scholarly journals A study on the relationship between HCV NS3 and endogenous IRF-3

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 205873921878445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong-Ping Liang ◽  
Hotta Hak ◽  
Jian-Min Ji

This study aims to investigate the relationship between hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS3/4A and endogenous interferon regulatory factor-3 (IRF-3). The localization of endogenous IRF-3 protein before and after virus infection was analyzed by immunofluorescence assay (IFA). IFA results revealed that the synergistic action of transfection and HCV virus infection could more effectively reduce the nuclear translocation of endogenous IRF-3 in HeLa cells, compared to the activation of Sendai virus infection alone. The highest nuclear translocation of endogenous IRF-3 in transfected HeLa cells occurred at 24 h after Sendai virus infection. Our study was consistent with a published paper, which revealed that HCV NS3/4A protease could suppress the activation of IRF-3 and was indispensable in the transcription of interferon (IFN)-α/β.

1999 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 2465-2474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rongtuan Lin ◽  
Yael Mamane ◽  
John Hiscott

ABSTRACT The interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF-3) gene encodes a 55-kDa protein which is expressed constitutively in all tissues. In unstimulated cells, IRF-3 is present in an inactive cytoplasmic form; following Sendai virus infection, IRF-3 is posttranslationally modified by protein phosphorylation at multiple serine and threonine residues located in the carboxy terminus. Virus-induced phosphorylation of IRF-3 leads to cytoplasmic to nuclear translocation of phosphorylated IRF-3, association with the transcriptional coactivator CBP/p300, and stimulation of DNA binding and transcriptional activities of virus-inducible genes. Using yeast and mammalian one-hybrid analysis, we now demonstrate that an extended, atypical transactivation domain is located in the C terminus of IRF-3 between amino acids (aa) 134 and 394. We also show that the C-terminal domain of IRF-3 located between aa 380 and 427 participates in the autoinhibition of IRF-3 activity via an intramolecular association with the N-terminal region between aa 98 and 240. After Sendai virus infection, an intermolecular association between IRF-3 proteins is detected, demonstrating a virus-dependent formation of IRF-3 homodimers; this interaction is also observed in the absence of virus infection with a constitutively activated form of IRF-3. Substitution of the C-terminal Ser-Thr phosphorylation sites with the phosphomimetic Asp in the region ISNSHPLSLTSDQ between amino acids 395 and 407 [IRF-3(5D)], but not the adjacent S385 and S386 residues, generates a constitutively activated DNA binding form of IRF-3. In contrast, substitution of S385 and S386 with either Ala or Asp inhibits both DNA binding and transactivation activities of the IRF-3(5D) protein. These studies thus define the transactivation domain of IRF-3, two domains that participate in the autoinhibition of IRF-3 activity, and the regulatory phosphorylation sites controlling IRF-3 dimer formation, DNA binding activity, and association with the CBP/p300 coactivator.


2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (14) ◽  
pp. 7945-7956 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher F. Basler ◽  
Andrea Mikulasova ◽  
Luis Martinez-Sobrido ◽  
Jason Paragas ◽  
Elke Mühlberger ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The Ebola virus VP35 protein was previously found to act as an interferon (IFN) antagonist which could complement growth of influenza delNS1 virus, a mutant influenza virus lacking the influenza virus IFN antagonist protein, NS1. The Ebola virus VP35 could also prevent the virus- or double-stranded RNA-mediated transcriptional activation of both the beta IFN (IFN-β) promoter and the IFN-stimulated ISG54 promoter (C. Basler et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97:12289-12294, 2000). We now show that VP35 inhibits virus infection-induced transcriptional activation of IFN regulatory factor 3 (IRF-3)-responsive mammalian promoters and that VP35 does not block signaling from the IFN-α/β receptor. The ability of VP35 to inhibit this virus-induced transcription correlates with its ability to block activation of IRF-3, a cellular transcription factor of central importance in initiating the host cell IFN response. We demonstrate that VP35 blocks the Sendai virus-induced activation of two promoters which can be directly activated by IRF-3, namely, the ISG54 promoter and the ISG56 promoter. Further, expression of VP35 prevents the IRF-3-dependent activation of the IFN-α4 promoter in response to viral infection. The inhibition of IRF-3 appears to occur through an inhibition of IRF-3 phosphorylation. VP35 blocks virus-induced IRF-3 phosphorylation and subsequent IRF-3 dimerization and nuclear translocation. Consistent with these observations, Ebola virus infection of Vero cells activated neither transcription from the ISG54 promoter nor nuclear accumulation of IRF-3. These data suggest that in Ebola virus-infected cells, VP35 inhibits the induction of antiviral genes, including the IFN-β gene, by blocking IRF-3 activation.


