In Vivo Analyses of Viral RNA Translation

Author(s):  
William R. Staplin ◽  
W. Allen Miller
Keyword(s):  
2015 ◽  
Vol 89 (8) ◽  
pp. 4237-4248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Besong-Ndika ◽  
Konstantin I. Ivanov ◽  
Anders Hafrèn ◽  
Thierry Michon ◽  
Kristiina Mäkinen

ABSTRACTPotato virus A(PVA) is a single-stranded positive-sense RNA virus and a member of the familyPotyviridae. The PVA coat protein (CP) has an intrinsic capacity to self-assemble into filamentous virus-like particles, but the mechanism responsible for the initiation of viral RNA encapsidationin vivoremains unclear. Apart from virion assembly, PVA CP is also involved in the inhibition of viral RNA translation. In this study, we show that CP inhibits PVA RNA translation in a dose-dependent manner, through a mechanism involving the CP-encoding region. Analysis of this region, however, failed to identify any RNA secondary structure(s) preferentially recognized by CP, suggesting that the inhibition depends on CP-CP rather than CP-RNA interactions. In agreement with this possibility, insertion of an in-frame stop codon upstream of the CP sequence led to a marked decrease in the inhibition of viral RNA translation. Based on these results, we propose a model in which the cotranslational interactions between excess CP accumulating intransand CP translated from viral RNA incisare required to initiate the translational repression. This model suggests a mechanism for how viral RNA can be sequestered from translation and specifically selected for encapsidation at the late stages of viral infection.IMPORTANCEThe main functions of the CP during potyvirus infection are to protect viral RNA from degradation and to transport it locally, systemically, and from host to host. Although virion assembly is a key step in the potyviral infectious cycle, little is known about how it is initiated and how viral RNA is selected for encapsidation. The results presented here suggest that CP-CP rather than CP-RNA interactions are predominantly involved in the sequestration of viral RNA away from translation. We propose that the cotranslational nature of these interactions may represent a mechanism for the selection of viral RNA for encapsidation. A better understanding of the mechanism of virion assembly may lead to development of crops resistant to potyviruses at the level of viral RNA encapsidation, thereby reducing the detrimental effects of potyvirus infections on food production.


2011 ◽  
Vol 55 (9) ◽  
pp. 4072-4080 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qing-Yin Wang ◽  
Ravinder Reddy Kondreddi ◽  
Xuping Xie ◽  
Ranga Rao ◽  
Shahul Nilar ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTWe describe a novel translation inhibitor that has anti-dengue virus (DENV) activityin vitroandin vivo. The inhibitor was identified through a high-throughput screening using a DENV infection assay. The compound contains a benzomorphan core structure. Mode-of-action analysis indicated that the compound inhibits protein translation in a viral RNA sequence-independent manner. Analysis of the stereochemistry demonstrated that only one enantiomer of the racemic compound inhibits viral RNA translation. Medicinal chemistry was performed to eliminate a metabolically labile glucuronidation site of the compound to improve itsin vivostability. Pharmacokinetic analysis showed that upon a single subcutaneous dosing of 25 mg/kg of body weight in mice, plasma levels of the compound reached aCmax(maximum plasma drug concentration) above the protein-binding-adjusted 90% effective concentration (EC90) value of 0.96 μM. In agreement with thein vivopharmacokinetic results, treatment of DENV-infected mice with 25 mg/kg of compound once per day reduced peak viremia by about 40-fold. However, mice treated with 75 mg/kg of compound per day exhibited adverse effects. Collectively, our results demonstrate that the benzomorphan compounds inhibit DENV through suppression of RNA translation. The therapeutic window of the current compounds needs to be improved for further development.


