scholarly journals Revealing the host antiviral protein ZAP-S as an inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 programmed ribosomal frameshifting

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Michael Zimmer ◽  
Anuja Nitin Kibe ◽  
Ulfert Rand ◽  
Lukas Pekarek ◽  
Luca Cicin-Sain ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Specific Inhibitor ◽  
Antiviral Protein ◽  
Ribosomal Frameshifting ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Rna Molecules ◽  
Cellular Factors ◽  
Infected Cells

Programmed ribosomal frameshifting (PRF) is a fundamental gene expression event in many viruses including SARS-CoV-2, which allows production of essential structural and replicative enzymes from an alternative reading frame. Despite the importance of PRF for the viral life cycle, it is still largely unknown how and to what extent cellular factors alter mechanical properties of frameshifting RNA molecules and thereby impact virulence. This prompted us to comprehensively dissect the interplay between the host proteome and the SARS-CoV-2 frameshift element. Here, we reveal that zinc-finger antiviral protein (ZAP-S) is a direct and specific regulator of PRF in SARS-CoV-2 infected cells. ZAP-S overexpression strongly impairs frameshifting and viral replication. Using in vitro ensemble and single-molecule techniques, we further demonstrate that ZAP-S directly interacts with the SARS-CoV-2 RNA and ribosomes and interferes with the folding of the frameshift RNA. Together these data illuminate ZAP-S as de novo host-encoded specific inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 frameshifting and expand our understanding of RNA-based gene regulation.

scholarly journals Revealing the host antiviral protein ZAP-S as an inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 programmed ribosomal frameshifting

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Zimmer ◽  
Anuja Kibe ◽  
Ulfert Rand ◽  
Lukas Pekarek ◽  
Luka Cicin-Sain ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Specific Inhibitor ◽  
Antiviral Protein ◽  
Ribosomal Frameshifting ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Rna Molecules ◽  
Cellular Factors ◽  
Infected Cells

Abstract Programmed ribosomal frameshifting (PRF) is a fundamental gene expression event in many viruses including SARS-CoV-2, which allows production of essential structural and replicative enzymes from an alternative reading frame. Despite the importance of PRF for the viral life cycle, it is still largely unknown how and to what extent cellular factors alter mechanical properties of frameshifting RNA molecules and thereby impact virulence. This prompted us to comprehensively dissect the interplay between the host proteome and the SARS-CoV-2 frameshift element. Here, we reveal that zinc-finger antiviral protein (ZAP-S) is a direct and specific regulator of PRF in SARS-CoV-2 infected cells. ZAP-S overexpression strongly impairs frameshifting and viral replication. Using in vitro ensemble and single-molecule techniques, we further demonstrate that ZAP-S directly interacts with the SARS-CoV-2 RNA and ribosomes and interferes with the folding of the frameshift RNA. Together these data illuminate ZAP-S as de novo host-encoded specific inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 frameshifting and expand our understanding of RNA-based gene regulation.

scholarly journals The short isoform of the host antiviral protein ZAP acts as an inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 programmed ribosomal frameshifting

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias M. Zimmer ◽  
Anuja Kibe ◽  
Ulfert Rand ◽  
Lukas Pekarek ◽  
Liqing Ye ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Antiviral Protein ◽  
Ribosomal Frameshifting ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Cellular Factors ◽  
Infected Cells ◽  
Direct Regulator ◽  
Alternative Reading

AbstractProgrammed ribosomal frameshifting (PRF) is a fundamental gene expression event in many viruses, including SARS-CoV-2. It allows production of essential viral, structural and replicative enzymes that are encoded in an alternative reading frame. Despite the importance of PRF for the viral life cycle, it is still largely unknown how and to what extent cellular factors alter mechanical properties of frameshift elements and thereby impact virulence. This prompted us to comprehensively dissect the interplay between the SARS-CoV-2 frameshift element and the host proteome. We reveal that the short isoform of the zinc-finger antiviral protein (ZAP-S) is a direct regulator of PRF in SARS-CoV-2 infected cells. ZAP-S overexpression strongly impairs frameshifting and inhibits viral replication. Using in vitro ensemble and single-molecule techniques, we further demonstrate that ZAP-S directly interacts with the SARS-CoV-2 RNA and interferes with the folding of the frameshift RNA element. Together, these data identify ZAP-S as a host-encoded inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 frameshifting and expand our understanding of RNA-based gene regulation.

scholarly journals The energy landscape of −1 ribosomal frameshifting

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. eaax6969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junhong Choi ◽  
Sinéad O’Loughlin ◽  
John F. Atkins ◽  
Joseph D. Puglisi
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Messenger Rna ◽  
Information Transfer ◽  
Mechanistic Model ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Coding Region ◽  
Ribosomal Frameshifting ◽  
Reading Frame

