Several protein regions contribute to determine the nuclear and cytoplasmic localization of the influenza A virus nucleoprotein

Microbiology ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosario Bullido ◽  
Paulino Gómez-Puertas ◽  
Carmen Albo ◽  
Agustín Portela

A systematic analysis was carried out to identify the amino acid signals that regulate the nucleo-cytoplasmic transport of the influenza A virus nucleoprotein (NP). The analysis involved determining the intracellular localization of eight deleted recombinant NP proteins and 14 chimeric proteins containing the green fluorescent protein fused to different NP fragments. In addition, the subcellular distribution of NP derivatives that contained specific substitutions at serine-3, which is the major phosphorylation site of the A/Victoria/3/75 NP, were analysed. From the results obtained, it is concluded that the NP contains three signals involved in nuclear accumulation and two regions that cause cytoplasmic accumulation of the fusion proteins. One of the karyophilic signals was located at the N terminus of the protein, and the data obtained suggest that the functionality of this signal can be modified by phosphorylation at serine-3. These findings are discussed in the context of the transport of influenza virus ribonucleoprotein complexes into and out of the nucleus.

2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (6) ◽  
pp. 3083-3088 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyoko Shinya ◽  
Yutaka Fujii ◽  
Hiroshi Ito ◽  
Toshihiro Ito ◽  
Yoshihiro Kawaoka

ABSTRACT We recently identified a packaging signal in the neuraminidase (NA) viral RNA (vRNA) segment of an influenza A virus, allowing us to produce a mutant virus [GFP(NA)-Flu] that lacks most of the NA open reading frame but contains instead the gene encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP). To exploit the expanding knowledge of vRNA packaging signals to establish influenza virus vectors for the expression of foreign genes, we studied the replicative properties of this virus in cell culture and mice. Compared to wild-type virus, GFP(NA)-Flu was highly attenuated in normal cultured cells but was able to grow to a titer of >106 PFU/ml in a mutant cell line expressing reduced levels of sialic acid on the cell surface. GFP expression from this virus was stable even after five passages in the latter cells. In intranasally infected mice, GFP was detected in the epithelial cells of nasal mucosa, bronchioles, and alveoli for up to 4 days postinfection. We attribute the attenuated growth of GFP(NA)-Flu to virion aggregation at the surface of bronchiolar epithelia. In studies to test the potential of this mutant as a live attenuated influenza vaccine, all mice vaccinated with ≥105 PFU of GFP(NA)-Flu survived when challenged with lethal doses of the parent virus. These results suggest that influenza virus could be a useful vector for expressing foreign genes and that a sialidase-deficient virus may offer an alternative to the live influenza vaccines recently approved for human use.


Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (19) ◽  
pp. 4387
Author(s):  
Eun Bin Kwon ◽  
Hye Jin Yang ◽  
Jang-Gi Choi ◽  
Wei Li

To identify new potential anti-influenza compounds, we isolated six flavonoids, 2′-hydroxyl yokovanol (1), 2′-hydroxyl neophellamuretin (2), yokovanol (3), swertisin (4), spinosin (5), and 7-methyl-apigenin-6-C-β-glucopyranosyl 2″-O-β-d-xylopyranoside (6) from MeOH extractions of Ohwia caudata. We screened these compounds for antiviral activity using green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing H1N1 (A/PR/8/34) influenza A-infected RAW 264.7 cells. Compounds 1 and 3 exhibited significant inhibitory effects against influenza A viral infection in co-treatment conditions. In addition, compounds 1 and 3 reduced viral protein levels, including M1, M2, HA, and neuraminidase (NA), and suppressed neuraminidase (NA) activity in RAW 264.7 cells. These findings demonstrated that 2′-hydroxyl yokovanol and yokovanol, isolated from O. caudate, inhibit influenza A virus by suppressing NA activity. The moderate inhibitory activities of these flavonoids against influenza A virus suggest that they may be developed as novel anti-influenza drugs in the future.


2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (17) ◽  
pp. 9144-9153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ervin Fodor ◽  
Matt Smith

ABSTRACT The RNA genome of influenza virus is transcribed and replicated by the viral RNA polymerase complex in the cell nucleus. We have generated green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged polymerase subunits to study the assembly of the polymerase complex. Our results show that individually expressed polymerase basic protein 1 (PB1) and polymerase acidic protein (PA) subunits were distributed in both the cytoplasm and the nucleus, while the polymerase basic protein 2 (PB2) subunit accumulated in the nucleus. Although it has been reported that PB1 alone accumulates in the nucleus, we demonstrate that PB1 requires the coexpression of PA for efficient nuclear accumulation. Our results support a model which proposes that PB1 and PA are transported into the nucleus as a complex.


