same function despite lacking conservation of sequence and secondary RNA structure. Likewise, IRES elements differ in host factor requirement to recruit the ribosomal subunits.