Department of Biochemistry and McGill Cancer Center, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3G 1Y6.
Several picornaviruses shut down host cellular protein synthesis by proteolytic cleavage of the eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF) 4GI and eIF4GII isoforms. Viral RNA translation is maintained by a cap-independent mechanism. Here, we identify the human rhinovirus 2 2A(pro) cleavage site in eIF4GII in vitro as PLLNV(699)*GSR; this sequence lies seven amino acids C-terminal to the cleavage site previously identified in eIF4GI (LSTR681*GPP).