Unveiling the DHX15 - G-patch Interplay in Retroviral RNA Packaging

We explored how a simple retrovirus, Mason-Pfizer monkey virus (M-PMV) to facilitate its replication process, utilizes DHX15, a cellular RNA helicase, typically engaged in RNA processing. Through advanced genetic engineering techniques, we showed that M-PMV recruits DHX15 by mimicking cellular mechanisms, relocating it from the nucleus to the cytoplasm to aid in viral assembly. This interaction is essential for the correct packaging of the virus's genetic material and critical for its infectivity. Our findings offer new insights into the mechanisms of viral manipulation of host cellular processes, highlighting a sophisticated strategy that viruses employ to leverage cellular machinery for their replication. This study adds valuable knowledge to the understanding of viral-host interactions but also suggests a common evolutionary history between cellular processes and viral mechanisms. This discovery opens a new perspective on the export mechanism of cellular intron-retaining mRNAs on packaging of viral genetic information and potentially develop ways to stop them.