Readthrough suppression in the mammalian type C retroviruses and what it has taught us

Mammalian type C retroviruses use translational suppression to synthesize the enzymes which function in virus replication. The UAG termination codon at the end of the coding region for the viral core proteins is translated as glutamine at a frequency of approximately 5%, allowing synthesis of the enzymes as part of a large fusion protein. This unusual mechanism has several benefits for the virus: first, it modulates the relative levels of synthesis of the core proteins and the enzymes. This is essential for the proper assembly of the virus particle, since the fusion protein alone is apparently unable to assemble into particles. Second, the presence of the core protein moiety in the fusion protein probably provides a mechanism for targeting the enzymes to the virus particle. The mechanism of the suppression phenomenon is now under investigation. Recent studies have revealed that suppression in the viral context is dependent upon a complex cis-acting signal in the viral mRNA, including a pseudoknot beginning 9 nucleotides 3' of the termination codon. In addition, studies with viral mutants have shown that UAA and UGA, like UAG, are efficiently suppressed in the presence of this signal, and have identified the amino acids used in the suppression of these termination codons in reticulocyte lysates. In several cases, this analysis revealed the existence of previously unknown suppressor tRNAs. One important question which has not been answered is whether the suppression mechanism used by the virus has a parallel in the synthesis of host proteins.