Packaging of viral microRNAs in gammaherpesvirus 68

Undergraduate Honors Thesis

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Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/undergraduate_honors_theses/xd07gt06r

Abstract

MicroRNAs are a characteristic of many herpesvirus genomes. These short, non-coding RNAs are capable of post-transcriptional regulation of target mRNAs. Recently, packaged miRNAs have been observed in purified virions of EBV and KSHV, gammaherpesviruses pathogenic in humans. Gammaherpesvirus 68 serves as a small-animal model of gammaherpesvirus pathogenesis. It encodes eight RNA pol III transcripts known as TMERs, which include viral tRNA-like genes adjacent to one or two miRNA genes. Here, we focused on the miRNAs of TMERs 1 and 5. We detected viral miRNAs and their precursors in purified virions of wild-type gammaherpesvirus 68, as well as two mutant viruses that do not produce TMERs. This suggests viral miRNA packaging is a preferred, organized process in virion maturation. We have also established that these miRNAs are biologically active upon infection.

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