scholarly journals RNase L limits host and viral protein synthesis via inhibition of mRNA export

Author(s):  
James M. Burke ◽  
Alison R. Gilchrist ◽  
Sara L. Sawyer ◽  
Roy Parker

AbstractRNase L is widely thought to limit viral protein synthesis by cleaving host rRNA and viral mRNA, resulting in translation arrest and viral mRNA degradation. Herein, we show that the mRNAs of dengue virus and influenza A virus largely escape RNase L-mediated mRNA decay, and this permits viral protein production. However, activation of RNase L arrests nuclear mRNA export, which strongly inhibits influenza A virus protein synthesis and reduces cytokine production. Importantly, the heterogeneous and temporal nature of the mRNA export block in individual cells permits sufficient production of antiviral cytokines from transcriptionally induced host mRNAs. This defines RNase L-mediated arrest of mRNA export as a key antiviral shutoff and cytokine regulatory pathway.One Sentence SummaryRNase L-mediated shutoff of nuclear mRNA export limits viral protein synthesis and regulates antiviral cytokine production.

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (23) ◽  
pp. eabh2479
Author(s):  
James M. Burke ◽  
Alison R. Gilchrist ◽  
Sara L. Sawyer ◽  
Roy Parker

RNase L is widely thought to limit viral protein synthesis by cleaving host rRNA and viral mRNA, resulting in translation arrest and viral mRNA degradation. Here, we show that the mRNAs of dengue virus and influenza A virus largely escape RNase L–mediated mRNA decay, and this permits viral protein production. However, activation of RNase L arrests nuclear mRNA export, which strongly inhibits influenza A virus protein synthesis and reduces cytokine production. The heterogeneous and temporal nature of the mRNA export block in individual cells permits sufficient production of antiviral cytokines from transcriptionally induced host mRNAs. This defines RNase L–mediated arrest of mRNA export as a key antiviral shutoff and cytokine regulatory pathway.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick D. Slaine ◽  
Mariel Kleer ◽  
Nathan Smith ◽  
Denys A. Khaperskyy ◽  
Craig McCormick

ABSTRACTEukaryotic translation initiation factor 4A (eIF4A) is a helicase that facilitates assembly of the translation preinitiation complex by unwinding structured mRNA 5’ untranslated regions. Pateamine A (PatA) and silvestrol are natural products that disrupt eIF4A function and arrest translation, thereby triggering the formation of cytoplasmic aggregates of stalled preinitiation complexes known as stress granules (SGs). Here we examined the effects of eIF4A inhibition by PatA and silvestrol on influenza A virus (IAV) protein synthesis and replication in cell culture. Treatment of infected cells with either PatA or silvestrol at early times post-infection results in SG formation, arrest of viral protein synthesis and failure to replicate the viral genome. PatA, which irreversibly binds to eIF4A, sustained long-term blockade of IAV replication following drug withdrawal, and inhibited IAV replication at concentrations that had minimal cytotoxicity. By contrast, the antiviral effects of silvestrol were fully reversible; drug withdrawal caused rapid SG dissolution and resumption of viral protein synthesis. IAV inhibition by silvestrol was invariably associated with cytotoxicity. PatA blocked replication of genetically divergent IAV strains, suggesting common dependence on host eIF4A activity. This study demonstrates the feasibility of targeting core host protein synthesis machinery to prevent viral replication.IMPORTANCEInfluenza A virus (IAV) relies on cellular protein synthesis to decode viral messenger RNAs. Pateamine A and silvestrol are natural products that inactivate an essential protein synthesis protein known as eIF4A. Here we show that IAV is sensitive to these eIF4A inhibitor drugs. Treatment of infected cells with pateamine A or silvestrol prevented synthesis of viral proteins, viral genome replication and release of infectious virions. The irreversible eIF4A inhibitor pateamine A sustained long-term blockade of viral replication, whereas viral protein synthesis quickly resumed after silvestrol was removed from infected cells. Prolonged incubation of either infected or uninfected cells with these drugs induced the programmed cell death cascade called apoptosis. Our findings suggest that core components of the host protein synthesis machinery are viable targets for antiviral drug discovery. The most promising drug candidates should selectively block protein synthesis in infected cells without perturbing bystander uninfected cells.


