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Mechanism of Protein Kinase R Inhibition by Human Cytomegalovirus pTRS1.

ABSTRACT: Double-stranded RNAs (dsRNA) produced during human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection activate the antiviral kinase protein kinase R (PKR), which potently inhibits virus replication. The HCMV pTRS1 and pIRS1 proteins antagonize PKR to promote HCMV protein synthesis and replication; however, the mechanism by which pTRS1 inhibits PKR is unclear. PKR activation occurs in a three-step cascade. First, binding to dsRNA triggers PKR homodimerizaton. PKR dimers then autophosphorylate, leading to a conformational shift that exposes the binding site for the PKR substrate eIF2?. Consistent with previous in vitro studies, we found that pTRS1 bound and inhibited PKR. pTRS1 binding to PKR was not mediated by an RNA intermediate, and mutations in the pTRS1 RNA binding domain did not affect PKR binding or inhibition. Rather, mutations that disrupted the pTRS1 interaction with PKR ablated the ability of pTRS1 to antagonize PKR activation by dsRNA. pTRS1 did not block PKR dimerization and could bind and inhibit a constitutively dimerized PKR kinase domain. In addition, pTRS1 binding to PKR inhibited PKR kinase activity. Single amino acid point mutations in the conserved eIF2? binding domain of PKR disrupted pTRS1 binding and rendered PKR resistant to inhibition by pTRS1. Consistent with a critical role for the conserved eIF2? contact site in PKR binding, pTRS1 bound an additional eIF2? kinase, heme-regulated inhibitor (HRI), and inhibited eIF2? phosphorylation in response to an HRI agonist. Together our data suggest that pTRS1 inhibits PKR by binding to conserved amino acids in the PKR eIF2? binding site and blocking PKR kinase activity.IMPORTANCE The antiviral kinase PKR plays a critical role in controlling HCMV replication. This study furthered our understanding of how HCMV evades inhibition by PKR and identified new strategies for how PKR activity might be restored during infection to limit HCMV disease.

SUBMITTER: Vincent HA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5309967 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Mechanism of Protein Kinase R Inhibition by Human Cytomegalovirus pTRS1.

Vincent Heather A HA Ziehr Benjamin B Moorman Nathaniel J NJ

Journal of virology 20170214 5

Double-stranded RNAs (dsRNA) produced during human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection activate the antiviral kinase protein kinase R (PKR), which potently inhibits virus replication. The HCMV pTRS1 and pIRS1 proteins antagonize PKR to promote HCMV protein synthesis and replication; however, the mechanism by which pTRS1 inhibits PKR is unclear. PKR activation occurs in a three-step cascade. First, binding to dsRNA triggers PKR homodimerizaton. PKR dimers then autophosphorylate, leading to a conform ...[more]

PMID: 27974558

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Project description:BackgroundHuman cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the most prevalent congenital viral infection in the United States and Europe causing significant morbidity and mortality to both mother and child. HCMV is also an opportunistic pathogen in immunocompromised individuals, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)- infected patients with AIDS, and solid organ and allogeneic stem cell transplantation recipients. Current treatments for HCMV-associated diseases are insufficient due to the emergence of drug-induced resistance and cytotoxicity, necessitating novel approaches to limit HCMV infection. The aim of this study was to develop therapeutic peptides targeting glycoprotein B (gB), a major glycoprotein of HCMV that is highly conserved across the Herpesviridae family, that specifically inhibit fusion of the viral envelope with the host cell membrane preventing HCMV entry and infection.ResultsUsing the Wimley-White Interfacial Hydrophobicity Scale (WWIHS), several regions within gB were identified that display a high potential to interact with lipid bilayers of cell membranes and hydrophobic surfaces within proteins. The ability of synthetic peptides analogous to WWIHS-positive sequences of HCMV gB to inhibit viral infectivity was evaluated. Human foreskin fibroblasts (HFF) were infected with the Towne-GFP strain of HCMV (0.5 MOI), preincubated with peptides at a range of concentrations (78 nm to 100 μM), and GFP-positive cells were visualized 48 hours post-infection by fluorescence microscopy and analyzed quantitatively by flow cytometry. Peptides that inhibited HCMV infection demonstrated different inhibitory concentration curves indicating that each peptide possesses distinct biophysical properties. Peptide 174-200 showed 80% inhibition of viral infection at a concentration of 100 μM, and 51% and 62% inhibition at concentrations of 5 μM and 2.5 μM, respectively. Peptide 233-263 inhibited infection by 97% and 92% at concentrations of 100 μM and 50 μM, respectively, and 60% at a concentration of 2.5 μM. While peptides 264-291 and 297-315, individually failed to inhibit viral infection, when combined, they showed 67% inhibition of HCMV infection at a concentration of 0.125 μM each.ConclusionsPeptides designed to target putative fusogenic domains of gB provide a basis for the development of novel therapeutics that prevent HCMV infection.

