Translation regulation of Japanese encephalitis virus revealed by ribosome profiling

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), a neurotropic flavivirus, is the leading cause of viral encephalitis in endemic regions of Asia. Although the mechanisms modulating JEV virulence and neuroinvasiveness are poorly understood, several acquired mutations in the live attenuated vaccine strain (SA14-14-2) point towards translation regulation as a key strategy. Using ribosome profiling, we identify multiple mechanisms including frameshifting, tRNA dysregulation and alternate translation initiation sites that regulate viral protein synthesis. A significant fraction (~ 40%) of ribosomes undergo frameshifting on NS1 coding sequence leading to early termination, translation of NS1′ protein and modulation of viral protein stoichiometry. Separately, a tRNA subset (glutamate, serine, leucine and histidine) was found to be associated in high levels with the ribosomes upon JEV infection. We also report a previously uncharacterised translational initiation event from an upstream UUG initiation codon in JEV 5′ UTR. A silent mutation at this start site in the vaccine strain has been shown to abrogate neuroinvasiveness suggesting the potential role of translation from this region. Together, our study sheds light on distinct mechanisms that modulate JEV translation with likely consequences for viral pathogenesis.