Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden.
SCELSE, Nanyang Technological University, 639798, Singapore.
Microbiol Spectr. 2018 Apr;6(2). doi: 10.1128/microbiolspec.RWR-0012-2017.
Temperature variation is one of the multiple parameters a microbial pathogen encounters when it invades a warm-blooded host. To survive and thrive at host body temperature, human pathogens have developed various strategies to sense and respond to their ambient temperature. An instantaneous response is mounted by RNA thermometers (RNATs), which are integral sensory structures in mRNAs that modulate translation efficiency. At low temperatures outside the host, the folded RNA blocks access of the ribosome to the translation initiation region. The temperature shift upon entering the host destabilizes the RNA structure and thus permits ribosome binding. This reversible zipper-like mechanism of RNATs is ideally suited to fine-tune virulence gene expression when the pathogen enters or exits the body of its host. This review summarizes our present knowledge on virulence-related RNATs and discusses recent developments in the field.
温度变化是微生物病原体入侵温血宿主时遇到的多个参数之一。为了在宿主体温下生存和繁殖，人类病原体已经开发出各种策略来感知和响应其环境温度。瞬时反应由 RNA 温度计 (RNAT) 介导，它是调节翻译效率的 mRNA 中的整体感应结构。在宿主外的低温下，折叠的 RNA 阻止核糖体进入翻译起始区。进入宿主时的温度变化会破坏 RNA 结构，从而允许核糖体结合。当病原体进入或离开宿主的身体时，这种 RNAT 的可逆拉链样机制非常适合微调毒力基因表达。这篇综述总结了我们目前对与毒力相关的 RNAT 的了解，并讨论了该领域的最新进展。