Maintenance of translational reading frame ensures the fidelity of information transfer during protein synthesis. Yet, programmed ribosomal frameshifting sequences within the coding region promote a high rate of reading frame change at predetermined sites thus enriching genomic information density. Frameshifting is typically stimulated by the presence of 3′ messenger RNA (mRNA) structures, but how these mRNA structures enhance −1 frameshifting remains debatable. Here, we apply single-molecule and ensemble approaches to formulate a mechanistic model of ribosomal −1 frameshifting. Our model suggests that the ribosome is intrinsically susceptible to frameshift before its translocation and this transient state is prolonged by the presence of a precisely positioned downstream mRNA structure. We challenged this model using temperature variation in vivo, which followed the prediction made based on in vitro results. Our results provide a quantitative framework for analyzing other frameshifting enhancers and a potential approach to control gene expression dynamically using programmed frameshifting.

scholarly journals Isolation of Enzymatically Active Replication Complexes from Feline Calicivirus-Infected Cells

2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (17) ◽  
pp. 8582-8595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Y. Green ◽  
Aaron Mory ◽  
Mark H. Fogg ◽  
Andrea Weisberg ◽  
Gaël Belliot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Feline Calicivirus ◽  
Structural Protein ◽  
Nonstructural Proteins ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Rna Molecules ◽  
Minor Structural Protein ◽  
Infected Cells ◽  
Positive Strand Rna ◽  
A Minor

ABSTRACT A membranous fraction that could synthesize viral RNA in vitro in the presence of magnesium salt, ribonucleotides, and an ATP-regenerating system was isolated from feline calicivirus (FCV)-infected cells. The enzymatically active component of this fraction was designated FCV replication complexes (RCs), by analogy to other positive-strand RNA viruses. The newly synthesized RNA was characterized by Northern blot analysis, which demonstrated the production of both full-length (8.0-kb) and subgenomic-length (2.5-kb) RNA molecules similar to those synthesized in FCV-infected cells. The identity of the viral proteins associated with the fraction was investigated. The 60-kDa VP1 major capsid protein was the most abundant viral protein detected. VP2, a minor structural protein encoded by open reading frame 3 (ORF3), was also present. Nonstructural proteins associated with the fraction included the precursor polypeptides Pro-Pol (76 kDa) and p30-VPg (43 kDa), as well as the mature nonstructural proteins p32 (derived from the N-terminal region of the ORF1 polyprotein), p30 (the putative “3A-like” protein), and p39 (the putative nucleoside triphosphatase). The isolation of enzymatically active RCs containing both viral and cellular proteins should facilitate efforts to dissect the contributions of the virus and the host to FCV RNA replication.

scholarly journals Overexpression of quality control proteins reduces prion conversion in prion-infected cells

2018 ◽  
Vol 293 (41) ◽  
pp. 16069-16082 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simrika Thapa ◽  
Basant Abdulrahman ◽  
Dalia H. Abdelaziz ◽  
Li Lu ◽  
Manel Ben Aissa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Prion Diseases ◽  
Neuroblastoma Cells ◽  
Cellular Prion Protein ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Cellular Mechanisms ◽  
Prion Propagation ◽  
Infected Cells

Prion diseases are fatal infectious neurodegenerative disorders in humans and other animals and are caused by misfolding of the cellular prion protein (PrPC) into the pathological isoform PrPSc. These diseases have the potential to transmit within or between species, including zoonotic transmission to humans. Elucidating the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying prion propagation and transmission is therefore critical for developing molecular strategies for disease intervention. We have shown previously that impaired quality control mechanisms directly influence prion propagation. In this study, we manipulated cellular quality control pathways in vitro by stably and transiently overexpressing selected quality control folding (ERp57) and cargo (VIP36) proteins and investigated the effects of this overexpression on prion propagation. We found that ERp57 or VIP36 overexpression in persistently prion-infected neuroblastoma cells significantly reduces the amount of PrPSc in immunoblots and prion-seeding activity in the real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assay. Using different cell lines infected with various prion strains confirmed that this effect is not cell type– or prion strain–specific. Moreover, de novo prion infection revealed that the overexpression significantly reduced newly formed PrPSc in acutely infected cells. ERp57-overexpressing cells significantly overcame endoplasmic reticulum stress, as revealed by expression of lower levels of the stress markers BiP and CHOP, accompanied by a decrease in PrP aggregates. Furthermore, application of ERp57-expressing lentiviruses prolonged the survival of prion-infected mice. Taken together, improved cellular quality control via ERp57 or VIP36 overexpression impairs prion propagation and could be utilized as a potential therapeutic strategy.

