Viral modulation of stress granules

Following viral infection, the host responds by mounting a robust anti-viral response with the aim of creating an unfavorable environment for viral replication. As a countermeasure, viruses have elaborated mechanisms to subvert the host response in order to maintain viral protein synthesis and production. In the last decade, several reports have shown that viruses modulate the assembly of stress granules (SGs), which are translationally silent ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) and sites of RNA triage. This review discusses recent advances in our understanding of the interactions between viruses and the host response and how virus-induced modulations in SG abundance play fundamental roles in dictating the success of viral replication.

► Assembly of SGs can be dramatically influenced by viruses. ► Viruses have elaborated mechanisms to impose a blockade/induction to SG assembly ► New knowledge on the SG biology may be beneficial in developing new anti-viral drugs.