title: The oligoadenylate synthetase family: an ancient protein family with multiple antiviral activities.
abstract: The 2'-5' oligoadenylate synthetases (OAS) are interferon-induced antiviral enzymes that recognize virally produced dsRNA and initiate RNA destabilization through activation of RNase L within infected cells. However, recent evidence points toward several RNase L-independent pathways, through which members of the OAS family can exert antiviral activity. The crystal structure of OAS led to a novel insight into the catalytic mechanism, and revealed a remarkable similarity between OAS, Polyadenosine polymerase, and the class I CCA-adding enzyme from Archeoglobus fulgidus. This, combined with a variety of bioinformatic data, leads to the definition of a superfamily of template independent polymerases and proved that the OAS family are ancient proteins, which probably arose as early as the beginning of metazoan evolution.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Structural Biology, Department of Molecular Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Helle
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kristiansen
authors.forename: Hans Henrik
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Gad
authors.forename: Signe
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eskildsen-Larsen
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Despres
authors.forename: Rune
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hartmann
mesh_terms: D015088:2',5'-Oligoadenylate Synthetase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D004722:Endoribonucleases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D007372:Interferons / Q000378:metabolism*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D020871:RNA Stability; D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded / Q000378:metabolism; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000378:metabolism; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000378:metabolism*; D038301:Virus Inactivation
chemical_list: D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded; D012367:RNA, Viral; D007372:Interferons; D015088:2',5'-Oligoadenylate Synthetase; D004722:Endoribonucleases; C031956:2-5A-dependent ribonuclease