AI Article Synopsis
- Every living organism needs a way to defend itself against viruses, utilizing various mechanisms to capture and process viral genetic material.
- Small RNAs play a crucial role in this defense by targeting specific viruses and enhancing the effectiveness of nucleases, which are enzymes that can degrade viral RNA.
- Research suggests that while chordates (like humans) rely more on protein-based antiviral defenses, these too may have evolved from ancient RNA-based systems, indicating a long history of cellular adaptation in combating viral threats.
Article Abstract
Every living entity requires the capacity to defend against viruses in some form. From bacteria to plants to arthropods, cells retain the capacity to capture genetic material, process it in a variety of ways, and subsequently use it to generate pathogen-specific small RNAs. These small RNAs can then be used to provide specificity to an otherwise non-specific nuclease, generating a potent antiviral system. While small RNA-based defenses in chordates are less utilized, the protein-based antiviral invention in this phylum appears to have derived from components of the same ancestral small RNA machinery. Based on recent evidence, it would seem that RNase III nucleases have been reiteratively repurposed over billions of years to provide cells with the capacity to recognize and destroy unwanted genetic material. Here we describe an overview of what is known on this subject and provide a model for how these defenses may have evolved.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bies.201700173 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Function analysis of RNase III in response to oxidative stress in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803.
Microbiol Res
January 2025
National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, China. Electronic address:
RNase III, a ubiquitously distributed endonuclease, plays an important role in RNA processing and functions as a global regulator of gene expression. In this study, we explored the role of RNase III in mediating the oxidative stress response in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExceptional Uptake, Limited Protein Expression: Liver Macrophages Lost in Translation of Synthetic mRNA.
Adv Sci (Weinh)
January 2025
Department of Internal Medicine III, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Pauwelsstraße 30, 52074, Aachen, Germany.
Most gene therapies exert their actions via manipulation of hepatocytes (parenchymal cells) and the reasons behind the suboptimal performance of synthetic mRNA in non-parenchymal cells (NPC) such as Kupffer cells (KC), and liver macrophages, remain unclear. Here, the spatio-temporal distribution of mRNA encoding enhanced green fluorescent protein (Egfp), siRNA, or both co-encapsulated into lipid nanoparticles (LNP) in the liver in vivo using real-time intravital imaging is investigated. Although both KC and hepatocytes demonstrate comparable high and rapid uptake of mRNA-LNP and siRNA-LNP in vivo, the translation of Egfp mRNA occurs exclusively in hepatocytes during intravital imaging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn RNase III-processed sRNA coordinates sialic acid metabolism of during gut colonization.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2025
Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (Ministry of Education / National Health Commission / Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences), Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Pathogenic Microorganisms and Infection, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200033, China.
Sialic acids derived from colonic mucin glycans are crucial nutrients for enteric bacterial pathogens like . The uptake and utilization of sialic acid in depend on coordinated regulons, each activated by specific metabolites at the transcriptional level. However, the mechanisms enabling crosstalk among these regulatory circuits to synchronize gene expression remain poorly understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUsing cationic liposomes as carriers for long dsRNA to trigger an antiviral response in rainbow trout cell lines.
In Vitro Cell Dev Biol Anim
January 2025
Department of Biology, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3C5, Canada.
Long dsRNA induces the expression of type I interferons (IFNs) and IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs) to establish an antiviral state. When induced prophylactically, this antiviral state can reduce the severity and mortality of viral infections. One of the limiting factors in delivering dsRNA in animal models is the lack of an effective carrier that protects the dsRNA from degradation in the extracellular space.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnhanced RNAi does not provide efficient innate antiviral immunity in mice.
Nucleic Acids Res
January 2025
Laboratory of Epigenetic Regulations, Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Videnska 1083, 142 20, Prague, Czech Republic.
In RNA interference (RNAi), long double-stranded RNA is cleaved by the Dicer endonuclease into small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), which guide degradation of complementary RNAs. While RNAi mediates antiviral innate immunity in plants and many invertebrates, vertebrates have adopted a sequence-independent response and their Dicer produces siRNAs inefficiently because it is adapted to process small hairpin microRNA precursors in the gene-regulating microRNA pathway. Mammalian endogenous RNAi is thus a rudimentary pathway of unclear significance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!