Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus nonstructural protein 4 antagonizes beta interferon expression by targeting the NF-?B essential modulator.
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ABSTRACT: Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is a highly infectious pathogen that causes severe diseases in pigs and great economic losses to the swine industry worldwide. Type I interferons (IFNs) play a crucial role in antiviral immunity. In the present study, we demonstrated that infection with the highly pathogenic PRRSV strain JXwn06 antagonized type I IFN expression induced by poly(I·C) in both porcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs) and blood monocyte-derived macrophages (BMo). Subsequently, we showed that the inhibition of poly(I·C)-induced IFN-? production by PRRSV was dependent on the blocking of NF-?B signaling pathways. By screening PRRSV nonstructural and structural proteins, we demonstrated that nonstructural protein 4 (nsp4), a viral 3C-like serine protease, significantly suppressed IFN-? expression. Moreover, we verified that nsp4 inhibited NF-?B activation induced by signaling molecules, including RIG-I, VISA, TRIF, and IKK?. nsp4 was shown to target the NF-?B essential modulator (NEMO) at the E349-S350 site to mediate its cleavage. Importantly, nsp4 mutants with defective protease activity abolished its ability to cleave NEMO and inhibit IFN-? production. These findings might have implications for our understanding of PRRSV pathogenesis and its mechanisms for evading the host immune response.Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is a major agent of respiratory diseases in pigs. Like many other viruses, PRRSV has evolved a variety of strategies to evade host antiviral innate immunity for survival and propagation. In this study, we show that PRRSV nsp4 is a novel antagonist of the NF-?B signaling pathway, which is responsible for regulating the expression of type I interferons and other crucial cytokines. We then investigated the underlying mechanism used by nsp4 to suppress NF-?B-mediated IFN-? production. We found that nsp4 interfered with the NF-?B signaling pathway through the cleavage of NEMO (a key regulator of NF-?B signaling) at the E349-S350 site, leading to the downregulation of IFN-? production induced by poly(I·C). The data presented here may help us to better understand PRRSV pathogenesis.
SUBMITTER: Huang C
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4178863 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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