AUTHOR=Nikolakaki Eleni , Giannakouros Thomas 

TITLE=SR/RS Motifs as Critical Determinants of Coronavirus Life Cycle

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/molecular-biosciences/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2020.00219

DOI=10.3389/fmolb.2020.00219

ISSN=2296-889X

ABSTRACT=<p>SR/RS domains are found in almost all eukaryotic genomes from <italic>C. elegans</italic> to human. These domains are thought to mediate interactions between proteins but also between proteins and RNA in complex networks associated with mRNA splicing, chromatin structure, transcription, cell cycle and cell structure. A precise and tight regulation of their function is achieved through phosphorylation of a number of serine residues within the SR/RS motifs by the Serine-Arginine protein kinases (SRPKs) that lead to delicate structural alterations. Given that coronavirus N proteins also contain SR/RS domains, we formulate the hypothesis that the viruses exploit the properties of these motifs to promote unpacking of viral RNA and virion assembly.</p>