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Witwit H, Khafaji R, Salaniwal A, Kim AS, Cubitt B, Jackson N, Ye C, Weiss SR, Martinez-Sobrido L, de la Torre JC. Activation of protein kinase receptor (PKR) plays a pro-viral role in mammarenavirus-infected cells. J Virol 2024; 98:e0188323. [PMID: 38376197 PMCID: PMC10949842 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01883-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/26/2024] [Indexed: 02/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Many viruses, including mammarenaviruses, have evolved mechanisms to counteract different components of the host cell innate immunity, which is required to facilitate robust virus multiplication. The double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) sensor protein kinase receptor (PKR) pathway plays a critical role in the cell anti-viral response. Whether PKR can restrict the multiplication of the Old World mammarenavirus lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) and the mechanisms by which LCMV may counteract the anti-viral functions of PKR have not yet been investigated. Here we present evidence that LCMV infection results in very limited levels of PKR activation, but LCMV multiplication is enhanced in the absence of PKR. In contrast, infection with a recombinant LCMV with a mutation affecting the 3'-5' exonuclease (ExoN) activity of the viral nucleoprotein resulted in robust PKR activation in the absence of detectable levels of dsRNA, which was associated with severely restricted virus multiplication that was alleviated in the absence of PKR. However, pharmacological inhibition of PKR activation resulted in reduced levels of LCMV multiplication. These findings uncovered a complex role of the PKR pathway in LCMV-infected cells involving both pro- and anti-viral activities.IMPORTANCEAs with many other viruses, the prototypic Old World mammarenavirus LCMV can interfere with the host cell innate immune response to infection, which includes the dsRNA sensor PKR pathway. A detailed understanding of LCMV-PKR interactions can provide novel insights about mammarenavirus-host cell interactions and facilitate the development of effective anti-viral strategies against human pathogenic mammarenaviruses. In the present work, we present evidence that LCMV multiplication is enhanced in PKR-deficient cells, but pharmacological inhibition of PKR activation unexpectedly resulted in severely restricted propagation of LCMV. Likewise, we document a robust PKR activation in LCMV-infected cells in the absence of detectable levels of dsRNA. Our findings have revealed a complex role of the PKR pathway during LCMV infection and uncovered the activation of PKR as a druggable target for the development of anti-viral drugs against human pathogenic mammarenaviruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haydar Witwit
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Roaa Khafaji
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Arul Salaniwal
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Arthur S. Kim
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Beatrice Cubitt
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA
| | | | - Chengjin Ye
- Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
| | - Susan R. Weiss
- Department of Microbiology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | | | - Juan Carlos de la Torre
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA
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Witwit H, Khafaji R, Salaniwal A, Kim AS, Cubitt B, Jackson N, Ye C, Weiss SR, Martinez-Sobrido L, de la Torre JC. Activation of Protein Kinase R (PKR) Plays a Pro-Viral Role in Mammarenavirus Infected Cells. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.12.05.570143. [PMID: 38106082 PMCID: PMC10723269 DOI: 10.1101/2023.12.05.570143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
Many viruses, including mammarenaviruses, have evolved mechanisms to counteract different components of the host cell innate immunity, which is required to facilitate robust virus multiplication. The double strand (ds)RNA sensor protein kinase receptor (PKR) pathway plays a critical role in the cell antiviral response. Whether PKR can restrict the multiplication of the Old World mammarenavirus lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) and the mechanisms by which LCMV may counteract the antiviral functions of PKR have not yet been investigated. Here we present evidence that LCMV infection results in very limited levels of PKR activation, but LCMV multiplication is enhanced in the absence of PKR. In contrast, infection with a recombinant LCMV with a mutation affecting the 3'-5' exonuclease (ExoN) activity of the viral nucleoprotein (NP) resulted in robust PKR activation in the absence of detectable levels of dsRNA, which was associated with severely restricted virus multiplication that was alleviated in the absence of PKR. However, pharmacological inhibition of PKR activation resulted in reduced levels of LCMV multiplication. These findings uncovered a complex role of the PKR pathway in LCMV-infected cells involving both pro-and antiviral activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haydar Witwit
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037
| | - Roaa Khafaji
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037
| | - Arul Salaniwal
