Interaction between coxsackievirus B3 infection and α-synuclein in models of Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases. PD is pathologically characterized by the death of midbrain dopaminergic neurons and the accumulation of intracellular protein inclusions called Lewy bodies or Lewy neurites. The major component of Lewy bodies is α-synuclein (α-syn). Prion-like propagation of α-syn has emerged as a novel mechanism in the progression of PD. This mechanism has been investigated to reveal factors that initiate Lewy pathology with the aim of preventing further progression of PD. Here, we demonstrate that coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) infection can induce α-syn-associated inclusion body formation in neurons which might act as a trigger for PD. The inclusion bodies contained clustered organelles, including damaged mitochondria with α-syn fibrils. α-Syn overexpression accelerated inclusion body formation and induced more concentric inclusion bodies. In CVB3-infected mice brains, α-syn aggregates were observed in the cell body of midbrain neurons. Additionally, α-syn overexpression favored CVB3 replication and related cytotoxicity. α-Syn transgenic mice had a low survival rate, enhanced CVB3 replication, and exhibited neuronal cell death, including that of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. These results may be attributed to distinct autophagy-related pathways engaged by CVB3 and α-syn. This study elucidated the mechanism of Lewy body formation and the pathogenesis of PD associated with CVB3 infection.

Curcumin Inhibits Replication of Human Parainfluenza Virus Type 3 by Affecting Viral Inclusion Body Formation

Human Parainfluenza Virus Type 3 (HPIV3) is one of the main pathogens that cause acute lower respiratory tract infections in infants and young children. However, there are currently no effective antiviral drugs and vaccines. Herein, we found that a natural compound, curcumin, inhibits HPIV3 infection and has antiviral effects on entry and replication of the virus life cycle. Immunofluorescence and western blotting experiments revealed that curcumin disrupts F-actin and inhibits viral inclusion body (IB) formation, thus inhibiting virus replication. Curcumin can also downregulate cellular PI4KB and interrupt its colocalization in viral IBs. This study verified the antiviral ability of curcumin on HPIV3 infection and preliminarily elucidated its influence on viral replication, providing a theoretical basis for antiviral drug development of HPIV3 and other parainfluenza viruses.

Homeostatic p62 levels and inclusion body formation in CHCHD2 knockout mice

Inactivation of constitutive autophagy results in the formation of cytoplasmic inclusions in neurons, but the relationship between impaired autophagy and Lewy bodies (LBs) remains unknown. α-Synuclein and p62, components of LBs, are the defining characteristic of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Until now, we have analyzed mice models and demonstrated p62 aggregates derived from an autophagic defect might serve as ‘seeds’ and can potentially be cause of LBs formation. P62 may be the key molecule for aggregate formation. To understand the mechanisms of LBs, we analyzed p62 homeostasis and inclusions formation using PD model mice. In PARK22-linked PD, intrinsically disordered mutant CHCHD2 initiates Lewy pathology. To determine the function of CHCHD2 for inclusions formation, we generated Chchd2-knockout (KO) mice and characterised the age-related pathological and motor phenotypes. Chchd2 KO mice exhibited p62 inclusion formation and dopaminergic neuronal loss in an age-dependent manner. These changes were associated with a reduction in mitochondria complex activity and abrogation of inner mitochondria structure. In particular, the OPA1 proteins, which regulate fusion of mitochondrial inner membranes, were immature in the mitochondria of CHCHD2 deficient mice. CHCHD2 regulates mitochondrial morphology and p62 homeostasis by controlling the level of OPA1. Our findings highlight the unexpected role of the homeostatic level of p62, which is regulated by a non-autophagic system, in controlling intracellular inclusion body formation, and indicate that the pathologic processes associated with the mitochondrial proteolytic system are crucial for loss of DA neurones.

Interaction Between Coxsackievirus B3 Infection and α-Synuclein in Parkinson’s Disease

BackgroundParkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative disease. PD is pathologically characterized by the death of midbrain dopaminergic neurons and the accumulation of intracellular protein inclusions called Lewy bodies or Lewy neurites. The major component of Lewy bodies is α-synuclein (α-syn). Prion-like propagation of α-syn has emerged as a novel mechanism in the progression of PD. Targeting this mechanism could enable the development of disease-modifying therapies for patients with PD. Nevertheless, the initial triggers of LB formation leading to acceleration of the process remain elusive.MethodsTo evaluate α-syn function in viral replication, we infected coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) to α-syn overexpressed neurons or α-syn transgenic (TG) mice. We then performed biochemical and histological analyses to evaluate interaction between CVB3 and α-syn in Lewy body formation.ResultsWe demonstrated that CVB3 infection can induce α-syn-associated inclusion body formation in neurons as a trigger. The inclusion bodies contained clustered organelles, including damaged mitochondria with α-syn fibrils. α-Syn overexpression accelerated inclusion body formation and induced more concentric inclusion bodies. In brains from CVB3 infected mice, α-syn aggregates in the cell body of midbrain neurons were observed. Additionally, α-syn overexpression favored CVB3 replication and related cytotoxicity. α-Syn transgenic mice had a low survival rate, enhanced CVB3 replication, and further neuronal cell death, including dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. These results may be due to the different usage of autophagy between CVB3 and α-syn. ConclusionsThis study elucidated the mechanism of Lewy body formation and the pathogenesis of PD associated with CVB3 infection.

Microstructural degradation during the storage of biomass pellets

The use of biomass pellets as a source of renewable energy has increased in recent times. However, pellet storage during transportation can compromise their properties, due to fluctuating temperature and humid environments. Here, we show that extended storage of one month at 40 °C and 85% relative humidity causes significant biomass pellet degradation. This was evidenced by higher pellet porosity, weight gain, increased inclusion body formation and creation of an internal network of cracks. We quantify the inclusion and pore growth processes at the surface and within the pellets, which has implications for subsequent thermochemical conversion. The global bioenergy transition may depend upon biomass pellets, and this study shows that storage conditions are critical in the supply chain, so to maintain their quality. Without the development of stronger policies to avoid premature degradation of biomass pellets, they may not realize their full potential as a bioenergy source.

Calreticulin enhances the secretory trafficking of a misfolded α-1-antitrypsin

α1-antitrypsin (AAT) regulates the activity of multiple proteases in the lungs and liver. A mutant of AAT (E342K) called ATZ forms polymers that are present at only low levels in the serum and induce intracellular protein inclusions, causing lung emphysema and liver cirrhosis. An understanding of factors that can reduce the intracellular accumulation of ATZ is of great interest. We now show that calreticulin (CRT), an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) glycoprotein chaperone, promotes the secretory trafficking of ATZ, enhancing the media:cell ratio. This effect is more pronounced for ATZ than with AAT and is only partially dependent on the glycan-binding site of CRT, which is generally relevant to substrate recruitment and folding by CRT. The CRT-related chaperone calnexin does not enhance ATZ secretory trafficking, despite the higher cellular abundance of calnexin-ATZ complexes. CRT deficiency alters the distributions of ATZ-ER chaperone complexes, increasing ATZ-BiP binding and inclusion body formation and reducing ATZ interactions with components required for ER-Golgi trafficking, coincident with reduced levels of the protein transport protein Sec31A in CRT-deficient cells. These findings indicate a novel role for CRT in promoting the secretory trafficking of a protein that forms polymers and large intracellular inclusions. Inefficient secretory trafficking of ATZ in the absence of CRT is coincident with enhanced accumulation of ER-derived ATZ inclusion bodies. Further understanding of the factors that control the secretory trafficking of ATZ and their regulation by CRT could lead to new therapies for lung and liver diseases linked to AAT deficiency.

Ebola Virus Inclusion Body Formation and RNA Synthesis Are Controlled by a Novel Domain of Nucleoprotein Interacting with VP35

ABSTRACT Ebola virus (EBOV) inclusion bodies (IBs) are cytoplasmic sites of nucleocapsid formation and RNA replication, housing key steps in the virus life cycle that warrant further investigation. During infection, IBs display dynamic properties regarding their size and location. The contents of IBs also must transition prior to further viral maturation, assembly, and release, implying additional steps in IB function. Interestingly, the expression of the viral nucleoprotein (NP) alone is sufficient for the generation of IBs, indicating that it plays an important role in IB formation during infection. In addition to NP, other components of the nucleocapsid localize to IBs, including VP35, VP24, VP30, and the RNA polymerase L. We previously defined and solved the crystal structure of the C-terminal domain of NP (NP-Ct), but its role in virus replication remained unclear. Here, we show that NP-Ct is necessary for IB formation when NP is expressed alone. Interestingly, we find that NP-Ct is also required for the production of infectious virus-like particles (VLPs), and that defective VLPs with NP-Ct deletions are significantly reduced in viral RNA content. Furthermore, coexpression of the nucleocapsid component VP35 overcomes deletion of NP-Ct in triggering IB formation, demonstrating a functional interaction between the two proteins. Of all the EBOV proteins, only VP35 is able to overcome the defect in IB formation caused by the deletion of NP-Ct. This effect is mediated by a novel protein-protein interaction between VP35 and NP that controls both regulation of IB formation and RNA replication itself and that is mediated by a newly identified functional domain of NP, the central domain. IMPORTANCE Inclusion bodies (IBs) are cytoplasmic sites of RNA synthesis for a variety of negative-sense RNA viruses, including Ebola virus. In addition to housing important steps in the viral life cycle, IBs protect new viral RNA from innate immune attack and contain specific host proteins whose function is under study. A key viral factor in Ebola virus IB formation is the nucleoprotein, NP, which also is important in RNA encapsidation and synthesis. In this study, we have identified two domains of NP that control inclusion body formation. One of these, the central domain (CD), interacts with viral protein VP35 to control both inclusion body formation and RNA synthesis. The other is the NP C-terminal domain (NP-Ct), whose function has not previously been reported. These findings contribute to a model in which NP and its interactions with VP35 link the establishment of IBs to the synthesis of viral RNA.

