Staff

Koyu Hara

Awarded PhD from Kyushu University in 1996.

Project; Molecular mechanism of influenza virus RNA dependent RNA polymerase

Influenza A virus is a negative-sense virus belonging to the family Orthomyxoviridae. The genome of its segmented, single-stranded RNA is transcribed and replicated by a virus-encoded RNA-dependent RNA polymerase in infected cells. Influenza virus RNA polymerase is a trimeric complex comprising three different subunits: PB1, PB2 and PA. The PB1 subunit contains the S-D-D motif characteristic of polymerases and is directly involved in RNA synthesis. The PB2 subunit is responsible for cap binding. The precise function of PA subunit is, however, not well established. We are particularly investigating on the PA subunit to elucidate the molecular mechanism by which PA participate in transcription and replication. So far, we found that PA has several enzymatic activities: 1) chymotrypsin-like serine protease activity, 2) endonuclease activity and 3) promoter and cap binding activity.