1979 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 902-913 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick W. K. Lee ◽  
John S. Colter

Studies of the synthesis of viral ribonucleates and polypeptides in cells infected with two RNA−ts mutants of Mengo virus (ts 135 and ts 520) have shown that when ts 135 infected cells are shifted from the permissive (33 °C) to the nonpermissive (39 °C) temperature: (i) the synthesis of all three species of viral RNA (single stranded, replicative form, and replicative intermediate) is inhibited to about the same extent, and (ii) the posttranslational cleavage of structural polypeptide precursors A and B is partially blocked. Investigations of the in vivo and in vitro stability of the viral RNA replicase suggest that the RNA− phentotype reflects a temperature-sensitive defect in the enzyme. The second defect does not appear to result from the inhibition of viral RNA synthesis at 39 °C, since normal cleavage of polypeptides A and B occurs in wt Mengo-infected cells in which viral RNA synthesis is blocked by cordycepin, and at the nonpermissive temperature in ts 520 infected cells. Considered in toto, the evidence suggests that ts 135 is a double mutant.Subviral (53 S) particles have been shown to accumulate in ts 520 (but not ts 135) infected cells when cultures are shifted from 33 to 39 °C. This observation provides supporting evidence for the proposal that this recently discovered particle is an intermediate in the assembly pathway of Mengo virions.


1990 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 5433-5441
Author(s):  
B Y Ahn ◽  
P D Gershon ◽  
E V Jones ◽  
B Moss

Eucaryotic transcription factors that stimulate RNA polymerase II by increasing the efficiency of elongation of specifically or randomly initiated RNA chains have been isolated and characterized. We have identified a 30-kilodalton (kDa) vaccinia virus-encoded protein with apparent homology to SII, a 34-kDa mammalian transcriptional elongation factor. In addition to amino acid sequence similarities, both proteins contain C-terminal putative zinc finger domains. Identification of the gene, rpo30, encoding the vaccinia virus protein was achieved by using antibody to the purified viral RNA polymerase for immunoprecipitation of the in vitro translation products of in vivo-synthesized early mRNA selected by hybridization to cloned DNA fragments of the viral genome. Western immunoblot analysis using antiserum made to the vaccinia rpo30 protein expressed in bacteria indicated that the 30-kDa protein remains associated with highly purified viral RNA polymerase. Thus, the vaccinia virus protein, unlike its eucaryotic homolog, is an integral RNA polymerase subunit rather than a readily separable transcription factor. Further studies showed that the expression of rpo30 is regulated by dual early and later promoters.


Viruses ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Márquez-Jurado ◽  
Aitor Nogales ◽  
Ginés Ávila-Pérez ◽  
Francisco Iborra ◽  
Luis Martínez-Sobrido ◽  
...  

The recent outbreaks of Zika virus (ZIKV), its association with Guillain–Barré syndrome and fetal abnormalities, and the lack of approved vaccines and antivirals, highlight the importance of developing countermeasures to combat ZIKV disease. In this respect, infectious clones constitute excellent tools to accomplish these goals. However, flavivirus infectious clones are often difficult to work with due to the toxicity of some flavivirus sequences in bacteria. To bypass this problem, several alternative approaches have been applied for the generation of ZIKV clones including, among others, in vitro ligation, insertions of introns and using infectious subgenomic amplicons. Here, we report a simple and novel DNA-launched approach based on the use of a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) to generate a cDNA clone of Rio Grande do Norte Natal ZIKV strain. The sequence was identified from the brain tissue of an aborted fetus with microcephaly. The BAC clone was fully stable in bacteria and the infectious virus was efficiently recovered in Vero cells through direct delivery of the cDNA clone. The rescued virus yielded high titers in Vero cells and was pathogenic in a validated mouse model (A129 mice) of ZIKV infection. Furthermore, using this infectious clone we have generated a mutant ZIKV containing a single amino acid substitution (A175V) in the NS2A protein that presented reduced viral RNA synthesis in cell cultures, was highly attenuated in vivo and induced fully protection against a lethal challenge with ZIKV wild-type. This BAC approach provides a stable and reliable reverse genetic system for ZIKV that will help to identify viral determinants of virulence and facilitate the development of vaccine and therapeutic strategies.


