rna editing and its control in hepatitis delta virus replicationrna编辑及其控制δ型肝炎病毒复制.pdfVIP

Viruses 2010, 2, 131-146; doi:10.3390/v2010131 OPEN ACCESS viruses ISSN 1999-4915 /journal/viruses Review RNA Editing and its Control in Hepatitis Delta Virus Replication Renxiang Chen, Sarah D. Linnstaedt and John L. Casey * Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20007, USA; E-Mails: rc278@ (R.C.); sarah.linnstaedt@ (S.D.L.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: caseyj@; Tel.: +1-202-687-1052; Fax: +1-202-687-1800. Received: 7 December 2009; in revised form: 31 December 2009 / Accepted: 5 January 2009 / Published: 12 January 2010 Abstract: The hepatitis delta virus genome is a small circular RNA, similar to viroids. Although HDV contains a gene, the protein produced (HDAg) is encoded by less than half the genome and possesses no RNA polymerase activity. Because of this limited coding capacity, HDV relies heavily on host functions and on structural features of the viral RNA—very much like viroids. The virus’ use of host RNA editing activity to produce two functionally distinct forms of HDAg is a particularly good example of this reliance. This review covers the mechanisms and control of RNA editing in the HDV replication cycle. Keywords: hepatitis delta virus; RNA editing; hepatitis delta antigen; ADAR1; RNA structure; RNA structural dynamics; RNA-protein interactions 1. Introduction Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a subviral hum