Communication across the kingdoms of life: can bacterial RNA viruses affect gene expression in eukaryotic cells?

Gene expression is the process that reads the codes in our genes and translates these codes into proteins. Gene expression is a carefully regulated process, and unintended changes may lead to malfunctioning of the cell in which it occurs. In most organisms, small RNA molecules regulate gene expression via binding to messenger RNA - an intermediate of the expression process. Bacteriophages, which are viruses that infect bacteria, represent a poorly explored source of environmental RNA with unknown impact on plant and animal cells in their surroundings. Our key question is, how bacteriophage RNA is taken up by eukaryotic cells e.g. human cells and potentially affect gene expression in these cells.

Our key results will uncover the molecular mechanism of bacteriophage RNA entry in intestinal cells, and reveal if gene expression in the recipient cell is altered as a result of RNA uptake. The project will have key impact on our understanding of an unexplored route of interspecies communication with gene-regulatory potential, prospective consequences for our health and likely biomedical spin-off.