Synthesis and Processing of Viral RNA

Excerpt

Although different retroviruses share many essential features of gene regulation, each retrovirus has evolved unique solutions to replicate in specific cell types. This chapter presents an overview of the mechanisms employed by retroviruses for transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression. Special emphasis is placed on the transcriptional controls that mediate viral pathogenesis and the virally encoded regulatory proteins of human retroviruses. The dissection of these viral regulatory strategies has provided new insights into potential targets for control of human viral infections as well as a better understanding of transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulatory mechanisms employed by vertebrate cells.