Characterization of the African swine fever virus decapping enzyme during infection

Quintas, A., Pérez-Núñez, D., Sánchez, E. G., Nogal, M. L., Hentze, M. W., Castelló, A. and Revilla, Y. (2017) Characterization of the African swine fever virus decapping enzyme during infection. Journal of Virology, 91(24), e00990-17. (doi: 10.1128/JVI.00990-17) (PMID:29021398) (PMCID:PMC5709586)

Abstract

African swine fever virus (ASFV) infection is characterized by a progressive decrease in cellular protein synthesis with a concomitant increase in viral protein synthesis, though the mechanism by which the virus achieves this is still unknown. Decrease of cellular mRNA is observed during ASFV infection, suggesting that inhibition of cellular proteins is due to an active mRNA degradation process. ASFV carries a gene (Ba71V D250R/Malawi g5R) that encodes a decapping protein (ASFV-DP) that has a Nudix hydrolase motif and decapping activity in vitro. Here, we show that ASFV-DP was expressed from early times and accumulated throughout the infection with a subcellular localization typical of the endoplasmic reticulum, colocalizing with the cap structure and interacting with the ribosomal protein L23a. ASFV-DP was capable of interaction with poly(A) RNA in cultured cells, primarily mediated by the N-terminal region of the protein. ASFV-DP also interacted with viral and cellular RNAs in the context of infection, and its overexpression in infected cells resulted in decreased levels of both types of transcripts. This study points to ASFV-DP as a viral decapping enzyme involved in both the degradation of cellular mRNA and the regulation of viral transcripts.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Castello, Professor Alfredo
• Authors: Quintas, A., Pérez-Núñez, D., Sánchez, E. G., Nogal, M. L., Hentze, M. W., Castelló, A., and Revilla, Y.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity > Centre for Virus Research
• Journal Name: Journal of Virology
• Publisher: American Society for Microbiology
• ISSN: 0022-538X
• ISSN (Online): 1098-5514
• Published Online: 11 October 2017
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 Quintas et al.
• First Published: First published in Journal of Virology 91(24): e00990-17
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License