1988 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1558-1569
Author(s):  
P E Cizdziel ◽  
M de Mars ◽  
E C Murphy

The spliced form of MuSVts110 viral RNA is approximately 20-fold more abundant at growth temperatures of 33 degrees C or lower than at 37 to 41 degrees C. This difference is due to changes in the efficiency of MuSVts110 RNA splicing rather than selective thermolability of the spliced species at 37 to 41 degrees C or general thermosensitivity of RNA splicing in MuSVts110-infected cells. Moreover, RNA transcribed from MuSVts110 DNA introduced into a variety of cell lines is spliced in a temperature-sensitive fashion, suggesting that the structure of the viral RNA controls the efficiency of the event. We exploited this novel splicing event to study the cleavage and ligation events during splicing in vivo. No spliced viral mRNA or splicing intermediates were observed in MuSVts110-infected cells (6m2 cells) at 39 degrees C. However, after a short (about 30-min) lag following a shift to 33 degrees C, viral pre-mRNA cleaved at the 5' splice site began to accumulate. Ligated exons were not detected until about 60 min following the initial detection of cleavage at the 5' splice site, suggesting that these two splicing reactions did not occur concurrently. Splicing of viral RNA in the MuSVts110 revertant 54-5A4, which lacks the sequence -AG/TGT- at the usual 3' splice site, was studied. Cleavage at the 5' splice site in the revertant viral RNA proceeded in a temperature-sensitive fashion. No novel cryptic 3' splice sites were activated; however, splicing at an alternate upstream 3' splice site used at low efficiency in normal MuSVts110 RNA was increased to a level close to that of 5'-splice-site cleavage in the revertant viral RNA. Increased splicing at this site in 54-5A4 viral RNA is probably driven by the unavailability of the usual 3' splice site for exon ligation. The thermosensitivity of this alternate splice event suggests that the sequences governing the thermodependence of MuSVts110 RNA splicing do not involve any particular 3' splice site or branch point sequence, but rather lie near the 5' end of the intron.


1976 ◽  
pp. 499-513
Author(s):  
Robert M. Krug ◽  
Polly R. Etkind ◽  
Stephen J. Plotch
Keyword(s):  

2003 ◽  
Vol 23 (12) ◽  
pp. 4094-4106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amine O. Noueiry ◽  
Juana Diez ◽  
Shaun P. Falk ◽  
Jianbo Chen ◽  
Paul Ahlquist

ABSTRACT Previously, we used the ability of the higher eukaryotic positive-strand RNA virus brome mosaic virus (BMV) to replicate in yeast to show that the yeast LSM1 gene is required for recruiting BMV RNA from translation to replication. Here we extend this observation to show that Lsm1p and other components of the Lsm1p-Lsm7p/Pat1p deadenylation-dependent mRNA decapping complex were also required for translating BMV RNAs. Inhibition of BMV RNA translation was selective, with no effect on general cellular translation. We show that viral genomic RNAs suitable for RNA replication were already distinguished from nonreplication templates at translation, well before RNA recruitment to replication. Among mRNA turnover pathways, only factors specific for deadenylated mRNA decapping were required for BMV RNA translation. Dependence on these factors was not only a consequence of the nonpolyadenylated nature of BMV RNAs but also involved the combined effects of the viral 5′ and 3′ noncoding regions and 2a polymerase open reading frame. High-resolution sucrose density gradient analysis showed that, while mutating factors in the Lsm1p-7p/Pat1p complex completely inhibited viral RNA translation, the levels of viral RNA associated with ribosomes were only slightly reduced in mutant yeast. This polysome association was further verified by using a conditional allele of essential translation initiation factor PRT1, which markedly decreased polysome association of viral genomic RNA in the presence or absence of an LSM7 mutation. Together, these results show that a defective Lsm1p-7p/Pat1p complex inhibits BMV RNA translation primarily by stalling or slowing the elongation of ribosomes along the viral open reading frame. Thus, factors in the Lsm1p-7p/Pat1p complex function not only in mRNA decapping but also in translation, and both translation and recruitment of BMV RNAs to viral RNA replication are regulated by a cell pathway that transfers mRNAs from translation to degradation.


