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RNA METABOLISM

Viral infection linked to m6A alterations in host mRNAs

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 21, pages 64–65 (2020)Cite this article

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Infection with dengue, Zika, West Nile and hepatitis C viruses induces changes in the distribution of the highly prevalent RNA modification N6-methyladenosine (m6A) in cellular mRNAs, a new report shows. Some of the identified changes were driven by the induction of innate immunity and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress during infection with these four highly pathogenic, positive-sense RNA Flaviviridae.

Using methylated RNA immunoprecipitation and sequencing (MeRIP-seq), Gokhale et al. identified 51 genes that were differentially post-transcriptionally regulated by m6A in infected versus uninfected human hepatoma cells (which are susceptible to all four viruses). They validated their results using MeRIP-qRT-PCR which, along with other experiments, identified 58 exons with robust infection-induced enrichment in m6A that were shared across all four viruses. As the analysis controlled for changes in gene expression, the detected differences represented changes in m6A modification rather than altered expression of m6A-modified transcripts. However, the method used cannot determine the exact ratio of modified to unmodified transcripts, nor identify exactly which nucleotides are modified.

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  • Zaccara, S. et al. Reading, writing and erasing mRNA methylation. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 20, 608–624 (2019)

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  1. Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology http://www.nature.com/nrm/

    Caroline Barranco

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  1. Caroline Barranco
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Correspondence to Caroline Barranco.

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Barranco, C. Viral infection linked to m6A alterations in host mRNAs. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 21, 64–65 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41580-019-0202-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41580-019-0202-7

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