scholarly journals Gammacoronavirus Avian Infectious Bronchitis Virus and Alphacoronavirus Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus Exploit a Cell-Survival Strategy via Upregulation of cFOS to Promote Viral Replication

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Xia Yuan ◽  
Jia Qi Liang ◽  
Qing Chun Zhu ◽  
Guo Dai ◽  
Shumin Li ◽  
...  

Coronaviruses have evolved a variety of strategies to optimize cellular microenvironment for efficient replication. In this study, we report the induction of AP-1 transcription factors by coronavirus infection based on genome-wide analyses of differentially expressed genes in cells infected with avian coronavirus infectious bronchitis virus (IBV). Most members of the AP-1 transcription factors were subsequently found to be upregulated during the course of IBV and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) infection of cultured cells as well as in IBV-infected chicken embryos. Further characterization of the induction kinetics and functional roles of cFOS in IBV replication demonstrated that upregulation of cFOS at early to intermediate phases of IBV replication cycles suppresses IBV-induced apoptosis and promotes viral replication. Blockage of nuclear translocation of cFOS by peptide inhibitor NLSP suppressed IBV replication and apoptosis, ruling out the involvement of the cytoplasmic functions of cFOS in the replication of IBV. Furthermore, knockdown of ERK1/2 and inhibition of JNK and p38 kinase activities reduced cFOS upregulation and IBV replication. This study reveals an important function of cFOS in the regulation of coronavirus-induced apoptosis, facilitating viral replication. IMPORTANCE The ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by a newly emerged zoonotic coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), highlights the importance of coronaviruses as human and animal pathogens and our knowledge gaps in understanding the cellular mechanisms, especially mechanisms shared among human and animal coronaviruses, exploited by coronaviruses for optimal replication and enhanced pathogenicity. This study reveals that upregulation of cFOS, along with other AP-1 transcription factors, as a cell-survival strategy is such a mechanism utilized by coronaviruses during their replication cycles. Through induction and regulation of apoptosis of the infected cells at early to intermediate phases of the replication cycles, subtle but appreciable differences in coronavirus replication efficiency were observed when the expression levels of cFOS were manipulated in the infected cells. As the AP-1 transcription factors are multi-functional, further studies of their regulatory roles in proinflammatory responses may provide new insights into the pathogenesis and virus-host interactions during coronavirus infection.

Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 244
Author(s):  
Laura Albentosa-González ◽  
Rosario Sabariegos ◽  
Armando Arias ◽  
Pilar Clemente-Casares ◽  
Antonio Mas

Usutu virus (USUV) is a flavivirus that mainly infects wild birds through the bite of Culex mosquitoes. Recent outbreaks have been associated with an increased number of cases in humans. Despite being a growing source of public health concerns, there is yet insufficient data on the virus or host cell targets for infection control. In this work we have investigated whether the cellular kinase Akt and USUV polymerase NS5 interact and co-localize in a cell. To this aim, we performed co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) assays, followed by confocal microscopy analyses. We further tested whether NS5 is a phosphorylation substrate of Akt in vitro. Finally, to examine its role in viral replication, we chemically silenced Akt with three inhibitors (MK-2206, honokiol and ipatasertib). We found that both proteins are localized (confocal) and pulled down (Co-IP) together when expressed in different cell lines, supporting the fact that they are interacting partners. This possibility was further sustained by data showing that NS5 is phosphorylated by Akt. Treatment of USUV-infected cells with Akt-specific inhibitors led to decreases in virus titers (>10-fold). Our results suggest an important role for Akt in virus replication and stimulate further investigations to examine the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway as an antiviral target.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph C. Carter ◽  
Jean Paul Olivier ◽  
Alexis Kaushansky ◽  
Fred D. Mast ◽  
John D. Aitchison

ABSTRACTThe mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) functions in at least two distinct complexes: mTORC1, which regulates cellular anabolic-catabolic homeostasis, and mTORC2, which is an important regulator of cell survival and cytoskeletal maintenance. mTORC1 has been implicated in the pathogenesis of flaviviruses including dengue, where it contributes to the establishment of a pro-viral autophagic state. In contrast, the role of mTORC2 in viral pathogenesis is unknown. In this study, we explore the consequences of a physical protein-protein interaction between dengue non-structural protein 5 (NS5) and host cell mTOR proteins during infection. Using shRNA to differentially target mTORC1 and mTORC2 complexes, we show that mTORC2 is required for optimal dengue replication. Furthermore, we show that mTORC2 is activated during viral replication, and that mTORC2 counteracts virus-induced apoptosis, promoting the survival of infected cells. This work reveals a novel mechanism by which the dengue flavivirus can promote cell survival to maximize viral replication.


