
Influenza viruses deliver their genome into the nucleus of infected cells for replication. This process is mediated by the viral nucleoprotein (NP), which contains two nuclear localization sequences (NLSs): NLS1 at the N-terminus and a recently identified NLS2 (212GRKTR216). Through mutagenesis and functional studies, we demonstrated that NP must have both NLSs for an efficient nuclear import. As with other NLSs, there may be variations in the basic residues of NLS2 in different strains of the virus, which may affect the nuclear import of the viral genome. Although all NLS2 variants fused to the GFP mediated nuclear import of GFP, bioinformatics showed that 98.8% of reported NP sequences contained either the wild-type sequence 212GRKTR216 or 212GRRTR216. Bioinformatics analyses used to study the presence of NLS2 variants in other viral and nuclear proteins resulted in very low hits, with only 0.4% of human nuclear proteins containing putative NLS2. From these, we studied the nucleolar protein 14 (NOP14) and found that NLS2 does not play a role in the nuclear import of this protein but in its nucleolar localization. We also discovered a functional NLS at the C-terminus of NOP14. Our findings indicate that NLS2 is a highly conserved influenza A NP sequence.
nuclear localization sequence, QH573-671, Nuclear Localization Signals, NLS, Computational Biology, Nuclear Proteins, Nucleocapsid Proteins, nuclear import, Article, influenza A virus; nucleoprotein; nuclear localization sequence; NLS; nuclear import; nucleolar protein 14; NOP14, nucleolar protein 14, Nucleoproteins, influenza A virus, Humans, Amino Acid Sequence, Cytology, nucleoprotein
nuclear localization sequence, QH573-671, Nuclear Localization Signals, NLS, Computational Biology, Nuclear Proteins, Nucleocapsid Proteins, nuclear import, Article, influenza A virus; nucleoprotein; nuclear localization sequence; NLS; nuclear import; nucleolar protein 14; NOP14, nucleolar protein 14, Nucleoproteins, influenza A virus, Humans, Amino Acid Sequence, Cytology, nucleoprotein
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 1 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Average | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Average | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Average |
