Vertebrate genomes contain many virus-related sequences derived from both retroviruses and non-retroviral RNA and DNA viruses. Such non-retroviral RNA sequences are possibly produced by reverse-transcription and integration of viral mRNAs of ancient RNA viruses using retrotransposon machineries. We refer to this process as transcript reversion. During an ancient bornavirus infection, transcript reversion may have left bornavirus-related sequences, known as endogenous bornavirus-like nucleoproteins (EBLNs), in the genome. We have recently demonstrated that all Homo sapiens EBLNs are expressed in at least one tissue. Because species with EBLNs appear relatively protected against infection by a current bornavirus, Borna disease virus, it is speculated that EBLNs play some roles in antiviral immunity, as seen with some endogenous retroviruses. EBLNs can function as dominant negative forms of viral proteins, small RNAs targeting viral sequences, or DNA or RNA elements modulating the gene expression. Growing evidence reveals that various RNA viruses are reverse-transcribed and integrated into the genome of infected cells, suggesting transcript reversion generally occurs during ongoing infection. Considering this, transcript reversion-mediated interference with related viruses may be a novel type of antiviral immunity in vertebrates. Understanding the biological significance of transcript reversion will provide novel insights into host defenses against viral infections.

Nuclear import and export of viral RNA and proteins are critical to the replication cycle of viruses that replicate in the nucleus. Borna disease virus (BDV) is a nonsegmented, negative-strand RNA virus that belongs to the order Mononegavirales. BDV has several distinguishing features, one of the most striking being the site of its replication. BDV RNA is transcribed and replicated in the nucleus, while most other negative-strand RNA viruses replicate in the cytoplasm. Therefore, the nucleocytoplasmic trafficking of BDV macromolecules plays a key role in virus replication. Growing evidence indicates that several BDV proteins, including the nucleoprotein, phosphoprotein, protein X and large protein, contribute to the nucleocytoplasmic trafficking of BDV ribonucleoprotein (RNP). The directional control of BDV RNP trafficking is likely determined by the ratios of and interactions between the nuclear localization signals and nuclear export signals in the RNP. In this review, we present a comprehensive view of several unique mechanisms that BDV has developed to control its RNP trafficking and discuss the significance of BDV RNP trafficking in the replication cycle of BDV.

Endogenous bornavirus-like nucleoprotein elements (EBLNs) are DNA sequences in vertebrate genomes formed by the retrotransposon-mediated integration of ancient bornavirus sequence. Thus, EBLNs evidence a mechanism of retrotransposon-mediated RNA-to-DNA information flow from environment to animals. Although EBLNs are non-transposable, they share some features with retrotransposons. Here, to test whether hosts control the expression of EBLNs similarly to retrotransposons, we profiled the transcription of all Homo sapiens EBLNs (hsEBLN-1 to hsEBLN-7). We could detect transcription of all hsEBLNs in at least one tissue. Among them, hsEBLN-1 is transcribed almost exclusively in the testis. In most tissues, expression from the hsEBLN-1 locus is silenced epigenetically. Finally, we showed the possibility that hsEBLN-1 integration at this locus affects the expression of a neighboring gene. Our results suggest that hosts regulate the expression of endogenous non-retroviral virus elements similarly to how they regulate the expression of retrotransposons, possibly contributing to new transcripts and regulatory complexity to the human genome.

RNA interference (RNAi) has emerged as a promising technique for gene therapy. However, the safe and long-term expression of small RNA molecules is a major concern for the application of RNAi therapies in vivo. Borna disease virus (BDV), a non-segmented, negative-strand RNA virus, establishes a persistent infection without obvious cytopathic effects. Unique among animal non-retroviral RNA viruses, BDV persistently establishes a long-lasting persistent infection in the nucleus. These features make BDV ideal for RNA virus vector persistently expressing small RNAs. Here, we demonstrated that the recombinant BDV (rBDV) containing the miR-155 precursor, rBDV-miR-155, persistently expressed miR-155 and efficiently silenced its target gene. The stem region of the miR-155 precursor in rBDV-miR-155 was replaceable by any miRNA sequences of interest and that such rBDVs efficiently silence the expression of target genes. Collectively, BDV vector would be a novel RNA virus vector enabling the long-term expression of miRNAs for RNAi therapies.