Ebola virus inclusion body formation and RNA synthesis are controlled by a novel domain of NP interacting with VP35

Ebola virus (EBOV) inclusion bodies (IBs) are cytoplasmic sites of nucleocapsid formation and RNA replication, housing key steps in the virus life cycle that warrant further investigation. During infection IBs display dynamic properties regarding their size and location. Also, the contents of IBs must transition prior to further viral maturation, assembly and release, implying additional steps in IB function. Interestingly, expression of the viral nucleoprotein (NP) alone is sufficient for generation of IBs, indicating that it plays an important role in IB formation during infection. In addition to NP, other components of the nucleocapsid localize to IBs, including VP35, VP24, VP30 and the RNA polymerase L. Previously we defined and solved the crystal structure of the C-terminal domain of NP (NP-Ct), but its role in virus replication remained unclear. Here we show that NP-Ct is absolutely required for IB formation when NP is expressed alone. Interestingly, we find that NP-Ct is also required for production of infectious virus-like particles and retention of viral RNA within these particles. Furthermore, co-expression of the nucleocapsid component VP35 overcomes deletion of NP-Ct in triggering IB formation, demonstrating a functional interaction between the two proteins. Of all the EBOV proteins only VP35 is able to overcome the defect in IB formation caused by deletion of NP-Ct. This effect is mediated by a novel protein-protein interaction between VP35 and NP that controls both regulation of IB formation and RNA replication itself, and which is mediated by a newly identified domain of NP, the “central domain” (CD).ImportanceInclusion bodies (IBs) are cytoplasmic sites of RNA synthesis for a variety of negative sense RNA viruses including Ebola virus. In addition to housing important steps in the viral life cycle, IBs protect new viral RNA from innate immune attack and contain specific host proteins whose function is under study. A key viral factor in Ebola virus IB formation is the nucleoprotein, NP, which also is important in RNA encapsidation and synthesis. In this study, we have identified two domains of NP that control inclusion body formation. One of these, the central domain (CD), interacts with viral protein VP35 to control both inclusion body formation and RNA synthesis. The other is the NP C-terminal domain (NP-Ct), whose function has not previously been reported. These findings contribute to a model in which NP and its interactions with VP35 link the establishment of IBs to the synthesis of viral RNA.

Optimization of culture conditions for the expression of three different insoluble proteins in Escherichia coli

Recombinant protein expression for structural and therapeutic applications requires the use of systems with high expression yields. Escherichia coli is considered the workhorse for this purpose, given its fast growth rate and feasible manipulation. However, bacterial inclusion body formation remains a challenge for further protein purification. We analyzed and optimized the expression conditions for three different proteins: an anti-MICA scFv, MICA, and p19 subunit of IL-23. We used a response surface methodology based on a three-level Box-Behnken design, which included three factors: post-induction temperature, post-induction time and IPTG concentration. Comparing this information with soluble protein data in a principal component analysis revealed that insoluble and soluble proteins have different optimal conditions for post-induction temperature, post-induction time, IPTG concentration and in amino acid sequence features. Finally, we optimized the refolding conditions of the least expressed protein, anti-MICA scFv, using a fast dilution protocol with different additives, obtaining soluble and active scFv for binding assays. These results allowed us to obtain higher yields of proteins expressed in inclusion bodies. Further studies using the system proposed in this study may lead to the identification of optimal environmental factors for a given protein sequence, favoring the acceleration of bioprocess development and structural studies.