Phosphorylation of the viral coat protein regulates RNA virus infection

Haley S Hoover, C Cheng Kao Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA Abstract: Coat proteins (CPs) are the most abundant protein produced during a viral infection. CPs have been shown to regulate the infection processes of RNA viruses, including RNA replication and gene expression. The numerous activities of the CP in infection are likely to require regulation, possibly through posttranslational modifications. Protein posttranslational modifications are involved in signal transduction, expanding and regulating protein function, and responding to changes in the environment. Accumulating evidence suggests that phosphorylation of viral CPs is involved in the regulation of the viral infection process from enabling virion disassembly to regulation of viral protein synthesis and replication. CP phosphorylation also affects viral trafficking and virion assembly. This review focuses on the regulatory roles that phosphorylation of CPs has in the life cycle of viruses with RNA genomes. Keywords: viral capsid protein, posttranslational modification, phosphorylation, protein–RNA interactio