2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengcheng Wang ◽  
Juan Bai ◽  
Xuewei Liu ◽  
Mi Wang ◽  
Xianwei Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) causes lethal diarrhea in suckling piglets, leading to severe economic losses worldwide. There is an urgent need to find new therapeutic methods to prevent and control PEDV. Not only is there a shortage of commercial anti-PEDV drugs, but available commercial vaccines fail to protect against highly virulent PEDV variants. We screened an FDA-approved library of 911 natural products and found that tomatidine, a steroidal alkaloid extracted from the skin and leaves of tomatoes, demonstrates significant inhibition of PEDV replication in Vero and IPEC-J2 cells in vitro. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics analysis predicted interactions between tomatidine and the active pocket of PEDV 3CL protease, which were confirmed by fluorescence spectroscopy and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). The inhibiting effect of tomatidine on 3CL protease was determined using cleavage visualization and FRET assay. Tomatidine-mediated blocking of 3CL protease activity in PEDV-infected cells was examined by western blot detection of the viral polyprotein in PEDV-infected cells. It indicates that tomatidine inhibits PEDV replication mainly by targeting 3CL protease. In addition, tomatidine also has antiviral activity against transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), encephalo myocarditis virus (EMCV) and seneca virus A (SVA) in vitro. These results may be helpful in developing a new prophylactic and therapeutic strategy against PEDV and other swine disease infections.


2020 ◽  
Vol 94 (17) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fusheng Si ◽  
Bingqing Chen ◽  
Xiaoxia Hu ◽  
Ruisong Yu ◽  
Shijuan Dong ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Accessory genes occurring between the S and E genes of coronaviruses have been studied quite intensively during the last decades. In porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), the only gene at this location, ORF3, encodes a 224-residue membrane protein shown to exhibit ion channel activity and to enhance virus production. However, little is known about its intracellular trafficking or about its function during PEDV infection. In this study, two recombinant PEDVs were rescued by targeted RNA recombination, one carrying the full-length ORF3 gene and one from which the gene had been deleted entirely. These viruses as well as a PEDV encoding a naturally truncated ORF3 protein were employed to study the ORF3 protein’s subcellular trafficking. In addition, ORF3 expression vectors were constructed to study the protein’s independent transport. Our results show that the ORF3 protein uses the exocytic pathway to move to and accumulate in the Golgi area of the cell similarly in infected and transfected cells. Like the S protein, but unlike the other structural proteins M and N, the ORF3 protein was additionally observed at the surface of PEDV-infected cells. In addition, the C-terminally truncated ORF3 protein entered the exocytic pathway but it was unable to leave the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and ER-to-Golgi intermediate compartment (ERGIC). Consistently, a YxxØ motif essential for ER exit was identified in the C-terminal domain. Finally, despite the use of sensitive antibodies and assays no ORF3 protein could be detected in highly purified PEDV particles, indicating that the protein is not a structural virion component. IMPORTANCE Coronaviruses typically express several accessory proteins. They vary in number and nature, and only one is conserved among most of the coronaviruses, pointing at an important biological function for this protein. PEDV is peculiar in that it expresses just this one accessory protein, termed the ORF3 protein. While its analogs in other coronaviruses have been studied to different extents, and these studies have indicated that they share an ion channel property, little is still known about the features and functions of the PEDV ORF3 protein except for its association with virulence. In this investigation, we studied the intracellular trafficking of the ORF3 protein both in infected cells and when expressed independently. In addition, we analyzed the effects of mutations in five sorting motifs in its C-terminal domain and investigated whether the protein, found to follow the same exocytic route by which the viral structural membrane proteins travel, is also incorporated into virions.