2000 ◽  
Vol 74 (18) ◽  
pp. 8252-8261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Zhang ◽  
Roger J. Pomerantz ◽  
Geethanjali Dornadula ◽  
Yong Sun

ABSTRACT Virion infectivity factor (Vif) is a protein encoded by human immunodeficiency virus types 1 and 2 (HIV-1 and -2) and simian immunodeficiency virus, plus other lentiviruses, and is essential for viral replication either in vivo or in culture for nonpermissive cells such as peripheral blood lymphoid cells, macrophages, and H9 T cells. Defects in the vif gene affect virion morphology and reverse transcription but not the expression of viral components. It has been shown that Vif colocalizes with Gag in cells and Vif binds to the NCp7 domain of Gag in vitro. However, it seems that Vif is not specifically packaged into virions. The molecular mechanism(s) for Vif remains unknown. In this report, we demonstrate that HIV-1 Vif is an RNA-binding protein and specifically binds to HIV-1 genomic RNA in vitro. Further, Vif binds to HIV-1 RNA in the cytoplasm of virus-producing cells to form a 40S mRNP complex. Coimmunoprecipitation and in vivo UV cross-linking assays indicated that Vif directly interact with HIV-1 RNA in the virus-producing cells. Vif-RNA binding could be displaced by Gag-RNA binding, suggesting that Vif protein in the mRNP complex may mediate viral RNA interaction with HIV-1 Gag precursors. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that these Vif mutants that lose the RNA binding activity in vitro do not supportvif-deficient HIV-1 replication in H9 T cells, suggesting that the RNA binding capacity of Vif is important for its function. Further studies regarding Vif-RNA interaction in virus-producing cells will be important for studying the function of Vif in the HIV-1 life cycle.


1998 ◽  
Vol 72 (7) ◽  
pp. 5493-5501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siddhartha K. Biswas ◽  
Paul L. Boutz ◽  
Debi P. Nayak

ABSTRACT Influenza virus nucleoprotein (NP) is a critical factor in the viral infectious cycle in switching influenza virus RNA synthesis from transcription mode to replication mode. In this study, we investigated the interaction of NP with the viral polymerase protein complex. Using coimmunoprecipitation with monospecific or monoclonal antibodies, we observed that NP interacted with the RNP-free polymerase protein complex in influenza virus-infected cells. In addition, coexpression of the components of the polymerase protein complex (PB1, PB2, or PA) with NP either together or pairwise revealed that NP interacts with PB1 and PB2 but not PA. Interaction of NP with PB1 and PB2 was confirmed by both coimmunoprecipitation and histidine tagging of the NP-PB1 and NP-PB2 complexes. Further, it was observed that NP-PB2 interaction was rather labile and sensitive to dissociation in 0.1% sodium dodecyl sulfate and that the stability of NP-PB2 interaction was regulated by the sequences present at the COOH terminus of NP. Analysis of NP deletion mutants revealed that at least three regions of NP interacted independently with PB2. A detailed analysis of the COOH terminus of NP by mutation of serine-to-alanine (SA) residues either individually or together demonstrated that SA mutations in this region did not affect the binding of NP to PB2. However, some SA mutations at the COOH terminus drastically affected the functional activity of NP in an in vivo transcription-replication assay, whereas others exhibited a temperature-sensitive phenotype and still others had no effect on the transcription and replication of the viral RNA. These results suggest that a direct interaction of NP with polymerase proteins may be involved in regulating the switch of viral RNA synthesis from transcription to replication.


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