The solution structure of coronaviral stem-loop 2 (SL2) reveals a canonical CUYG tetraloop fold

FEBS Lett. 2011 Apr 6;585(7):1049-53. doi: 10.1016/j.febslet.2011.03.002. Epub 2011 Mar 4.

Abstract

The transcription and replication of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus (SARS-CoV) is regulated by specific viral genome sequences within 5'- and 3'-untranslated regions (5'-UTR and 3'-UTR). Here we report the solution structure of 5'-UTR derived stem-loop 2 (SL2) of SARS-CoV determined by NMR spectroscopy. The highly conserved pentaloop of SL2 is stacked on 5-bp stem and adopts a canonical CUYG tetraloop fold with the 3' nucleotide (U51) flipped out of the stack. The significance of this structure in the context of a previous mutagenesis analysis of SL2 function in replication of the related group 2 coronavirus, mouse hepatitis virus, is discussed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • 5' Untranslated Regions / genetics*
  • Base Pairing
  • Base Sequence
  • Conserved Sequence
  • Inverted Repeat Sequences / genetics*
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • RNA, Viral / chemistry
  • RNA, Viral / genetics
  • Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / genetics*
  • Solutions
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • 5' Untranslated Regions
  • RNA, Viral
  • Solutions