2015 ◽  
Vol 308 (3) ◽  
pp. L270-L286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Behzad Yeganeh ◽  
Saeid Ghavami ◽  
Andrea L. Kroeker ◽  
Thomas H. Mahood ◽  
Gerald L. Stelmack ◽  
...  

Subcellular trafficking within host cells plays a critical role in viral life cycles, including influenza A virus (IAV). Thus targeting relevant subcellular compartments holds promise for effective intervention to control the impact of influenza infection. Bafilomycin A1(Baf-A1), when used at relative high concentrations (≥10 nM), inhibits vacuolar ATPase (V-ATPase) and reduces endosome acidification and lysosome number, thus inhibiting IAV replication but promoting host cell cytotoxicity. We tested the hypothesis that much lower doses of Baf-A1also have anti-IAV activity, but without toxic effects. Thus we assessed the antiviral activity of Baf-A1at different concentrations (0.1–100 nM) in human alveolar epithelial cells (A549) infected with IAV strain A/PR/8/34 virus (H1N1). Infected and mock-infected cells pre- and cotreated with Baf-A1were harvested 0–24 h postinfection and analyzed by immunoblotting, immunofluorescence, and confocal and electron microscopy. We found that Baf-A1had disparate concentration-dependent effects on subcellular organelles and suppressed affected IAV replication. At concentrations ≥10 nM Baf-A1inhibited acid lysosome formation, which resulted in greatly reduced IAV replication and release. Notably, at a very low concentration of 0.1 nM that is insufficient to reduce lysosome number, Baf-A1retained the capacity to significantly impair IAV nuclear accumulation as well as IAV replication and release. In contrast to the effects of high concentrations of Baf-A1, very low concentrations did not exhibit cytotoxic effects or induce apoptotic cell death, based on morphological and FACS analyses. In conclusion, our results reveal that low-concentration Baf-A1is an effective inhibitor of IAV replication, without impacting host cell viability.


Molecules ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (12) ◽  
pp. 3315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ling Luo ◽  
Weili Han ◽  
Jinyan Du ◽  
Xia Yang ◽  
Mubing Duan ◽  
...  

Influenza A virus (IAV) infection is still a major global threat for humans, especially for the risk groups: young children and the elderly. The currently licensed antiviral drugs target viral factors and are prone to viral resistance. In recent years, a few endogenous small molecules from host, such as estradiol and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)-derived lipid mediator protection D1 (PD1), were demonstrated to be capable of inhibiting IAV infection. Chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), one of the main primary bile acids, is synthesized from cholesterol in the liver and classically functions in emulsification and absorption of dietary fats. Clinically, CDCA has been used in the treatment of patients with cholesterol gallstones for more than five decades. In this study, we showed that CDCA attenuated the replication of three subtypes of influenza A virus, including a highly pathogenic H5N1 strain, in A549 and MDCK cell cultures with IC50 ranging from 5.5 to 11.5 μM. Mechanistically, CDCA effectively restrained the nuclear export of viral ribonucleoprotein (vRNP) complexes. In conclusion, as an endogenous physiological small molecule, CDCA can inhibit IAV replication in vitro, at least in part, by blocking vRNP nuclear export, and affords further studies for development as a potential antiviral agent against IAV infections.


2006 ◽  
Vol 80 (5) ◽  
pp. 2318-2325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yukiko Muramoto ◽  
Ayato Takada ◽  
Ken Fujii ◽  
Takeshi Noda ◽  
Kiyoko Iwatsuki-Horimoto ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The genome of influenza A viruses comprises eight negative-strand RNA segments. Although all eight segments must be present in cells for efficient viral replication, the mechanism(s) by which these viral RNA (vRNA) segments are incorporated into virions is not fully understood. We recently found that sequences at both ends of the coding regions of the HA, NA, and NS vRNA segments of A/WSN/33 play important roles in the incorporation of these vRNAs into virions. In order to similarly identify the regions of the PB2, PB1, and PA vRNAs of this strain that are critical for their incorporation, we generated a series of mutant vRNAs that possessed the green fluorescent protein gene flanked by portions of the coding and noncoding regions of the respective segments. For all three polymerase segments, deletions at the ends of their coding regions decreased their virion incorporation efficiencies. More importantly, these regions not only affected the incorporation of the segment in which they reside, but were also important for the incorporation of other segments. This effect was most prominent with the PB2 vRNA. These findings suggest a hierarchy among vRNA segments for virion incorporation and may imply intersegment association of vRNAs during virus assembly.