2005 ◽  
Vol 79 (7) ◽  
pp. 3920-3929 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher P. Elco ◽  
Jeanna M. Guenther ◽  
Bryan R. G. Williams ◽  
Ganes C. Sen

ABSTRACT Sendai virus (SeV) infection causes the transcriptional induction of many cellular genes that are also induced by interferon (IFN) or double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). We took advantage of various mutant cell lines to investigate the putative roles of the components of the IFN and dsRNA signaling pathways in the induction of those genes by SeV. Profiling the patterns of gene expression in SeV-infected cells demonstrated that Toll-like receptor 3, although essential for gene induction by dsRNA, was dispensable for gene induction by SeV. In contrast, Jak1, which mediates IFN signaling, was required for the induction of a small subset of genes by SeV. NF-κB and interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF-3), the two major transcription factors activated by virus infection, were essential for the induction of two sets of genes by SeV. As expected, some of the IRF-3-dependent genes, such as ISG56, were more strongly induced by SeV in IRF-3-overexpressing cells. Surprisingly, in those cells, a number of NF-κB-dependent genes, such as the A20 gene, were induced poorly. Using a series of cell lines expressing increasing levels of IRF-3, we demonstrated that the degree of induction of A20 mRNA, upon SeV infection, was inversely proportional to the cellular level of IRF-3, whereas that of ISG56 mRNA was directly proportional. Thus, IRF-3 can suppress the expression of NF-κB-dependent genes in SeV-infected cells.


2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 991-997 ◽  
Author(s):  
Perdita Wietzke-Braun ◽  
Adil B. Maouzi ◽  
Larissa B. M??nhardt ◽  
Heike Bickeb??ller ◽  
Giuliano Ramadori ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 93 (16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zixiang Zhu ◽  
Pengfei Li ◽  
Fan Yang ◽  
Weijun Cao ◽  
Xiangle Zhang ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTPeste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) is the etiological agent of peste des petits ruminants, causing acute immunosuppression in its natural hosts. However, the molecular mechanisms by which PPRV antagonizes the host immune responses have not been fully characterized. In particular, how PPRV suppresses the activation of the host RIG-I-like receptor (RLR) pathway has yet to be clarified. In this study, we demonstrated that PPRV infection significantly suppresses RLR pathway activation and type I interferon (IFN) production and identified PPRV N protein as an extremely important antagonistic viral factor that suppresses beta interferon (IFN-β) and IFN-stimulated gene (ISG) expression. A detailed analysis showed that PPRV N protein inhibited type I IFN production by targeting interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3), a key molecule in the RLR pathway required for type I IFN induction. PPRV N protein interacted with IRF3 (but not with other components of the RLR pathway, including MDA5, RIG-I, VISA, TBK1, and MITA) and abrogated the phosphorylation of IRF3. As expected, PPRV N protein also considerably impaired the nuclear translocation of IRF3. The TBK1-IRF3 interaction was involved significantly in IRF3 phosphorylation, and we showed that PPRV N protein inhibits the association between TBK1 and IRF3, which in turn inhibits IRF3 phosphorylation. The amino acid region 106 to 210 of PPRV N protein was determined to be essential for suppressing the nuclear translocation of IRF3 and IFN-β production, and the 140 to 400 region of IRF3 was identified as the crucial region for the N-IRF3 interaction. Together, our findings demonstrate a new mechanism evolved by PPRV to inhibit type I IFN production and provide structural insights into the immunosuppression caused by PPRV.IMPORTANCEPeste des petits ruminants is a highly contagious animal disease affecting small ruminants, which threatens both small livestock and endangered susceptible wildlife populations in many countries. The causative agent, peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV), often causes acute immunosuppression in its natural hosts during infection. Here, for the first time, we demonstrate that N protein, the most abundant protein of PPRV, plays an extremely important role in suppression of interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) function and type I interferon (IFN) production by interfering with the formation of the TBK1-IRF3 complex. This study explored a novel antagonistic mechanism of PPRV.


