Researchers find a new gene expression mechanism of PRRS virus, new disease prevention strategies now possible
Monday, May 12, 2014
MANHATTAN — A collaborative study involving Kansas State 1xbet sports betting researchers has discovered a new gene expression mechanism in porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, or PRRS, virus — an important swine pathogen that costs the U.S. pork industry more than 0 million a year. The discovery provides a new avenue for scientists to explore strategies to control and prevent the disease.
Ying Fang, Ph.D., associate professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology at Kansas State 1xbet sports betting , led a study that looked at the unique gene expression mechanism of the PRRS virus. She and colleagues found a new protein in the virus, nsp2TF, was generated through novel ribosomal frameshifting signals.
The research recently appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, or PNAS, study, "Transactivation of programmed ribosomal frameshifting by a viral 1xbet sports betting ."
Fang conducted this study with her European collaborators, including Eric Snijder and his team members at Leiden 1xbet sports betting Medical Center in The Netherlands, and Andrew Firth, Ian Brierley and Brierley's lab members at the 1xbet sports betting of Cambridge. Yanhua Li, Fang's doctoral student in pathobiology, China, made important contributions to this study. Zhi Sun, Fang's former doctoral student, and Longchao Zhu, visiting scholars in diagnostic medicine and pathobiology in Fang's lab, also were involved in the study.
The study builds on a 2012 PNAS study Fang and her European collaborators conducted while she was at South Dakota State 1xbet sports betting . In it, researchers identified the nsp2TF protein in the PRRS virus. The protein is expressed through a new gene expression mechanism called -2 ribosomal frameshifting.
"Frameshifting occurs when a ribosome encounters a 'slippery' sequence and downstream signal in messenger RNA," Fang said. "This causes the ribosome to shift two nucleotides backward, which results in all the genetic codons downstream of the shifted site to be read differently and produce a new 1xbet sports betting that has a different function."
With the most recent study, Fang and colleagues have shown that this -2 frameshifting requires a PRRS virus 1xbet sports betting , nsp1beta. It is the first time a virus's genetic mechanism has been found to require the action of a transacting viral 1xbet sports betting rather than a RNA structure to induce a ribosomal frameshifting, which is novel in the 1xbet sports betting translation field.
The function of the nsp2TF 1xbet sports betting is currently under investigation, Fang said. The 1xbet sports betting contains a genetic element that may be responsible for suppressing the pig's immune system.
The newly identified ribosomal frameshifting mechanism may provide an additional antiviral target. Fang's research lab cloned the PRRS virus and then genetically engineered nsp2TF 1xbet sports betting knockout viruses.
"These knockout viruses could be potentially used to develop vaccines," Fang said. "Additionally, this novel mechanism of gene expression may also be used by other viruses or in cellular gene expression."
Fang joined Kansas State 1xbet sports betting in 2013.
"Dr. Fang is recognized as one of the top PRRS experts in the world," said M.M. Chengappa, 1xbet sports betting distinguished professor of microbiology and head of the department of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology. "We are so fortunate to have faculty of her caliber and stature at Kansas State 1xbet sports betting . She brings enormous depth and breadth to our research and graduate training program."