2019 ◽  
Vol 93 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
GuanQun Liu ◽  
Yao Lu ◽  
Qiang Liu ◽  
Yan Zhou

ABSTRACTPattern recognition receptors provide essential nonself immune surveillance within distinct cellular compartments. Retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I) is one of the primary cytosolic RNA sensors, with an emerging role in the nucleus. It is involved in the spatiotemporal sensing of influenza A virus (IAV) replication, leading to the induction of type I interferons (IFNs). Nonetheless, the physiological viral ligands activating RIG-I during IAV infection remain underexplored. Other than full-length viral genomes, cellular constraints that impede ongoing viral replication likely potentiate an erroneous viral polymerase generating aberrant viral RNA species with RIG-I-activating potential. Here, we investigate the origins of RIG-I-activating viral RNA under two such constraints. Using chemical inhibitors that inhibit continuous viral protein synthesis, we identify the incoming, but notde novo-synthesized, viral defective interfering (DI) genomes contributing to RIG-I activation. In comparison, deprivation of viral nucleoprotein (NP), the key RNA chain elongation factor for the viral polymerase, leads to the production of aberrant viral RNA species activating RIG-I; however, their nature is likely to be distinct from that of DI RNA. Moreover, RIG-I activation in response to NP deprivation is not adversely affected by expression of the nuclear export protein (NEP), which diminishes the generation of a major subset of aberrant viral RNA but facilitates the accumulation of small viral RNA (svRNA). Overall, our results indicate the existence of fundamentally different mechanisms of RIG-I activation under cellular constraints that impede ongoing IAV replication.IMPORTANCEThe induction of an IFN response by IAV is mainly mediated by the RNA sensor RIG-I. The physiological RIG-I ligands produced during IAV infection are not fully elucidated. Cellular constraints leading to the inhibition of ongoing viral replication likely potentiate an erroneous viral polymerase producing aberrant viral RNA species activating RIG-I. Here, we demonstrate that RIG-I activation during chemical inhibition of continuous viral protein synthesis is attributable to the incoming DI genomes. Erroneous viral replication driven by NP deprivation promotes the generation of RIG-I-activating aberrant viral RNA, but their nature is likely to be distinct from that of DI RNA. Our results thus reveal distinct mechanisms of RIG-I activation by IAV under cellular constraints impeding ongoing viral replication. A better understanding of RIG-I sensing of IAV infection provides insight into the development of novel interventions to combat influenza virus infection.


2017 ◽  
Vol 92 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aartjan J. W. te Velthuis ◽  
Judith Oymans

ABSTRACT The RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of the influenza A virus replicates and transcribes the viral genome segments in the nucleus of the host cell. To transcribe these viral genome segments, the RdRp “snatches” capped RNA oligonucleotides from nascent host cell mRNAs and aligns these primers to the ultimate or penultimate nucleotide of the segments for the initiation of viral mRNA synthesis. It has been proposed that this initiation process is not processive and that the RdRp uses a prime-realign mechanism during transcription. Here we provide in vitro evidence for the existence of this transcriptional prime-realign mechanism but show that it functions efficiently only for primers that are short or cannot stably base pair with the template. In addition, we demonstrate that transcriptional elongation is dependent on the priming loop of the PB1 subunit of the RdRp. We propose that the prime-realign mechanism may be used to rescue abortive transcription initiation events or cope with sequence variation among primers. Overall, these observations advance our mechanistic understanding of how influenza A virus initiates transcription correctly and efficiently. IMPORTANCE Influenza A virus causes severe disease in humans and is considered a major global health threat. The virus replicates and transcribes its genome by using an enzyme called the RNA polymerase. To ensure that the genome is amplified faithfully and abundant viral mRNAs are made for viral protein synthesis, the viral RNA polymerase must transcribe the viral genome efficiently. In this report, we characterize a structure inside the polymerase that contributes to the efficiency of viral mRNA synthesis.


2016 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiannan Tang ◽  
Xinlu Wang ◽  
Guangxia Gao

ABSTRACT Zinc finger antiviral protein (ZAP) is a host factor that specifically inhibits the replication of certain viruses. There are two ZAP isoforms arising from alternative splicing, which differ only at the C termini. It was recently reported that the long isoform (ZAPL) promotes proteasomal degradation of influenza A virus (IAV) proteins PA and PB2 through the C-terminal poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) domain, which is missing in the short form (ZAPS), and that this antiviral activity is antagonized by the viral protein PB1. Here, we report that ZAP inhibits IAV protein expression in a PARP domain-independent manner. Overexpression of ZAPS inhibited the expression of PA, PB2, and neuraminidase (NA), and downregulation of the endogenous ZAPS enhanced their expression. We show that ZAPS inhibited PB2 protein expression by reducing the encoding viral mRNA levels and repressing its translation. However, downregulation of ZAPS only modestly enhanced the early stage of viral replication. We provide evidence showing that the antiviral activity of ZAPS is antagonized by the viral protein NS1. A recombinant IAV carrying an NS1 mutant that lost the ZAPS-antagonizing activity replicated better in ZAPS-deficient cells. We further provide evidence suggesting that NS1 antagonizes ZAPS by inhibiting its binding to target mRNA. These results uncover a distinct mechanism underlying the interactions between ZAP and IAV. IMPORTANCE ZAP is a host antiviral factor that has been extensively reported to inhibit the replication of certain viruses by repressing the translation and promoting the degradation of the viral mRNAs. There are two ZAP isoforms, ZAPL and ZAPS. ZAPL was recently reported to promote IAV protein degradation through the PARP domain. Whether ZAPS, which lacks the PARP domain, inhibits IAV and the underlying mechanisms remained to be determined. Here, we show that ZAPS posttranscriptionally inhibits IAV protein expression. This antiviral activity of ZAP is antagonized by the viral protein NS1. The fact that ZAP uses two distinct mechanisms to inhibit IAV infection and that the virus evolved different antagonists suggests an important role of ZAP in the host effort to control IAV infection and the importance of the threat of ZAP to the virus. The results reported here help us to comprehensively understand the interactions between ZAP and IAV.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boris Bogdanow ◽  
Katrin Eichelbaum ◽  
Anne Sadewasser ◽  
Xi Wang ◽  
Immanuel Husic ◽  
...  

