Review

The retrovirus RNA trafficking granule: from birth to maturity

Alan W Cochrane¹ , Mark T McNally² and Andrew J Mouland³

¹  Department of Medical Genetics and Microbiology, University of Toronto, 1 King's College Circle, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A8, Canada

²  Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, 53226, USA

³  HIV-1 RNA Trafficking Laboratory, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research-Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital and McGill University, 3755 Côte-Ste-Catherine Road, H3T 1E2, Canada

author email corresponding author email

Retrovirology 2006, 3:18doi:10.1186/1742-4690-3-18

Published:	17 March 2006

Abstract

Post-transcriptional events in the life of an RNA including RNA processing, transport, translation and metabolism are characterized by the regulated assembly of multiple ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes. At each of these steps, there is the engagement and disengagement of RNA-binding proteins until the RNA reaches its final destination. For retroviral genomic RNA, the final destination is the capsid. Numerous studies have provided crucial information about these processes and serve as the basis for studies on the intracellular fate of retroviral RNA. Retroviral RNAs are like cellular mRNAs but their processing is more tightly regulated by multiple cis-acting sequences and the activities of many trans-acting proteins. This review describes the viral and cellular partners that retroviral RNA encounters during its maturation that begins in the nucleus, focusing on important events including splicing, 3' end-processing, RNA trafficking from the nucleus to the cytoplasm and finally, mechanisms that lead to its compartmentalization into progeny virions.