scholarly journals In vivo analysis of influenza A mRNA secondary structures identifies critical regulatory motifs

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (13) ◽  
pp. 7003-7017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Marie Simon ◽  
Edoardo Morandi ◽  
Anna Luganini ◽  
Giorgio Gribaudo ◽  
Luis Martinez-Sobrido ◽  
...  

AbstractThe influenza A virus (IAV) is a continuous health threat to humans as well as animals due to its recurring epidemics and pandemics. The IAV genome is segmented and the eight negative-sense viral RNAs (vRNAs) are transcribed into positive sense complementary RNAs (cRNAs) and viral messenger RNAs (mRNAs) inside infected host cells. A role for the secondary structure of IAV mRNAs has been hypothesized and debated for many years, but knowledge on the structure mRNAs adopt in vivo is currently missing. Here we solve, for the first time, the in vivo secondary structure of IAV mRNAs in living infected cells. We demonstrate that, compared to the in vitro refolded structure, in vivo IAV mRNAs are less structured but exhibit specific locally stable elements. Moreover, we show that the targeted disruption of these high-confidence structured domains results in an extraordinary attenuation of IAV replicative capacity. Collectively, our data provide the first comprehensive map of the in vivo structural landscape of IAV mRNAs, hence providing the means for the development of new RNA-targeted antivirals.

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 5829
Author(s):  
Hao Lu ◽  
Xiaodan Li ◽  
Gaoyan Wang ◽  
Chenchen Wang ◽  
Jiajia Feng ◽  
...  

As an important zoonotic pathogen, Streptococcus suis (S. suis) infection has been reported to be a causative agent for variety of diseases in humans and animals, especially Streptococcal toxic shock-like syndrome (STSLS), which is commonly seen in cases of severe S. suis infection. STSLS is often accompanied by excessive production of inflammatory cytokines, which is the main cause of death. This calls for development of new strategies to avert the damage caused by STSLS. In this study, we found for the first time that Baicalein, combined with ampicillin, effectively improved severe S. suis infection. Further experiments demonstrated that baicalein significantly inhibited the hemolytic activity of SLY by directly binding to SLY and destroying its secondary structure. Cell-based assays revealed that Baicalein did not exert toxic effects and conferred protection in S. suis-infected cells. Interestingly, compared with ampicillin alone, Baicalein combined with ampicillin resulted in a higher survival rate in mice severely infected with S. suis. At the same time, we found that baicalein can be combined with meropenem against MRSA. In conclusion, these results indicate that baicalein has a good application prospect.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
María A. Duque-Correa ◽  
David Goulding ◽  
Claire Cormie ◽  
Catherine Sharpe ◽  
Judit Gali Moya ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTHundreds of millions of people are infected with whipworms (Trichuris trichiura), large metazoan parasites that live in the caecum and proximal colon. Whipworms inhabit distinct multi-intracellular epithelial burrows that have been described as syncytial tunnels. However, the interactions between first-stage (L1) larvae and the host epithelia that determine parasite invasion and establishment in the syncytium remain unclear. In vivo experiments investigating these events have been severely hampered by the limited in situ accessibility to intracellular infective larvae at the bottom of the crypts of Lieberkühn, and the lack of genetic tools such as fluorescent organisms that are readily available for other pathogens but not parasitic nematodes. Moreover, cell lines, which do not mimic the complexity of the intestinal epithelium, have been unsuccessful in supporting infection by whipworm larvae. Here, we show that caecaloids grown in an open crypt-like conformation recapitulate the caecal epithelium. Using this system, we establish in vitro infections with T. muris L1 larvae for the first-time, and provide clear evidence that syncytial tunnels are formed at this early stage. We show that larval whipworms are completely intracellular but woven through multiple cells. Using the caecaloids, we are able to visualise the pathways taken by the larvae as they burrow through the epithelial cells. We also demonstrate that larvae degrade the mucus layers overlaying the epithelium, enabling them to access the cells below. We show that early syncytial tunnels are composed of enterocytes and goblet cells that are alive and actively interacting with the larvae during the first 24 h of the infection. Progression of infection results in damage to host cells and by 72 h post-infection, we show that desmosomes of cells from infected epithelium widen and some host cells appear to become liquified. Collectively, our work unravels processes mediating the intestinal epithelium invasion by whipworms and reveals new specific interactions between the host and the parasite that allow the whipworm to establish on its multi-intracellular niche. Our study demonstrates that caecaloids can be used as a relevant in vitro model to investigate the infection biology of T. muris during the early colonisation of its host.