SUMMARYA century ago, influenza A virus (IAV) infection caused the 1918 flu pandemic and killed an estimated 20-40 million people. Pandemic IAV outbreaks occur when strains from animal reservoirs acquire the ability to infect and spread among humans. The molecular details of this species barrier are incompletely understood. We combined metabolic pulse labeling and quantitative shotgun proteomics to globally monitor protein synthesis upon infection of human cells with a human-and a bird-adapted IAV strain. While production of host proteins was remarkably similar, we observed striking differences in the kinetics of viral protein synthesis over the course of infection. Most importantly, the matrix protein M1 was inefficiently produced by the bird-adapted strain at later stages. We show that impaired production of M1 from bird-adapted strains is caused by increased splicing of the M segment RNA to alternative isoforms. Experiments with reporter constructs and recombinant influenza viruses revealed that strain-specific M segment splicing is controlled by the 3’ splice site and functionally important for permissive infection. Independentin silicoevidence shows that avian-adapted M segments have evolved different conserved RNA structure features than human-adapted sequences. Thus, our data identifies M segment RNA splicing as a viral determinant of host range.


Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 119
Author(s):  
Eric S. Pringle ◽  
Craig McCormick

Herpesvirus genomes are decoded by host RNA polymerase enzymes, generating messenger ribonucleotides (mRNA) that are post-transcriptionally modified and exported to the cytoplasm through the combined work of host and viral factors. These viral mRNA bear 5′-m7GTP caps and poly(A) tails that should permit the assembly of canonical host eIF4F cap-binding complexes to initiate protein synthesis. However, the precise mechanisms of translation initiation remain to be investigated for Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) and other herpesviruses. During KSHV lytic replication in lymphoid cells, the activation of caspases leads to the cleavage of eIF4G and depletion of eIF4F. Translating mRNPs depleted of eIF4F retain viral mRNA, suggesting that non-eIF4F translation initiation is sufficient to support viral protein synthesis. To identify proteins required to support viral protein synthesis, we isolated and characterized actively translating messenger ribonucleoprotein (mRNP) complexes by ultracentrifugation and sucrose-gradient fractionation followed by quantitative mass spectrometry. The abundance of host translation initiation factors available to initiate viral protein synthesis were comparable between cells undergoing KSHV lytic or latent replication. The translation initiation factors eIF4E2, NCBP1, eIF4G2, and eIF3d were detected in association with actively translating mRNP complexes during KSHV lytic replication, but their depletion by RNA silencing did not affect virion production. By contrast, the N6-methyladenosine methyltransferase METTL3 was required for optimal late gene expression and virion production, but was dispensable for genome replication. Furthermore, we detected several KSHV proteins in actively translating mRNP complexes that had not previously been shown to play roles in viral protein synthesis. We conclude that KSHV usurps distinct host translation initiation systems during latent and lytic phases of infection.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Boris Bogdanow ◽  
Xi Wang ◽  
Katrin Eichelbaum ◽  
Anne Sadewasser ◽  
Immanuel Husic ◽  
...  

AbstractPandemic influenza A virus (IAV) outbreaks occur when strains from animal reservoirs acquire the ability to infect and spread among humans. The molecular basis of this species barrier is incompletely understood. Here we combine metabolic pulse labeling and quantitative proteomics to monitor protein synthesis upon infection of human cells with a human- and a bird-adapted IAV strain and observe striking differences in viral protein synthesis. Most importantly, the matrix protein M1 is inefficiently produced by the bird-adapted strain. We show that impaired production of M1 from bird-adapted strains is caused by increased splicing of the M segment RNA to alternative isoforms. Strain-specific M segment splicing is controlled by the 3′ splice site and functionally important for permissive infection. In silico and biochemical evidence shows that avian-adapted M segments have evolved different conserved RNA structure features than human-adapted sequences. Thus, we identify M segment RNA splicing as a viral host range determinant.


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