Zhao L, Jha BK, Wu A, Elliott R, Ziebuhr J, Gorbalenya AE, Silverman RH, Weiss SR. Antagonism of the interferon-induced OAS-RNase L pathway by murine coronavirus ns2 protein is required for virus replication and liver pathology.
Cell Host Microbe 2012;
11:607-16. [PMID:
22704621 PMCID:
PMC3377938 DOI:
10.1016/j.chom.2012.04.011]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 212] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2012] [Revised: 03/26/2012] [Accepted: 04/17/2012] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Many viruses induce hepatitis in humans, highlighting the need to understand the underlying mechanisms of virus-induced liver pathology. The murine coronavirus, mouse hepatitis virus (MHV), causes acute hepatitis in its natural host and provides a useful model for understanding virus interaction with liver cells. The MHV accessory protein, ns2, antagonizes the type I interferon response and promotes hepatitis. We show that ns2 has 2′,5′-phosphodiesterase activity, which blocks the interferon inducible 2′,5′-oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS)-RNase L pathway to facilitate hepatitis development. Ns2 cleaves 2′,5′-oligoadenylate, the product of OAS, to prevent activation of the cellular endoribonuclease RNase L and consequently block viral RNA degradation. An ns2 mutant virus was unable to replicate in the liver or induce hepatitis in wild-type mice, but was highly pathogenic in RNase L deficient mice. Thus, RNase L is a critical cellular factor for protection against viral infection of the liver and the resulting hepatitis.
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