scholarly journals The Influenza C Virus CM2 Protein Can Alter Intracellular pH, and Its Transmembrane Domain Can Substitute for That of the Influenza A Virus M2 Protein and Support Infectious Virus Production

2011 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 1277-1281 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Stewart ◽  
A. Pekosz
2006 ◽  
Vol 80 (16) ◽  
pp. 8178-8189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew F. McCown ◽  
Andrew Pekosz

ABSTRACT The cytoplasmic tail of the influenza A virus M2 protein is highly conserved among influenza A virus isolates. The cytoplasmic tail appears to be dispensable with respect to the ion channel activity associated with the protein but important for virus morphology and the production of infectious virus particles. Using reverse genetics and transcomplementation assays, we demonstrate that the M2 protein cytoplasmic tail is a crucial mediator of infectious virus production. Truncations of the M2 cytoplasmic tail result in a drastic decrease in infectious virus titers, a reduction in the amount of packaged viral RNA, a decrease in budding events, and a reduction in budding efficiency. The M1 protein binds to the M2 cytoplasmic tail, but the M1 binding site is distinct from the sequences that affect infectious virus particle formation. Influenza A virus strains A/Udorn/72 and A/WSN/33 differ in their requirements for M2 cytoplasmic tail sequences, and this requirement maps to the M1 protein. We conclude that the M2 protein is required for the formation of infectious virus particles, implicating the protein as important for influenza A virus assembly in addition to its well-documented role during virus entry and uncoating.


2005 ◽  
Vol 79 (6) ◽  
pp. 3595-3605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew F. McCown ◽  
Andrew Pekosz

ABSTRACT The M2 integral membrane protein encoded by influenza A virus possesses an ion channel activity that is required for efficient virus entry into host cells. The role of the M2 protein cytoplasmic tail in virus replication was examined by generating influenza A viruses encoding M2 proteins with truncated C termini. Deletion of 28 amino acids (M2Stop70) resulted in a virus that produced fourfold-fewer particles but >1,000-fold-fewer infectious particles than wild-type virus. Expression of the full-length M2 protein in trans restored the replication of the M2 truncated virus. Although the M2Stop70 virus particles were similar to wild-type virus in morphology, the M2Stop70 virions contained reduced amounts of viral nucleoprotein and genomic RNA, indicating a defect in vRNP packaging. The data presented indicate the M2 cytoplasmic tail plays a role in infectious virus production by coordinating the efficient packaging of genome segments into influenza virus particles.


2007 ◽  
Vol 88 (8) ◽  
pp. 2291-2296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana Betakova ◽  
Alan J. Hay

The 115 residue CM2 protein of influenza C virus is a structural homologue of the M2 protein of influenza A virus. Expression of the CM2 protein in Xenopus oocytes showed that it can form a voltage-activated ion channel permeable to Cl−. To investigate whether the CM2 protein has pH modulating activity comparable to that of the M2 protein, CM2 was co-expressed with a pH-sensitive haemagglutinin (HA) from influenza A virus. The results indicate that, like the M2 protein, the CM2 protein has a capacity to reduce the acidity of the exocytic pathway and reduce conversion of the pH-sensitive HA to its low pH conformation during transport to the cell surface. By contrast, the NB protein of influenza B virus has no detectable activity. Although, the pH modulating activity of the CM2 protein was substantially less than that of the M2 protein, these observations provide support for a role in virus uncoating analogous to that of M2.


2018 ◽  
Vol 92 (22) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Wohlgemuth ◽  
Andrew P. Lane ◽  
Andrew Pekosz

ABSTRACTThe influenza A virus (IAV) M2 protein is a multifunctional protein with critical roles in virion entry, assembly, and budding. M2 is targeted to the apical plasma membrane of polarized epithelial cells, and the interaction of the viral proteins M2, M1, HA, and NA near glycolipid rafts in the apical plasma membrane is hypothesized to coordinate the assembly of infectious virus particles. To determine the role of M2 protein apical targeting in IAV replication, a panel of M2 proteins with basolateral plasma membrane (M2-Baso) or endoplasmic reticulum (M2-ER) targeting sequences was generated. MDCK II cells stably expressing M2-Baso, but not M2-ER, complemented the replication of M2-stop viruses. However, in primary human nasal epithelial cell (hNEC) cultures, viruses encoding M2-Baso and M2-ER replicated to negligible titers compared to those of wild-type virus. M2-Baso replication was negatively correlated with cell polarization. These results demonstrate that M2 apical targeting is essential for IAV replication: targeting M2 to the ER results in a strong, cell type-independent inhibition of virus replication, and targeting M2 to the basolateral membrane has greater effects in hNECs than in MDCK cells.IMPORTANCEInfluenza A virus assembly and particle release occur at the apical membrane of polarized epithelial cells. The integral membrane proteins encoded by the virus, HA, NA, and M2, are all targeted to the apical membrane and believed to recruit the other structural proteins to sites of virus assembly. By targeting M2 to the basolateral or endoplasmic reticulum membranes, influenza A virus replication was significantly reduced. Basolateral targeting of M2 reduced the infectious virus titers with minimal effects on virus particle release, while targeting to the endoplasmic reticulum resulted in reduced infectious and total virus particle release. Therefore, altering the expression and the intracellular targeting of M2 has major effects on virus replication.