scholarly journals Fatal Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus Infection of Two Young Asian Elephants

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selvaraj Pavulraj ◽  
Kathrin Eschke ◽  
Adriane Prahl ◽  
Michael Flügger ◽  
Jakob Trimpert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genome Sequence ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Asian Elephants ◽  
Dense Bodies ◽  
Viral Particles ◽  
Infected Cells ◽  
Haemorrhagic Disease ◽  
Generation Sequencing

Elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV) can cause a devastating haemorrhagic disease in young Asian elephants worldwide. Here, we report the death of two young Asian elephants after suffering from acute haemorrhagic disease due to EEHV-1A infection. We detected widespread distribution of EEHV-1A in various organs and tissues of the infected elephants. Enveloped viral particles accumulated within and around cytoplasmic electron-dense bodies in hepatic endothelial cells were detected. Attempts to isolate the virus on different cell cultures showed limited virus replication; however, late viral protein expression was detected in infected cells. We further showed that glycoprotein B (gB) of EEHV-1A possesses a conserved cleavage site Arg-X-Lys/Arg-Arg that is targeted by the cellular protease furin, similar to other members of the Herpesviridae. We have determined the complete 180 kb genome sequence of EEHV-1A isolated from the liver by next-generation sequencing and de novo assembly. As virus isolation in vitro has been unsuccessful and limited information is available regarding the function of viral proteins, we have attempted to take the initial steps in the development of suitable cell culture system and virus characterization. In addition, the complete genome sequence of an EEHV-1A in Europe will facilitate future studies on the epidemiology and diagnosis of EEHV infection in elephants.

Involvement of the sphingolipid ceramide in heat-shock-induced apoptosis of bovine oocytes

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 876 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorit Kalo ◽  
Zvi Roth
Keyword(s):  
Heat Shock ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Specific Inhibitor ◽  
Annexin V ◽  
Developmental Competence ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Cleavage Rate ◽  
Oocyte Developmental Competence ◽  
Induced Apoptosis

Programmed cell death via the sphingomyelin pathway has been suggested to underlie heat-shock disturbance of oocyte developmental competence. A series of experiments were performed to characterise the role of the sphingolipid ceramide in heat-shock-induced apoptosis, and to determine whether ceramide formation can be regulated. Bovine cumulus–oocyte complexes (COCs) were aspirated from ovaries collected in the cold season (November–April), in vitro-matured, fertilised and cultured for 8 days. Exposure of COCs to heat shock (41°C) during maturation reduced cleavage rate and blastocyst formation relative to the control group (38.5°C). Annexin-V binding (V-FITC assay), which is associated with the early apoptotic event of membrane phosphatidylserine turnover, was higher in oocytes exposed to short-term versus long-term heat shock, suggesting that heat-shock-induced apoptosis involves membrane alterations. Similar to heat exposure, oocyte maturation with C2-ceramide had a dose-dependent deleterious effect on the first cleavages and subsequent embryonic development in association with increased annexin-V binding. Blocking endogenous ceramide generation with fumonisin B1, a specific inhibitor of dihydroceramide synthase (i.e. de novo formation), moderated, to some extent, the effects of heat shock on oocyte developmental competence, suggesting that ceramide plays an important role in heat-shock-induced apoptosis.

scholarly journals Specific Ablation of Antiviral Gene Expression in Macrophages by Antibody-Dependent Enhancement of Ross River Virus Infection

2000 ◽  
Vol 74 (18) ◽  
pp. 8376-8381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett A. Lidbury ◽  
Surendran Mahalingam
Keyword(s):  
De Novo ◽  
Viral Disease ◽  
Ross River Virus ◽  
Indigenous Australian ◽  
Antibody Dependent Enhancement ◽  
Antiviral Genes ◽  
Epidemic Polyarthritis ◽  
Infected Cells ◽  
Oxide Synthase

