Department of Pathology, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Department of Pathology, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Virology. 2019 Mar;529:144-151. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2019.01.014. Epub 2019 Jan 16.
Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a novel class of non-coding RNA molecules in eukaryotic organisms that have potentially important roles in gene regulation. Nevertheless, whether viruses can encode circRNA is still uncertain. To examine whether large genome DNA viruses can generate circRNA during the infection of human cells, we performed RNA sequencing of ribosomal RNA-depleted total RNA from Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-infected cell lines, including SNU-719, AGS-EBV, C666-1 and Akata. We identified an EBV-encoded circRNA, ebv_circ_RPMS1, that consists of the head-to-tail splicing of exons 2-4 from the RPMS1 gene. Furthermore, we demonstrated that ebv_circ_RPMS1 was localized in both cytoplasm and nuclei. Given that circRNAs shape gene expression by titrating microRNAs, regulating transcription and/or interfering with splicing, we identified a novel viral regulator of host and/or viral gene expression.
环状 RNA（circRNAs）是真核生物中一类新的非编码 RNA 分子，在基因调控中可能具有重要作用。然而，病毒是否可以编码 circRNA 尚不确定。为了研究大型基因组 DNA 病毒在感染人类细胞时是否能产生 circRNA，我们对 Epstein-Barr 病毒（EBV）感染的细胞系（包括 SNU-719、AGS-EBV、C666-1 和 Akata）进行了核糖体 RNA 耗尽的总 RNA 的 RNA 测序。我们鉴定出一种 EBV 编码的 circRNA，ebv_circ_RPMS1，由 RPMS1 基因的外显子 2-4 的头尾拼接而成。此外，我们证明 ebv_circ_RPMS1 定位于细胞质和细胞核中。鉴于 circRNAs 通过滴定 microRNAs、调节转录和/或干扰剪接来塑造基因表达，我们鉴定出一种宿主和/或病毒基因表达的新型病毒调节剂。
