Breakthrough Cryo-EM Study Reveals How Viral RNA Hijacks Host Machinery
In a breakthrough study published recently in Science, researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical campus have revealed how viral RNAs use a combination of static and dynamic RNA structures to bind host machinery through highly noncanonical interactions.
Using cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM), the investigators have visualized the structure of the mysterious viral transfer RNA (tRNA)-like structure (TLS) from the brome mosaic virus (BMV), which affects essential viral processes, including viral replication, translation, and genome encapsidation.