2000 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 767-775 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiyan Song ◽  
F.A. Kovacs ◽  
J. Wang ◽  
Jeffrey K. Denny ◽  
S.C. Shekar ◽  
...  

2010 ◽  
Vol 84 (17) ◽  
pp. 8765-8776 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael L. Grantham ◽  
Shaun M. Stewart ◽  
Erin N. Lalime ◽  
Andrew Pekosz

ABSTRACT The cytoplasmic tail of the influenza A virus M2 protein is required for the production of infectious virions. In this study, critical residues in the M2 cytoplasmic tail were identified by single-alanine scanning mutagenesis. The tyrosine residue at position 76, which is conserved in >99% of influenza virus strains sequenced to date, was identified as being critical for the formation of infectious virus particles using both reverse genetics and a protein trans-complementation assay. Recombinant viruses encoding M2 with the Y76A mutation demonstrated replication defects in MDCK cells as well as in primary differentiated airway epithelial cell cultures, defects in the formation of filamentous virus particles, and reduced packaging of nucleoprotein into virus particles. These defects could all be overcome by a mutation of serine to tyrosine at position 71 of the M2 cytoplasmic tail, which emerged after blind passage of viruses containing the Y76A mutation. These data confirm and extend our understanding of the significance of the M2 protein for infectious virus particle assembly.


2017 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsuan Liu ◽  
Michael L. Grantham ◽  
Andrew Pekosz

ABSTRACTThe influenza A virus M1 and M2 proteins play important roles in virus assembly and in the morphology of virus particles. Mutations in the distal cytoplasmic tail region of M2, and in particular a tyrosine-to-alanine mutation at residue 76 (Y76A), were essential for infectious virus production and filament formation while having limited effects on total virus particle budding. Using a novel selection method, mutations at seven different M1 amino acids (residue 73, 94, 135, 136, or 138 or a double mutation, 93/244) that are not found in circulating influenza virus strains or have not been previously identified to play a role in influenza A virus assembly were found to complement the lethal M2Y76A mutation. These M1 suppressor mutations restored infectious virus production in the presence of M2Y76A and mediated increased budding and filament formation even in the absence of M2. However, the efficiency of infectious virus replication was still dependent on the presence of the distal region of the M2 cytoplasmic tail. The data suggest that influenza A virus budding and genome incorporation can occur independently and provide further support for complementary roles of the M1 and M2 proteins in virus assembly.IMPORTANCEInfluenza virus particle assembly involves the careful coordination of various viral and host factors to optimally produce infectious virus particles. We have previously identified a mutation at position 76 of the influenza A virus M2 protein that drastically reduces infectious virus production and filament formation with minimal effects on virus budding. In this work, we identified suppressor mutations in the M1 protein which complement this lethal M2 mutation by increasing the efficiency with which virus particles bud from infected cells and restoring filament formation at the infected-cell surface. M2 distal cytoplasmic domain sequences were still required for optimal infectivity. This indicates that M1 and M2 can functionally replace each other in some, but not all, aspects of virus particle assembly.


2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (12) ◽  
pp. 5656-5662 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tokiko Watanabe ◽  
Shinji Watanabe ◽  
Hiroshi Ito ◽  
Hiroshi Kida ◽  
Yoshihiro Kawaoka

ABSTRACT Ion channel proteins are common constituents of cells and have even been identified in some viruses. For example, the M2 protein of influenza A virus has proton ion channel activity that is thought to play an important role in viral replication. Because direct support for this function is lacking, we attempted to generate viruses with defective M2 ion channel activity. Unexpectedly, mutants with apparent loss of M2 ion channel activity by an in vitro assay replicated as efficiently as the wild-type virus in cell culture. We also generated a chimeric mutant containing an M2 protein whose transmembrane domain was replaced with that from the hemagglutinin glycoprotein. This virus replicated reasonably well in cell culture but showed no growth in mice. Finally, a mutant lacking both the transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains of M2 protein grew poorly in cell culture and showed no growth in mice. Thus, influenza A virus can undergo multiple cycles of replication without the M2 transmembrane domain responsible for ion channel activity, although this activity promotes efficient viral replication.


2007 ◽  
Vol 88 (10) ◽  
pp. 2627-2635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexey A. Matskevich ◽  
Karin Moelling

In mammals the interferon (IFN) system is a central innate antiviral defence mechanism, while the involvement of RNA interference (RNAi) in antiviral response against RNA viruses is uncertain. Here, we tested whether RNAi is involved in the antiviral response in mammalian cells. To investigate the role of RNAi in influenza A virus-infected cells in the absence of IFN, we used Vero cells that lack IFN-α and IFN-β genes. Our results demonstrate that knockdown of a key RNAi component, Dicer, led to a modest increase of virus production and accelerated apoptosis of influenza A virus-infected cells. These effects were much weaker in the presence of IFN. The results also show that in both Vero cells and the IFN-producing alveolar epithelial A549 cell line influenza A virus targets Dicer at mRNA and protein levels. Thus, RNAi is involved in antiviral response, and Dicer is important for protection against influenza A virus infection.


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