2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (18) ◽  
pp. 8979-8988 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan J. Baigent ◽  
Gang Zhang ◽  
Martin D. Fray ◽  
Helen Flick-Smith ◽  
Stephen Goodbourn ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The induction and inhibition of the interferon (IFN) response and apoptosis by bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) has been examined. Here we show that prior infection of cells by noncytopathogenic BVDV (ncp BVDV) fails to block transcriptional responses to alpha/beta IFN. In contrast, ncp BVDV-infected cells fail to produce IFN-α/β or MxA in response to double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) or infection with a heterologous virus (Semliki Forest virus [SFV]). ncp BVDV preinfection is unable to block cp BVDV- or SFV-induced apoptosis. The effects of ncp BVDV infection on the transcription factors controlling the IFN-β induction pathway have been analyzed. The transcription factor NF-κB was not activated following ncp BVDV infection, but ncp BVDV infection was not able to block the activation of NF-κB by either SFV or tumor necrosis factor alpha. Furthermore, ncp BVDV infection did not result in the activation of stress kinases (JNK1 and JNK2) or the phosphorylation of transcription factors ATF-2 and c-Jun; again, ncp BVDV infection was not able to block their activation by SFV. Interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF-3) was shown to be translocated to the nuclei of infected cells in response to ncp BVDV, although DNA-binding of IRF-3 was not seen in nuclear extracts. In contrast, an IRF-3-DNA complex was observed in nuclear extracts from cells infected with SFV, but the appearance of this complex was blocked when cells were previously exposed to ncp BVDV. We conclude that the inhibition of IFN induction by this pestivirus involves a block to IRF-3 function, and we speculate that this may be a key characteristic for the survival of pestiviruses in nature.


2011 ◽  
Vol 85 (15) ◽  
pp. 7872-7880 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Shirato ◽  
S. Matsuyama ◽  
M. Ujike ◽  
F. Taguchi

Viruses ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhonghua Li ◽  
Wei Zeng ◽  
Shiyi Ye ◽  
Jian Lv ◽  
Axiu Nie ◽  
...  

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1218
Author(s):  
Lin Yang ◽  
Chenyu Wang ◽  
Jinqi Shu ◽  
Huapeng Feng ◽  
Yulong He ◽  
...  

Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV) is the causative agent of swine epidemic diarrhea. In order to study the pathogenic mechanism of PEDV, PEDV was inoculated into Vero cells cultured in vitro, and the total RNA of Vero cells was extracted to construct a library for Illumina high-throughput sequencing and screening of differentially expressed genes (p < 0.05). Five differentially expressed genes for qRT-PCR verification analysis were randomly selected, and the verification results were consistent with the transcriptome sequencing results. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) signal pathway enrichment analysis was performed on the differentially expressed genes screened above. The results showed that the target gene annotations of differentially expressed genes in the African green monkey genome were mainly enriched in the TNF signaling pathway, the P53 signaling pathway, the Jak-STAT signaling pathway, the MAPK signaling pathway, and immune inflammation. In addition, it has been reported that Puma can promote apoptosis and is a key mediator of P53-dependent and non-dependent apoptosis pathways. However, there is no report that PEDV infection can activate Puma and induce apoptosis in a P53-dependent pathway. It was found by flow cytometry that PEDV infection induced apoptosis, and by Western Blotting detection, PEDV infection significantly increased the expression of p53, BAX, and Puma apoptosis-related proteins. Treatment Vero cells with the p53 inhibitor, PFT-α, could significantly inhibit PEDV-induced apoptosis. Studies have shown that PEDV infection can activate Puma and induce apoptosis in a P53-dependent pathway. These findings provide data support for further elucidating the pathogenic mechanism of PEDV and developing an effective vaccine against PEDV.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Liu ◽  
Qi-Zhang Liang ◽  
Wan Lu ◽  
Yong-Le Yang ◽  
Ruiai Chen ◽  
...  

Coronaviruses (CoVs) are a known global threat, and most recently the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has claimed more than 2 million human lives. Delays and interference with IFN responses are closely associated with the severity of disease caused by CoV infection. As the most abundant viral protein in infected cells just after the entry step, the CoV nucleocapsid (N) protein likely plays a key role in IFN interruption. We have conducted a comprehensive comparative analysis and report herein that the N proteins of representative human and animal CoVs from four different genera [swine acute diarrhea syndrome CoV (SADS-CoV), porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), severe acute respiratory syndrome CoV (SARS-CoV), SARS-CoV-2, Middle East respiratory syndrome CoV (MERS-CoV), infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) and porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV)] suppress IFN responses by multiple strategies. In particular, we found that the N protein of SADS-CoV interacted with RIG-I independent of its RNA binding activity, mediating K27-, K48- and K63-linked ubiquitination of RIG-I and its subsequent proteasome-dependent degradation, thus inhibiting the host IFN response. These data provide insight into the interaction between CoVs and host, and offer new clues for the development of therapies against these important viruses.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document