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SUMMARY:RNA communication between pathogens and their hosts. - Dr Omer Ziv
 \, Gurdon Institue
DTSTART:20190712T110000Z
DTEND:20190712T114000Z
UID:TALK127072@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Paula Bibby
DESCRIPTION:Protein-protein interactions play central roles in the molecul
 ar conflict between viruses and their hosts. RNA\, another key biological 
 macromolecule\, has an inherent capacity to form structures and specific i
 nteractions through base-complementarity. However\, the prevalence and rol
 es of host-pathogen RNA-RNA interactions remain largely unreachable due to
  technological limitations. I have recently developed COMRADES\, a scalabl
 e method for studying dynamic RNA structures and RNA-RNA interactions insi
 de cells\, providing high-throughput conformation capture (Hi-C) capabilit
 ies to RNA biology. Applying COMRADES to Zika virus inside human and mosqu
 ito cells revealed the first-ever structure of a wildtype viral RNA genome
  inside its host cell\, demonstrating an unanticipated level of structural
 -dynamics. I identified strong evidence for replication-coupled cyclisatio
 n of viral RNA genomes\, and for multiple site-specific interactions betwe
 en the viral genome and human noncoding RNAs. I discovered a triple-functi
 on element in the viral RNA genome involved in translation\, replication\,
  and binding to human microRNA-21. The newly identified structures and int
 eractions uncover a rich and little explored universe of RNA-based communi
 cation pathways between cells and their pathogens\, which can be harnessed
  for the design of new antiviral strategies.
LOCATION:Marjory Stephenson Seminar Room\, Hopkins Building\, Dept of Bioc
 hemistry
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