The hepatitis B virus post-transcriptional regulatory element contains two conserved RNA stem-loops which are required for function

Human Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) RNAs contain a cis-acting sequence, the post-transcriptional regulatory element (HPRE), which facilitates the cytoplasmic localization of intronless transcripts. Our previous studies have shown that the HPRE is composed of at least two independent sub-elements, HPREα an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nucleic acids research 1998-11, Vol.26 (21), p.4818-4827
Main Authors: Smith, George J., Donello, John E., Hope, Thomas J., Lück, Rupert, Steger, Gerhard
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Base Sequence
Cell Line
Conserved Sequence
DNA Primers - genetics
Enhancer Elements, Genetic
Genes, Regulator
Genes, Viral
Hepadnaviridae
hepadnavirus
Hepatitis B Surface Antigens - chemistry
Hepatitis B Surface Antigens - genetics
Hepatitis B virus
Hepatitis B virus - chemistry
Hepatitis B virus - genetics
Hepatitis B virus - physiology
Humans
Nucleic Acid Conformation
RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional
RNA, Viral - chemistry
RNA, Viral - genetics
RNA, Viral - metabolism
Sequence Deletion
Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
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Summary:Human Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) RNAs contain a cis-acting sequence, the post-transcriptional regulatory element (HPRE), which facilitates the cytoplasmic localization of intronless transcripts. Our previous studies have shown that the HPRE is composed of at least two independent sub-elements, HPREα and HPREβ, which co-activate a reporter for RNA export in a greater than additive manner. Utilizing deletion, mutation and co-variational analyses, we have identified three regions important for full HPRE activity. The three separate regions of the HPRE function can function independently in a dose-dependent manner when multimerized. Two of these regions contain stem loops, HSLα and HSLβ1, which are necessary for full HPRE function. These structures are conserved throughout the mammalian Hepadnaviruses. Disruption of either stem-loop structure by mutagenesis decreases HPRE function while compensatory mutations restore activity. The location of the stem-loops in the genome reveal that they are present in all of the HBV transcripts. HSLα and HSLβ1 are likely to contain the binding sites for the cellular factor(s) which mediates HPRE function.
ISSN:0305-1048
1362-4962
1362-4962
DOI:10.1093/nar/26.21.4818