2003 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 975-987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Odile Filhol ◽  
Arsenio Nueda ◽  
Véronique Martel ◽  
Delphine Gerber-Scokaert ◽  
Maria José Benitez ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Protein kinase CK2 is a multifunctional enzyme which has long been described as a stable heterotetrameric complex resulting from the association of two catalytic (α or α′) and two regulatory (β) subunits. To track the spatiotemporal dynamics of CK2 in living cells, we fused its catalytic α and regulatory β subunits with green fluorescent protein (GFP). Both CK2 subunits contain nuclear localization domains that target them independently to the nucleus. Imaging of stable cell lines expressing low levels of GFP-CK2α or GFP-CK2β revealed the existence of CK2 subunit subpopulations exhibiting differential dynamics. Once in the nucleus, they diffuse randomly at different rates. Unlike CK2β, CK2α can shuttle, showing the dynamic nature of the nucleocytoplasmic trafficking of the kinase. When microinjected in the cytoplasm, the isolated CK2 subunits are rapidly translocated into the nucleus, whereas the holoenzyme complex remains in this cell compartment, suggesting an intramolecular masking of the nuclear localization sequences that suppresses nuclear accumulation. However, binding of FGF-2 to the holoenzyme triggers its nuclear translocation. Since the substrate specificity of CK2α is dramatically changed by its association with CK2β, the control of the nucleocytoplasmic distribution of each subunit may represent a unique potential regulatory mechanism for CK2 activity.


1999 ◽  
Vol 112 (4) ◽  
pp. 537-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Blum ◽  
F. Pfeiffer ◽  
P. Feick ◽  
W. Nastainczyk ◽  
B. Kohler ◽  
...  

Recently, p24A and p23 (also termed Tmp21), two members of the p24 protein family, have been proposed to function as integral receptors for the COPI-vesicle coat. This study describes the intracellular localization and trafficking of p24A in comparison to p23. For immunolocalization of p24A and p23, strong reduction and denaturation conditions were necessary to allow antibody interaction. Both p24A and p23 cycle continuously between intermediate compartment (IC) elements and the cis-Golgi network. In vivo trafficking of p24A and p23 tagged to green fluorescent protein (GFP) revealed that both proteins travel by large (up to 1 micrometer in length) microtubule-dependent pre-Golgi carriers with a maximum speed of up to 1.6 micrometer s-1 from the IC to the Golgi cisternae. Aluminum fluoride, a general activator of heterotrimeric G-proteins, blocked peripheral pre-Golgi movements of GFP-p24A/p23 and inhibited fluorescence recovery after photobleaching in the perinuclear Golgi area. p24A and p23 are predominantly colocalized. Overexpression of GFP-p24A, to an extent which did not destroy the Golgi complex, induced delocalization of part of the proteins into ER elements. This study therefore gives new insights into the localization and trafficking behavior of the two COPI-binding proteins p24A and p23.


2019 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Su Hui Catherine Teo ◽  
Jian-Ping Wu ◽  
Chee-Keng Mok ◽  
Yee-Joo Tan

Abstract The non-structural protein 1 (NS1) of influenza A virus (IAV) is a multifunctional protein that antagonizes host antiviral responses, modulating virus pathogenesis. As such, it serves as a good target for research and diagnostic assay development. In this study, we have generated a novel monoclonal antibody (mAb) 19H9 and epitope mapping revealed that two residues, P85 and Y89, of NS1 are essential for interacting with this mAb. Furthermore, residues P85 and Y89 are found to be highly conserved across different IAV subtypes, namely seasonal H1N1 and H3N2, as well as the highly pathogenic H5N1 and H5N6 avian strains. Indeed, mAb 19H9 exhibits broad cross-reactivity with IAV strains of different subtypes. The binding of mAb 19H9 to residue Y89 was further confirmed by the abrogation of interaction between NS1 and p85β. Additionally, mAb 19H9 also detected NS1 proteins expressed in IAV-infected cells, showing NS1 intracellular localization in the cytoplasm and nucleolus. To our knowledge, mAb 19H9 is the first murine mAb to bind at the juxtaposition between the N-terminal RNA-binding domain and C-terminal effector domain of NS1. It could serve as a useful research tool for studying the conformational plasticity and dynamic changes in NS1.


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