Viruses ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Augustino Alfred Chengula ◽  
Stephen Mutoloki ◽  
Øystein Evensen ◽  
Hetron Mweemba Munang’andu

Tilapia lake virus (TiLV) is a negative-sense single-stranded RNA (-ssRNA) icosahedral virus classified to be the only member in the family Amnoonviridae. Although TiLV segment-1 shares homology with the influenza C virus PB1 and has four conserved motifs similar to influenza A, B, and C polymerases, it is unknown whether there are other properties shared between TiLV and orthomyxovirus. In the present study, we wanted to determine whether TiLV agglutinated avian and piscine erythrocytes, and whether its replication was inhibited by lysosomotropic agents, such as ammonium chloride (NH4Cl), as seen for orthomyxoviruses. Our findings showed that influenza virus strain A/Puerto Rico/8 (PR8) was able to hemagglutinate turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L), and Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) red blood cells (RBCs), while infectious salmon anemia virus (ISAV) only agglutinated Atlantic salmon, but not turkey or tilapia, RBCs. In contrast to PR8 and ISAV, TiLV did not agglutinate turkey, Atlantic salmon, or tilapia RBCs. qRT-PCR analysis showed that 30 mM NH4Cl, a basic lysosomotropic agent, neither inhibited nor enhanced TiLV replication in E-11 cells. There was no difference in viral quantities in the infected cells with or without NH4Cl treatment during virus adsorption or at 1, 2, and 3 h post-infection. Given that hemagglutinin proteins that bind RBCs also serve as ligands that bind host cells during virus entry leading to endocytosis in orthomyxoviruses, the data presented here suggest that TiLV may use mechanisms that are different from orthomyxoviruses for entry and replication in host cells. Therefore, future studies should seek to elucidate the mechanisms used by TiLV for entry into host cells and to determine its mode of replication in infected cells.


2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (12) ◽  
pp. 6323-6331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxim Y. Balakirev ◽  
Michel Jaquinod ◽  
Arthur L. Haas ◽  
Jadwiga Chroboczek

ABSTRACT The invasion strategy of many viruses involves the synthesis of viral gene products that mimic the functions of the cellular proteins and thus interfere with the key cellular processes. Here we show that adenovirus infection is accompanied by an increased ubiquitin-cleaving (deubiquitinating) activity in the host cells. Affinity chromatography on ubiquitin aldehyde (Ubal), which was designed to identify the deubiquitinating proteases, revealed the presence of adenovirus L3 23K proteinase (Avp) in the eluate from adenovirus-infected cells. This proteinase is known to be necessary for the processing of viral precursor proteins during virion maturation. We show here that in vivo Avp deubiquitinates a number of cellular proteins. Analysis of the substrate specificity of Avp in vitro demonstrated that the protein deubiquitination by this enzyme could be as efficient as proteolytic processing of viral proteins. The structural model of the Ubal-Avp interaction revealed some similarity between S1-S4 substrate binding sites of Avp and ubiquitin hydrolases. These results may reflect the acquisition of an advantageous property by adenovirus and may indicate the importance of ubiquitin pathways in viral infection.


1988 ◽  
Vol 172 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luuk P. Duijn ◽  
Siger HOLSAPPEL ◽  
Marcelle KASPERAITIS ◽  
Hans BUNSCHOTEN ◽  
Danielle KONINGS ◽  
...  

Acta Naturae ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 20-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. P. Goncharova ◽  
Y. A. Kostyro ◽  
A. V. Ivanov ◽  
M. A. Zenkova

The development of novel drugs against the influenza virus with high efficiency and low toxicity is an urgent and important task. Previous reports have demonstrated that compounds based on sulfo derivatives of oligo- and polysaccharides possess high antiviral activity. In this study, we have examined the ability of a novel sulfonated derivative of -cyclodextrin (KS-6469) to inhibit the influenza virus A/WSN/33 (H1N1) infection in vitro and in vivo. The antiviral potential of KS-6469 against the influenza virus was evaluated in Madin-Darby Canine Kidney epithelial cells treated with serially diluted KS-6469. We found out that KS-6469 completely inhibited viral reproduction after treatment of the infected cells with the compound for 48 h. Our data show that double intranasal treatment of mice with KS-6469 fully protected the animals from a lethal infection and significantly decreased the viral titers in the lungs of the infected animals. Thus, the novel sulfonated -cyclodextrin derivative KS-6469 is a promising candidate for the development of antiviral drugs for preventing and treating the influenza infection.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 155076291989964
Author(s):  
Robert J. Evans ◽  
Simon A. Johnston

In our recent publication, we show for the first time that the fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans is able to manipulate host cells by producing eicosanoids that mimic those found in the host. Using complementary in vivo zebrafish and in vitro macrophage cell culture models of Cryptococcus infection, we found that these eicosanoids manipulate host innate immune cells by activating the host receptor PPAR-gamma which is an important regulator of macrophage inflammatory phenotypes. We initially identified PGE2 as the eicosanoid species responsible for this effect; however, we later found that a derivative of PGE2—15-keto-PGE2—was ultimately responsible and that this eicosanoid acted as a partial agonist to PPAR-gamma. In this commentary, we will discuss some of the concepts and conclusions in our original publication and expand on their implications and future directions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (22) ◽  
pp. 12436-12452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilaria Manfredonia ◽  
Chandran Nithin ◽  
Almudena Ponce-Salvatierra ◽  
Pritha Ghosh ◽  
Tomasz K Wirecki ◽  
...  

