Viruses are powerful tools to uncover cellular processes. Through viral studies we have recently identified a novel translational control mechanism that involves the DEAD-box helicase Dhh1/DDX6 and RNA folding within coding sequences (CDSs). All Dhh1-dependent mRNAs, viral and cellular ones, (i) contain long and highly structured CDSs, (ii) are directly bound by Dhh1 with a specific pattern, (iii) are activated at the translation initiation step and (iv) express proteins associated with the endoplasmic reticulum. The obtained results uncover a novel layer of translation regulation associated with translation at the endoplasmic reticulum conserved from yeast to humans and hijacked by viruses.

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through grant BFU2016–80039-R (AEI/MINEICO/FEDER, UE) and the “Maria de Maeztu” Program for Units of Excellence in R&D (MDM-2014–0370).