Vera-Otarola, JorgeCastillo-Vargas, EstefaniaAngulo, JennifferBarriga, Francisco M.Batlle, EduardLopez-Lastra, Marcelo2021-12-152021-12-152021-09-21Plos Pathogens, Vol. 17, N° 9, e1009931 (2021) p. 1-351553-7374http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12254/2133Andes orthohantavirus (ANDV) is endemic in Argentina and Chile and is the primary etiological agent of hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) in South America. ANDV is unique among other members of the Hantaviridae family of viruses because of its ability to spread from person to person. The molecular mechanisms driving ANDV protein synthesis remain poorly understood. A previous report showed that translation of the Small segment mRNA (SmRNA) of ANDV relied on both the 5’cap and the 3’untranslated region (UTR) of the SmRNA. In this new study, we further characterize the mechanism by which the 5’ and 3’end of the SmRNA interact to assure viral protein synthesis. We establish that the viral nucleocapsid protein N and the cellular protein hMex3A participate in the process. These observations indicated that both viral and cellular proteins regulate viral gene expression during ANDV infection by enabling the viral mRNA to establish a non-covalent 5’-3’end interaction.enAtribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 3.0 Chile (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 CL)Artículohttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4047-779Xhttps://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1009931