Small viral RNAs as determinants of influenza A virus pathogenesis

甲型流感病毒(IAV)只有10种主要蛋白质，必须同时进入细胞和细胞核，转录和复制其基因组，然后执行相反的进入过程才能外出和传播。为了实现这一点，病毒必须引入新的成分，随着感染的进展改变病毒的生物学。我们认为，协调这些变化的一个主要成分来自于参与和调节病毒RNA依赖的RNA聚合酶(RdRp)的小病毒编码RNA(SvRNAs)。这笔赠款的重点是定义svRNAs如何在感染过程中改变病毒RdRp的功能。从这些研究中获得的知识将大大有助于我们对IAV生物学的理解，并可能为未来新疗法的发展提供一个全新的方向。

With just ten major proteins, influenza A virus (IAV) must gain entry to both cell and nucleus, transcribe and replicate its genome, and then perform the inverse of the entry process in order to egress and spread. To achieve this, the virus must introduce new components that change viral biology as the infection progresses. We believe one major component that orchestrates these changes derives from small virus-encoded RNAs (svRNAs) that engage and modulate the viral RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). This grant focuses on defining how svRNAs change the function of the viral RdRp during the course of infection. The knowledge gained from these studies will significantly contribute to our understanding of IAV biology and may provide an entirely new direction towards the future development of novel therapeutics.