Translational control by non-coding RNA in Marek's disease herpesvirus: implications in oncogenesis and exploitation in bioengineering

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Studies of virus-infected cells have been a prominent source of information on the mechanism of translational control. Because viruses are obligate intracellular parasites, they depend on cells for their replication. Nowhere is this dependency seen more clearly than in the translation system, as viruses lack a translational apparatus. Consequently, viruses must use the cellular apparatus for the synthesis of viral proteins. Many viruses have evolved ways to gain a translational advantage for their mRNAs. This is particularly crucial during the very early stages of viral infection where immediate-early transcripts are produced and need to be translated. Internal ribosome entry site (IRES)-mediated translation initiation is one of the strategies that viruses use during time of cellular stress and when cap-dependent translation might be inhibited. We have discovered that the protein translation from one of the immediate-early transcripts of MDV (named 1.8kBtranscript) is controlled using two IRES elements and the translational strategy used by MDV in the causation of disease will be the subject of investigation under this project.

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