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Role of MxB in Alpha Interferon-Mediated Inhibition of HIV-1 Infection.

ABSTRACT: Type I interferon inhibits viruses through inducing the expression of antiviral proteins, including the myxovirus resistance (Mx) proteins. Compared to the human MxA protein, which inhibits a wide range of viruses, the MxB protein has been reported to specifically inhibit primate lentiviruses, including HIV-1, and herpesviruses. Further, the role of endogenous MxB in alpha interferon-mediated inhibition of HIV-1 infection was questioned by a recent study showing that MxB knockout did not increase the level of infection by HIV-1 which carried the G protein of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), allowing infection of CD4-negative HT1080 cells. In order to further examine the anti-HIV-1 activity of endogenous MxB, we have used CRISPR/Cas9 to deplete MxB in different cell lines and observed a substantial restoration of HIV-1 infection in the presence of alpha interferon treatment. However, this rescue effect of MxB knockout became much less pronounced when infection was performed with HIV-1 carrying the VSV G protein. Interestingly, a CRISPR/Cas9 knockout screen of alpha interferon-stimulated genes in U87-MG cells revealed that the genes for interferon-induced transmembrane protein 2 (IFITM2) and IFITM3 inhibited VSV G-pseudotyped HIV-1 much more strongly than the rest of the genes tested, including the gene for MxB. Therefore, our results demonstrate the importance of MxB in alpha interferon-mediated inhibition of HIV-1 infection, which, however, can be underestimated if infection is performed with VSV G protein-pseudotyped HIV-1, due to the high sensitivity of VSV G-mediated infection to inhibition by IFITM proteins.IMPORTANCE The results of this study reconcile the controversial reports regarding the anti-HIV-1 function of alpha interferon-induced MxB protein. In addition to the different cell types that may have contributed to the different observations, our data also suggest that VSV G protein-pseudotyped HIV-1 is much less inhibited by alpha interferon-induced MxB than HIV-1 itself is. Our results clearly demonstrate an important contribution of MxB to alpha interferon-mediated inhibition of HIV-1 in CD4+ T cells, which calls for using HIV-1 target cells and wild-type virus to test the relevance of the anti-HIV-1 activity of endogenous MxB and other restriction factors.

SUBMITTER: Xu B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6096811 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Role of MxB in Alpha Interferon-Mediated Inhibition of HIV-1 Infection.

Xu Bin B Pan Qinghua Q Liang Chen C

Journal of virology 20180816 17

Type I interferon inhibits viruses through inducing the expression of antiviral proteins, including the myxovirus resistance (Mx) proteins. Compared to the human MxA protein, which inhibits a wide range of viruses, the MxB protein has been reported to specifically inhibit primate lentiviruses, including HIV-1, and herpesviruses. Further, the role of endogenous MxB in alpha interferon-mediated inhibition of HIV-1 infection was questioned by a recent study showing that MxB knockout did not increas ...[more]

PMID: 29925663

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Project description:BackgroundInterferon-induced cellular proteins play important roles in the host response against viral infection. The Mx family of dynamin-like GTPases, which include MxA and MxB, target a wide variety of viruses. Despite considerable evidence demonstrating the breadth of antiviral activity of MxA, human MxB was only recently discovered to specifically inhibit lentiviruses. Here we assess both host and viral determinants that underlie MxB restriction of HIV-1 infection.ResultsHeterologous expression of MxB in human osteosarcoma cells potently inhibited HIV-1 infection (~12-fold), yet had little to no effect on divergent retroviruses. The anti-HIV effect manifested as a partial block in the formation of 2-long terminal repeat circle DNA and hence nuclear import, and we accordingly found evidence for an additional post-nuclear entry block. A large number of previously characterized capsid mutations, as well as mutations that abrogated integrase activity, counteracted MxB restriction. MxB expression suppressed integration into gene-enriched regions of chromosomes, similar to affects observed previously when cells were depleted for nuclear transport factors such as transportin 3. MxB activity did not require predicted GTPase active site residues or a series of unstructured loops within the stalk domain that confer functional oligomerization to related dynamin family proteins. In contrast, we observed an N-terminal stretch of residues in MxB to harbor key determinants. Protein localization conferred by a nuclear localization signal (NLS) within the N-terminal 25 residues, which was critical, was fully rescuable by a heterologous NLS. Consistent with this observation, a heterologous nuclear export sequence (NES) abolished full-length MxB activity. We additionally mapped sub-regions within amino acids 26-90 that contribute to MxB activity, finding sequences present within residues 27-50 particularly important.ConclusionsMxB inhibits HIV-1 by interfering with minimally two steps of infection, nuclear entry and post-nuclear trafficking and/or integration, without destabilizing the inherent catalytic activity of viral preintegration complexes. Putative MxB GTPase active site residues and stalk domain Loop 4 -- both previously shown to be necessary for MxA function -- were dispensable for MxB antiviral activity. Instead, we highlight subcellular localization and a yet-determined function(s) present in the unique MxB N-terminal region to be required for HIV-1 restriction.

Project description:Although all 12 subtypes of human interferon alpha (IFN-?) bind the same receptor, recent results have demonstrated that they elicit unique host responses and display distinct efficacies in the control of different viral infections. The IFN-?2 subtype is currently in HIV-1 clinical trials, but it has not consistently reduced viral loads in HIV-1 patients and is not the most effective subtype against HIV-1 in vitro We now demonstrate in humanized mice that, when delivered at the same high clinical dose, the human IFN-?14 subtype has very potent anti-HIV-1 activity whereas IFN-?2 does not. In both postexposure prophylaxis and treatment of acute infections, IFN-?14, but not IFN-?2, significantly suppressed HIV-1 replication and proviral loads. Furthermore, HIV-1-induced immune hyperactivation, which is a prognosticator of disease progression, was reduced by IFN-?14 but not IFN-?2. Whereas ineffective IFN-?2 therapy was associated with CD8(+) T cell activation, successful IFN-?14 therapy was associated with increased intrinsic and innate immunity, including significantly higher induction of tetherin and MX2, increased APOBEC3G signature mutations in HIV-1 proviral DNA, and higher frequencies of TRAIL(+) NK cells. These results identify IFN-?14 as a potent new therapeutic that operates via mechanisms distinct from those of antiretroviral drugs. The ability of IFN-?14 to reduce both viremia and proviral loads in vivo suggests that it has strong potential as a component of a cure strategy for HIV-1 infections. The broad implication of these results is that the antiviral efficacy of each individual IFN-? subtype should be evaluated against the specific virus being treated.The naturally occurring antiviral protein IFN-?2 is used to treat hepatitis viruses but has proven rather ineffective against HIV in comparison to triple therapy with the antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. Although ARVs suppress the replication of HIV, they fail to completely clear infections. Since IFN-? acts by different mechanism than ARVs and has been shown to reduce HIV proviral loads, clinical trials are under way to test whether IFN-?2 combined with ARVs might eradicate HIV-1 infections. IFN-? is actually a family of 12 distinct proteins, and each IFN-? subtype has different efficacies toward different viruses. Here, we use mice that contain a human immune system, so they can be infected with HIV. With this model, we demonstrate that while IFN-?2 is only weakly effective against HIV, IFN-?14 is extremely potent. This discovery identifies IFN-?14 as a more powerful IFN-? subtype for use in combination therapy trials aimed toward an HIV cure.

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Role of MxB in Alpha Interferon-Mediated Inhibition of HIV-1 Infection.

Publications

Role of MxB in Alpha Interferon-Mediated Inhibition of HIV-1 Infection.

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