Structural Biology of the Enterovirus Replication-Linked 5′-Cloverleaf RNA and Associated Virus Proteins

Abstract

Although enteroviruses are associated with a wide variety of diseases and conditions, their mode of replication is well conserved. Their genome is carried as a single, positive-sense RNA strand. At the 5′ end of the strand is an approximately 90-nucleotide self-complementary region called the 5′ cloverleaf, or the oriL. This noncoding region serves as a platform upon which host and virus proteins, including the 3B, 3C, and 3D virus proteins, assemble in order to initiate replication of a negative-sense RNA strand.