Researchers from Tsinghua University and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences collaborate to analyze the interaction network between viral RNA and host protein

RNA viruses are a type of virus that uses RNA as genetic material

On November 4, 2021, Cell Research published a report entitled “Comparison of viral RNA--host protein interactomes across pathogenic RNA viruses informs rapid antiviral drug discovery for SARS-CoV-2)" research article, the study uses high-throughput ChIRP-MS technology to systematically analyze different RNA viruses, including the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), Zika virus (ZIKV) ) And the interaction network of viral genomic RNA and host protein in the infected state of Ebola virus (EBOV)

Based on the viral genome RNA-host protein interaction network, the researchers identified a series of host protein complexes involved in different viral infections through comparative analysis (Figure 1), such as intracellular translation machinery (ribosome) and host spliceosome proteins ( spliceosome), IGF2BP1-protein complex related to RNA stability (IGF2BP1-associated complex), small molecule ribonucleic acid (microRNA) metabolism related complex (Drosha-DGCR8 complexes), and stress-granule related Protein

Figure 1.

Finally, using the viral RNA-host protein interaction group data, the researchers established a set of methods to quickly identify new antiviral drugs by screening clinical drugs targeting viral RNA interaction proteins starting from the RNA interaction network

In short, the study not only mapped the interaction groups of different viral RNA-host proteins, but more importantly, the researchers integrated these data and compared the interaction groups of different viruses to systematically reveal that the virus interacts with the host during the infection process.

Associate Professor Zhang Qiangfeng from the School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Advanced Innovation Center for Structural Biology, Tsinghua-Peking University Joint Center for Life Sciences, Professor Wang Jianwei from the Institute of Pathogenic Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and Assistant Professor Ding Qiang from Tsinghua University School of Medicine for the joint communication of the paper Author

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