Relevance of coronavirus viroporins and pdz-binding- motifs in virus replication and virulence.

Abstract

Engineering of a Mouse-Adapted Reverse Genetics System for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 218 ABSTRACTStargets using non-canonical offset seed matches and functional base pairing of nucleotide 10. At the target level, miR-K6-5p was consequently able to regulate most miR-16 targets, albeit at altered efficiencies compared to miR-16. At the functional level, miR-K6-5p shared the tumor suppressive functions of miR-16, including the induction of cell cycle arrest. Altogether, our data suggest that this oncogenic herpesvirus encodes a functional mimic of miR-16. Our ongoing experiments address the hypothesis that miR-K6-5p functions to balance consequences of viral oncogene expression. While many oncogenic herpesviruses encode gene products that antagonize tumor suppressors, this is-to our knowledgethe first example of an oncogenic virus that encodes a homolog or mimic of a bona fide tumor suppressor.