Viral epitranscriptomics is a newly emerging field that has identified unique roles for RNA modifications in modulating life cycles of RNA viruses. Despite the observation of a handful of modified viral RNAs five decades ago, very little was known about how these modifications regulate viral life cycles, until recently. Here we review the pro- and anti-viral effects of methyl-6-adenosine in distinct viral life cycles, the role of 2′ O-methyl modifications in RNA stability and innate immune sensing, and functions of adenosine to inosine modifications in retroviral life cycles. With roles for over 100 modifications in RNA still unknown, this is a rapidly emerging field that is destined to suggest novel antiviral therapies.

病毒表观转录组学是一个新兴领域，它已经确定了 RNA 修饰在调节 RNA 病毒生命周期中的独特作用。尽管五年前就观察到了一些经过修饰的病毒 RNA，但直到最近，人们对这些修饰如何调节病毒生命周期知之甚少。在这里，我们回顾了甲基-6-腺苷在不同病毒生命周期中的促病毒和抗病毒作用，2'O-甲基修饰在RNA稳定性和先天免疫传感中的作用，以及腺苷到肌苷修饰在逆转录病毒生命中的功能循环。由于 RNA 中超过 100 个修饰的作用仍然未知，这是一个快速新兴的领域，注定会提出新的抗病毒疗法。