Abstract SARS-CoV-2 is a betacoronavirus with a linear single-stranded, positive-sense RNA genome, whose outbreak caused the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The ability of coronaviruses to rapidly evolve, adapt, and cross species barriers makes the development of effective and durable therapeutic strategies a challenging and urgent need. As for other RNA viruses, genomic RNA structures are expected to play crucial roles in several steps of the coronavirus replication cycle. Despite this, only a handful of functionally-conserved coronavirus structural RNA elements have been identified to date. Here, we performed RNA structure probing to obtain single-base resolution secondary structure maps of the full SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus genome both in vitro and in living infected cells. Probing data recapitulate the previously described coronavirus RNA elements (5′ UTR and s2m), and reveal new structures. Of these, ∼10.2% show significant covariation among SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses, hinting at their functionally-conserved role. Secondary structure-restrained 3D modeling of these segments further allowed for the identification of putative druggable pockets. In addition, we identify a set of single-stranded segments in vivo, showing high sequence conservation, suitable for the development of antisense oligonucleotide therapeutics. Collectively, our work lays the foundation for the development of innovative RNA-targeted therapeutic strategies to fight SARS-related infections.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qing Yu ◽  
Mengmeng Li ◽  
Mingzhu Liu ◽  
Shuaishuai Huang ◽  
Gaoxue Wang ◽  
...  

Largemouth bass virus (LMBV) is one of the most devastating viral pathogens in farmed Largemouth bass. Aptamers are novel molecule probes and have been widely applied in the field of efficient therapeutic and diagnostic agents development. LMBV-infected fathead minnow cells (LMBV-FHM) served as target cells in this study, and three DNA aptamers (LBVA1, LBVA2, and LBVA3) were generated against target cells by SELEX technology. The selected aptamers could specifically bind to LMBV-FHM cells, with rather high calculated dissociation constants (Kd) of 890.09, 517.22, and 249.31 nM for aptamers LBVA1, LBVA2, and LBVA3, respectively. Three aptamers displayed efficient antiviral activities in vitro. It indicates that the selected aptamers have great potentials in developing efficient anti-viruses treatments. The targets of aptamers LBVA1, LBVA2, and LBVA3 could be membrane proteins on host cells. The targets of aptamers (LBVA1, LBVA2, and LBVA3) come out on the cells surface at 8, 10, 8 h post-infection. As novel molecular probes for accurate recognition, aptamer LBVA3 could detect LMBV infection in vitro and in vivo, it indicates that the selected aptamers could be applied in the development of rapid detective technologies, which are characterized by high sensitivity, accuracy, and easy operation.


Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 525
Author(s):  
Paula Michalak ◽  
Julita Piasecka ◽  
Barbara Szutkowska ◽  
Ryszard Kierzek ◽  
Ewa Biala ◽  
...  

The functionality of RNA is fully dependent on its structure. For the influenza A virus (IAV), there are confirmed structural motifs mediating processes which are important for the viral replication cycle, including genome assembly and viral packaging. Although the RNA of strains originating from distant IAV subtypes might fold differently, some structural motifs are conserved, and thus, are functionally important. Nowadays, NGS-based structure modeling is a source of new in vivo data helping to understand RNA biology. However, for accurate modeling of in vivo RNA structures, these high-throughput methods should be supported with other analyses facilitating data interpretation. In vitro RNA structural models complement such approaches and offer RNA structures based on experimental data obtained in a simplified environment, which are needed for proper optimization and analysis. Herein, we present the secondary structure of the influenza A virus segment 5 vRNA of A/California/04/2009 (H1N1) strain, based on experimental data from DMS chemical mapping and SHAPE using NMIA, supported by base-pairing probability calculations and bioinformatic analyses. A comparison of the available vRNA5 structures among distant IAV strains revealed that a number of motifs present in the A/California/04/2009 (H1N1) vRNA5 model are highly conserved despite sequence differences, located within previously identified packaging signals, and the formation of which in in virio conditions has been confirmed. These results support functional roles of the RNA secondary structure motifs, which may serve as candidates for universal RNA-targeting inhibitory methods.


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