Abstract 2032 Towards a complete kinetic mechanism for the alphavirus SF1B RNA helicase

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an alphavirus in the Togaviridae family of viruses. Members of this family are transmitted by mosquitoes and cause a variety of conditions ranging from arthritis to encephalitis. Antivirals to treat alphavirus infection do not exist. CHIKV non-structural protein 2 (nsP2) encodes a Superfamily 1B (SF1B) RNA helicase domain that is required for viral RNA replication and transcription. CHIKV nsP2 couples ATP hydrolysis with translocation in a 5'->3' direction. We are using CHIKV nsP2 RNA helicase as a model to understand the kinetics and mechanism of this class of enzymes in order to facilitate development and characterization of inhibitors.