1998 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 2986-2996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rongtuan Lin ◽  
Christophe Heylbroeck ◽  
Paula M. Pitha ◽  
John Hiscott

ABSTRACT The interferon regulatory factors (IRF) consist of a growing family of related transcription proteins first identified as regulators of the alpha beta interferon (IFN-α/β) gene promoters, as well as the interferon-stimulated response element (ISRE) of some IFN-stimulated genes. IRF-3 was originally identified as a member of the IRF family based on homology with other IRF family members and on binding to the ISRE of the ISG15 promoter. IRF-3 is expressed constitutively in a variety of tissues, and the relative levels of IRF-3 mRNA do not change in virus-infected or IFN-treated cells. In the present study, we demonstrate that following Sendai virus infection, IRF-3 is posttranslationally modified by protein phosphorylation at multiple serine and threonine residues, which are located in the carboxy terminus of IRF-3. A combination of IRF-3 deletion and point mutations localized the inducible phosphorylation sites to the region -ISNSHPLSLTSDQ- between amino acids 395 and 407; point mutation of residues Ser-396 and Ser-398 eliminated virus-induced phosphorylation of IRF-3 protein, although residues Ser-402, Thr-404, and Ser-405 were also targets. Phosphorylation results in the cytoplasm-to-nucleus translocation of IRF-3, DNA binding, and increased transcriptional activation. Substitution of the Ser-Thr sites with the phosphomimetic Asp generated a constitutively active form of IRF-3 that functioned as a very strong activator of promoters containing PRDI-PRDIII or ISRE regulatory elements. Phosphorylation also appears to represent a signal for virus-mediated degradation, since the virus-induced turnover of IRF-3 was prevented by mutation of the IRF-3 Ser-Thr cluster or by proteasome inhibitors. Interestingly, virus infection resulted in the association of IRF-3 with the CREB binding protein (CBP) coactivator, as detected by coimmunoprecipitation with anti-CBP antibody, an interaction mediated by the C-terminal domains of both proteins. Mutation of residues Ser-396 and Ser-398 in IRF-3 abrogated its binding to CBP. These results are discussed in terms of a model in which virus-inducible, C-terminal phosphorylation of IRF-3 alters protein conformation to permit nuclear translocation, association with transcriptional partners, and primary activation of IFN- and IFN-responsive genes.


Blood ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 112 (11) ◽  
pp. 2573-2573
Author(s):  
Daniela Werth ◽  
Anita Bringmann ◽  
Katharina Brauer ◽  
Karin von Schwarzenberg ◽  
Stefanie Held ◽  
...  

Abstract Interferon regulatory factor 8 (IRF-8) is a member of the IRF family of transcription factors, which are stimulated through interferon mediated pathways. In mice, IRF-8 seems to play an essential role in the development and maturation of dendritic cells (DCs). However, very limited knowledge is available about the potential role of IRF-8 in the human system. To bridge this gap we analyzed function and activation of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (mDCs) lacking IRF-8 expression. To knockdown IRF-8 protein levels, we electroporated mDCs with different siRNAs against IRF-8. Additionally, we stimulated the electroporated mDCs with the Toll like receptor (TLR) 2 ligand Pam3Cys or the TLR 7/8 ligand R848. IRF-8 knockdown in mDCs was verified constantly by Western Blot analysis using an anti-IRF-8 antibody. We found that IRF-8 knockdown clearly diminished the expression of the human lymphocyte antigen molecules HLA-ABC and HLA-DR in Pam3Cys and R848 stimulated mDCs. To gain functional data, we performed ELISAs to determine cytokine and chemokine secretion. The electroporation of mDCs with IRF-8 specific siRNA resulted in profound inhibition of secretion of the cytokines IL-6, IL-12 and TNF-a as well as the chemokines MIP-1a (CCL3), MCP-1 (CCL2) and RANTES (CCL5). To get additional information on IRF-8 function in human mDCs, the regulation of signal transduction pathways was determined by Western Blot analysis. The suppression of IRF-8 diminished the nuclear translocation of the NF-kB family member’s c-Rel and RelB as well as PU.1 and IRF-3 in activated mDCs. In addition, we showed that the suppression of IRF-8 caused a reduced phosphorylation of ERK and JNK, but had no effect on the expression of STAT3. In summary, the knockdown of IRF-8 reduced the capability of mDCs to develop appropriate phenotype and functions in response to activating stimuli. Our results indicate that these effects are mediated via the ERK, NF-kB and PU.1 signalling pathways. IRF-8 plays an important role in the activation and function of human mDCs.


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