What is it about?
The RNA of Hepatitis B viruses (HBV) are found to be enriched with small chemical modifications, shedding new light on the molecular mechanisms of HBV replication, one of the leading causes of liver cirrhosis and cancer.
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Why is it important?
Among the viral RNA modifications found, the cytidine methylation 5-methylcytidine (m5C) was found on viral RNAs at 11x higher amounts than on cellular messenger RNAs, making it possible that the virus is under evolutionary pressure to enrich for these RNA modifications. Viral m5C is deposited by the cellular enzyme NSUN2 and removal of NSUN2 resulted in a loss of m5C from viral RNAs and failure in the production of viral structural proteins and genomic DNA.
Perspectives
Our study uncovered a host-aided RNA modification required for the production of the protein and DNA components of infectious viral particles. This sheds light on to a critical step in HBV replication and suggests a unique mechanism that may be used as a future antiviral target.
Kevin Tsai
Academia Sinica
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Epitranscriptomic cytidine methylation of the hepatitis B viral RNA is essential for viral reverse transcription and particle production, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, June 2024, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2400378121.
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