ABSTRACT Ross River virus (RRV) is an indigenous Australian arthropod-borne alphavirus responsible for epidemic polyarthritis (EPA), myalgia, and lethargy in humans. Macrophages and monocytes have been associated with human RRV disease, and previous studies have shown that RRV is capable of infecting macrophages via both a natural virus receptor and by Fc receptor-mediated antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE). Similar to other viruses, such as human immunodeficiency virus and dengue virus, ADE infection results in dramatic RRV growth increases for in vitro macrophage cultures. This study demonstrates that RRV could resist lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced antiviral activity in macrophage cultures when infection was via the ADE pathway. Investigation of this infection pathway found that RRV was able to suppress the transcription and translation of key antiviral genes (tumor necrosis factor and inducible nitric oxide synthase) in LPS-stimulated macrophages by disrupting the transcription into mRNA of the genes coding for the associated transcription factors IRF-1 and NF-κB. The transcription of non-antiviral control genes was not perturbed by RRV-ADE infection, and de novo protein synthesis also was not significantly affected in RRV-ADE infected cells. The ADE pathway of infection allowed RRV to specifically target antiviral genes in macrophages, resulting in unrestricted virus replication. As ADE has been observed for several virus families and associated with disease and adverse vaccination outcomes, these findings may have broad relevance to viral disease formation and antiviral vaccination strategies.

Unfolding single RNA molecules: bridging the gap between equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical thermodynamics

2005 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 291-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Bustamante
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Molecular Motors ◽  
Biological Systems ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Dimensional Structure ◽  
Fluctuation Theorems ◽  
Rna Molecules ◽  
The Times ◽  
Non Equilibrium

During the last 15 years, scientists have developed methods that permit the direct mechanical manipulation of individual molecules. Using this approach, they have begun to investigate the effect of force and torque in chemical and biochemical reactions. These studies span from the study of the mechanical properties of macromolecules, to the characterization of molecular motors, to the mechanical unfolding of individual proteins and RNA. Here I present a review of some of our most recent results using mechanical force to unfold individual molecules of RNA. These studies make it possible to follow in real time the trajectory of each molecule as it unfolds and characterize the various intermediates of the reaction. Moreover, if the process takes place reversibly it is possible to extract both kinetic and thermodynamic information from these experiments at the same time that we characterize the forces that maintain the three-dimensional structure of the molecule in solution. These studies bring us closer to the biological unfolding processes in the cell as they simulate in vitro, the mechanical unfolding of RNAs carried out in the cell by helicases. If the unfolding process occurs irreversibly, I show here that single-molecule experiments can still provide equilibrium, thermodynamic information from non-equilibrium data by using recently discovered fluctuation theorems. Such theorems represent a bridge between equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. In fact, first derived in 1997, the first experimental demonstration of the validity of fluctuation theorems was obtained by unfolding mechanically a single molecule of RNA. It is perhaps a sign of the times that important physical results are these days used to extract information about biological systems and that biological systems are being used to test and confirm fundamental new laws in physics.

scholarly journals Cloning and expression of a human choline/ethanolaminephosphotransferase: synthesis of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine

1999 ◽  
Vol 339 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette L. HENNEBERRY ◽  
Christopher R. McMASTER
Keyword(s):  
De Novo ◽  
Active Form ◽  
Fatty Acyl ◽  
Cloning And Expression ◽  
Amino Acid Residues ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Kennedy Pathway ◽  
Membrane Spanning

Cholinephosphotransferase catalyses the final step in the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho) via the Kennedy pathway by the transfer of phosphocholine from CDP-choline to diacylglycerol. Ethanolaminephosphotransferase catalyses an analogous reaction with CDP-ethanolamine as the phosphobase donor for the synthesis of phosphatidylethanolamine (PtdEtn). Together these two enzyme activities determine both the site of synthesis and the fatty acyl composition of PtdCho and PtdEtn synthesized de novo. A human choline/ethanolaminephosphotransferase cDNA (hCEPT1) was cloned, expressed and characterized. Northern blot analysis revealed one hCEPT1 2.3 kb transcript that was ubiquitous and not enriched, with respect to actin, in any particular cell type. The open reading frame predicts a protein (hCEPT1p) of 416 amino acid residues with a molecular mass of 46550 Da containing seven membrane-spanning domains. A predicted amphipathic helix resides within the active site of the enzyme with the final two aspartic residues of the CDP-alcohol phosphotransferase motif, DG(X)2AR(X)8G(X)3D(X)3D, positioned within this helix. hCEPT1p was successfully expressed in a full-length, active form in Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells devoid of endogenous cholinephosphotransferase or ethanolaminephosphotransferase activities (HJ091, cpt1::LEU2 ept1-). In vitro, hCEPT1p displayed broad substrate specificity, utilizing both CDP-choline and CDP-ethanolamine as phosphobase donors to a broad range of diacylglycerols, resulting in the synthesis of both PtdCho and PtdEtn. In vivo, S. cerevisiae cells (HJ091, cpt1::LEU2 ept1-) expressing hCEPT1 efficiently incorporated both radiolabelled choline and ethanolamine into phospholipids, demonstrating that hCEPT1p has the ability to synthesize both choline- and ethanolamine- containing phospholipids in vitro and in vivo.

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