Hepatitis C alternative reading frame stem-loop

Hepatitis C alternative reading frame stem-loop is a conserved secondary structure motif identified in the RNA genome of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) which is proposed to have an important role in regulating translation and repression of the viral genome.

Hepatitis C alternative reading frame stem-loop
Predicted secondary structure and sequence conservation of HCV_ARF_SL
Identifiers
Symbol	HCV_ARF_SL
Rfam	RF00620
Other data
RNA type	Cis-reg
Domain(s)	Viruses
SO	SO:0000233
PDB structures	PDBe

The core protein-coding region of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) genome contains a +1 alternative reading frame (ARF) and two proposed phylogenetically conserved RNA helix-forming stem loop structures (IV and VII).^[1] The proteins translated from the ARF appear to be translated during the normal viral life cycle but are not essential to virus replication.^[1] The two predicted stem loops shown here (SLV and SLVI) are proposed to be important for HCV translation and repression; these stem loops are located downstream of the internal ribosome entry site (IRES) but their functional role is unknown.^[1]

See also

• Hepatitis E virus cis-reactive element