Stress Granule Formation in Poliovirus Infected Cells

Stress granules are cytoplasmic foci that form in response to various types of cellular stress, including viral infection. They contain mRNA, translation initiation factors, the small ribosomal subunit, RNA binding proteins, and other unique components depending on the type of stress the cell is under. Stress granules are thought to store these components until the stress as passed at which time the mRNA resumes translation. They also have an active role in the cell's antiviral response and are required for efficient induction of the interferon pathway. There are many viruses that induce or interfere with stress granules, including poliovirus. Poliovirus is a positive sense RNA virus that is part of the Picornaviridae family. Stress granules in poliovirus infected cells differ from stress granules in cells undergoing other types of stress because they contain the RNA binding protein Sam68, their formation is dependent on RNA export by the Crm1 pathway, and they are induced by poliovirus cleavage of eIF4G and PABP. It was found previously that Sam68 is found in the stress granules of poliovirus infected HeLa cells but not in oxidative stress of heat shock induced stress granules. My research shows that this finding is true in other cell lines and thus represents a biologically significant finding. The Crm1 pathway exports snRNAs and some mRNAs, rRNAs, and proteins. To determine which of these classes of RNA is necessary for stress granule formation in poliovirus infected cells but not in cells undergoing other types of stress, plasmids with modified PHAX protein were used to isolate the snRNA export pathway. More work needs to be done to determine the impact of snRNA export on stress granule formation. This research could eventually help us better understand the cell's anti-viral response and have implications for how we treat viral infections.