[The 2A region of the foot-and-mouth disease virus]

Translational control of viral gene expression is a fundamental process essential for the vitality of all viruses. The 2A region of the foot-and-mouth disease virus encodes a sequence that mediates self-processing by a novel translational effect « ribosomal skipping », rather than proteolysis. The 2A acts as an esterase within the eukaryotic ribosome to hydrolyze the link between the nascent polypeptide and the t-RNA in the P-site rather than form the Gly-Pro peptide bond at the 2A/2B junction. Translation can continue after hydrolysis, so sequences upstream and downstream of 2A emerge as distinct polypeptides in a fixed stochiometry. Use of 2A and 2A-like peptides to link the sequences encoding several proteins in the same open reading frame has led to their increasing use as important tools in biotechnology and biomedicine.