Fernández-Miragall Olga, López de Quinto Sonia, Martínez-Salas Encarnación
Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco 28049, Madrid, Spain.
Virus Res. 2009 Feb;139(2):172-82. doi: 10.1016/j.virusres.2008.07.009. Epub 2008 Aug 15.
The RNA of all members of the Picornaviridae family initiates translation internally, via an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) element present in their 5' untranslated region. IRES elements consist of cis-acting RNA structures that often operate in association with specific RNA-binding proteins to recruit the translational machinery. This specialized mechanism of translation initiation is shared with other viral RNAs, and represents an alternative to the general cap-dependent initiation mechanism. In this review we discuss recent evidences concerning the relationship between RNA structure and IRES function in the genome of picornaviruses. The biological implications of conserved RNA structural elements for the mechanism of internal translation initiation driven by representative members of enterovirus and rhinovirus (type I IRES) and cardiovirus and aphthovirus (type II IRES) will be discussed.
小核糖核酸病毒科所有成员的RNA通过其5'非翻译区中存在的内部核糖体进入位点（IRES）元件进行内部翻译起始。IRES元件由顺式作用RNA结构组成，这些结构通常与特定的RNA结合蛋白协同作用以募集翻译机制。这种特殊的翻译起始机制与其他病毒RNA共有，并且代表了一般帽依赖性起始机制的替代方式。在本综述中，我们讨论了有关小核糖核酸病毒基因组中RNA结构与IRES功能之间关系的最新证据。将讨论保守RNA结构元件对由肠道病毒和鼻病毒（I型IRES）以及心病毒和口蹄疫病毒（II型IRES）的代表性成员驱动的内部翻译起始机制的生物学意义。