Project description:UnlabelledHuman cytomegalovirus (HCMV) counteracts host defenses that otherwise act to limit viral protein synthesis. One such defense is the antiviral kinase protein kinase R (PKR), which inactivates the eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2) translation initiation factor upon binding to viral double-stranded RNAs. Previously, the viral TRS1 and IRS1 proteins were found to antagonize the antiviral kinase PKR outside the context of HCMV infection, and the expression of either pTRS1 or pIRS1 was shown to be necessary for HCMV replication. In this study, we found that expression of either pTRS1 or pIRS1 is necessary to prevent PKR activation during HCMV infection and that antagonism of PKR is critical for efficient viral replication. Consistent with a previous study, we observed decreased overall levels of protein synthesis, reduced viral protein expression, and diminished virus replication in the absence of both pTRS1 and pIRS1. In addition, both PKR and eIF2α were phosphorylated during infection when pTRS1 and pIRS1 were absent. We also found that expression of pTRS1 was both necessary and sufficient to prevent stress granule formation in response to eIF2α phosphorylation. Depletion of PKR prevented eIF2α phosphorylation, rescued HCMV replication and protein synthesis, and reversed the accumulation of stress granules in infected cells. Infection with an HCMV mutant lacking the pTRS1 PKR binding domain resulted in PKR activation, suggesting that pTRS1 inhibits PKR through a direct interaction. Together our results show that antagonism of PKR by HCMV pTRS1 and pIRS1 is critical for viral protein expression and efficient HCMV replication.ImportanceTo successfully replicate, viruses must counteract host defenses that limit viral protein synthesis. We have identified inhibition of the antiviral kinase PKR by the viral proteins TRS1 and IRS1 and shown that this is a critical step in HCMV replication. Our results suggest that inhibiting pTRS1 and pIRS1 function or restoring PKR activity during infection may be a successful strategy to limit HCMV disease.

Project description:Serine-arginine (SR) protein kinase 1 (SRPK1) catalyzes the phosphorylation of SR proteins, which are a conserved family of splicing factors that contain a domain rich in arginine and serine repeats. SR proteins play important roles in constitutive pre-mRNA splicing and are also important regulators of alternative splicing. During herpes simplex virus infection, SRPK1 is inactivated and its cellular distribution is markedly altered by interaction with the viral protein ICP27, resulting in hypophosphorylation of SR proteins. Mutational analysis previously showed that the RGG box motif of ICP27 is required for interaction with SRPK1; however, the mechanism for the inhibition and the exact role of the RGG box was unknown. Here, we used solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) to demonstrate that the isolated peptide comprising the RGG box of ICP27 binds to SRPK1 with high affinity, competing with a native substrate, the SR repeat region of SR protein SRSF1. We determined the crystal structure of the complex between SRPK1 and an RGG box peptide, which revealed that the viral peptide binds to the substrate docking groove, mimicking the interactions of SR repeats. Site-directed mutagenesis within the RGG box further confirmed the importance of selected arginine residues for interaction, relocalization, and inhibition of SRPK1 in vivo Together these data reveal the molecular mechanism of the competitive inhibition of cellular SRPK1 by viral ICP27, which modulates SRPK1 activity.IMPORTANCE Serine arginine (SR) proteins are a family of mRNA regulatory proteins that can modulate spliceosome association with different splice sites and therefore regulate alternative splicing. Phosphorylation within SR proteins is necessary for splice-site recognition, and this is catalyzed by SR protein kinase 1 (SRPK1). The herpes simplex virus (HSV-1) protein ICP27 has been shown previously to interact with and downregulate SRPK1 activity in vivo; however, the molecular mechanism for this interaction and inhibition was unknown. Here, we demonstrate that the isolated peptide fragment of ICP27 containing RGG box binds to SRPK1 with high affinity, and competes with a native cellular substrate. Elucidation of the SRPK1-RGG box crystal structure further showed that a short palindromic RGRRRGR sequence binds in the substrate docking groove of SRPK1, mimicking the binding of SR repeats of substrates. These data reveal how the viral protein ICP27 inactivates SRPK1, promoting hypophosphorylation of proteins regulating splicing.

Dataset Information

Mechanism of Protein Kinase R Inhibition by Human Cytomegalovirus pTRS1.

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Mechanism of Protein Kinase R Inhibition by Human Cytomegalovirus pTRS1.

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