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037
| | - Arthur S. Kim
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037
| | - Beatrice Cubitt
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037
| | | | - Chengjin Ye
- Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - Susan R Weiss
- Department of Microbiology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104
| | | | - Juan Carlos de la Torre
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037
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Hansen F, Vučak M, Nichols J, Hughes J, Bane S, Camiolo S, da Silva Filipe A, Ostermann E, Staliunaite L, Chan B, Mauch T, Sogoba N, Streblow DN, Voigt S, Oestereich L, Ehlers B, Redwood AJ, Feldmann H, Brune W, Rosenke K, Jarvis MA, Davison AJ. Isolation and genome sequencing of cytomegaloviruses from Natal multimammate mice ( Mastomys natalensis). J Gen Virol 2023; 104:001873. [PMID: 37643006 PMCID: PMC10721045 DOI: 10.1099/jgv.0.001873] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 08/02/2023] [Indexed: 08/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Distinct cytomegaloviruses (CMVs) are widely distributed across their mammalian hosts in a highly host species-restricted pattern. To date, evidence demonstrating this has been limited largely to PCR-based approaches targeting small, conserved genomic regions, and only a few complete genomes of isolated viruses representing distinct CMV species have been sequenced. We have now combined direct isolation of infectious viruses from tissues with complete genome sequencing to provide a view of CMV diversity in a wild animal population. We targeted Natal multimammate mice (Mastomys natalensis), which are common in sub-Saharan Africa, are known to carry a variety of zoonotic pathogens, and are regarded as the primary source of Lassa virus (LASV) spillover into humans. Using transformed epithelial cells prepared from M. natalensis kidneys, we isolated CMVs from the salivary gland tissue of 14 of 37 (36 %) animals from a field study site in Mali. Genome sequencing showed that these primary isolates represent three different M. natalensis CMVs (MnatCMVs: MnatCMV1, MnatCMV2 and MnatCMV3), with some animals carrying multiple MnatCMVs or multiple strains of a single MnatCMV presumably as a result of coinfection or superinfection. Including primary isolates and plaque-purified isolates, we sequenced and annotated the genomes of two MnatCMV1 strains (derived from sequencing 14 viruses), six MnatCMV2 strains (25 viruses) and ten MnatCMV3 strains (21 viruses), totalling 18 MnatCMV strains isolated as 60 infectious viruses. Phylogenetic analysis showed that these MnatCMVs group with other murid viruses in the genus Muromegalovirus (subfamily Betaherpesvirinae, family Orthoherpesviridae), and that MnatCMV1 and MnatCMV2 are more closely related to each other than to MnatCMV3. The availability of MnatCMV isolates and the characterization of their genomes will serve as the prelude to the generation of a MnatCMV-based vaccine to target LASV in the M. natalensis reservoir.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederick Hansen
- Laboratory of Virology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA
- Present address: School of Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | - Matej Vučak
- MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Glasgow, UK
| | - Jenna Nichols
- MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Glasgow, UK
| | - Joseph Hughes
- MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Glasgow, UK
| | - Sidy Bane
- University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako, Bamako, Mali
| | - Salvatore Camiolo
- MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Glasgow, UK
- Present address: BioSpyder Technologies Inc., Carlsbad, CA, USA
| | | | | | | | - Baca Chan
- School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
- Institute for Respiratory Health, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | | | - Nafomon Sogoba
- University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako, Bamako, Mali
| | - Daniel N. Streblow
- Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute and Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, Beaverton, OR, USA
| | - Sebastian Voigt
- Institute for Virology, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Lisa Oestereich
- Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine and German Center for Infectious Research (DZIF), Partner Sites Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Hamburg, Germany, Germany
| | - Bernhard Ehlers
- Division 12, Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Viruses Affecting Immunocompromised Patients, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany
| | - Alec J. Redwood
- School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
- Institute for Respiratory Health, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Heinz Feldmann
- Laboratory of Virology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA
| | | | - Kyle Rosenke
- Laboratory of Virology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA
| | - Michael A. Jarvis
- Laboratory of Virology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA
- The Vaccine Group Ltd, Plymouth, Devon, UK
- School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK
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