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PH Dependence of Zika Membrane Fusion Kinetics Reveals an Off-Pathway State.

ABSTRACT: The recent spread of Zika virus stimulated extensive research on its structure, pathogenesis, and immunology, but mechanistic study of entry has lagged behind, in part due to the lack of a defined reconstituted system. Here, we report Zika membrane fusion measured using a platform that bypasses these barriers, enabling observation of single-virus fusion kinetics without receptor reconstitution. Surprisingly, target membrane binding and low pH are sufficient to trigger viral hemifusion to liposomes containing only neutral lipids. Second, although the extent of hemifusion strongly depends on pH, hemifusion rates are relatively insensitive to pH. Kinetic analysis shows that an off-pathway state is required to capture this pH-dependence and suggests this may be related to viral inactivation. Our surrogate-receptor approach thus yields new understanding of flaviviral entry mechanisms and should be applicable to many emerging viruses.

SUBMITTER: Rawle RJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6276045 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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pH Dependence of Zika Membrane Fusion Kinetics Reveals an Off-Pathway State.

Rawle Robert J RJ Webster Elizabeth R ER Jelen Marta M Kasson Peter M PM Boxer Steven G SG

ACS central science 20181012 11

The recent spread of Zika virus stimulated extensive research on its structure, pathogenesis, and immunology, but mechanistic study of entry has lagged behind, in part due to the lack of a defined reconstituted system. Here, we report Zika membrane fusion measured using a platform that bypasses these barriers, enabling observation of single-virus fusion kinetics without receptor reconstitution. Surprisingly, target membrane binding and low pH are sufficient to trigger viral hemifusion to liposom ...[more]

PMID: 30555902

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Project description:UNLABELLED:Hantaviruses cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in the Old World and a highly fatal hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) in the New World. No vaccines or antiviral therapies are currently available to prevent or treat hantavirus disease, and gaps in our understanding of how hantaviruses enter cells challenge the search for therapeutics. We performed a haploid genetic screen in human cells to identify host factors required for entry by Andes virus, a highly virulent New World hantavirus. We found that multiple genes involved in cholesterol sensing, regulation, and biosynthesis, including key components of the sterol response element-binding protein (SREBP) pathway, are critical for Andes virus entry. Genetic or pharmacological disruption of the membrane-bound transcription factor peptidase/site-1 protease (MBTPS1/S1P), an SREBP control element, dramatically reduced infection by virulent hantaviruses of both the Old World and New World clades but not by rhabdoviruses or alphaviruses, indicating that this pathway is broadly, but selectively, required by hantaviruses. These results could be fully explained as arising from the modest depletion of cellular membrane cholesterol that accompanied S1P disruption. Mechanistic studies of cells and with protein-free liposomes suggested that high levels of cholesterol are specifically needed for hantavirus membrane fusion. Taken together, our results indicate that the profound dependence on target membrane cholesterol is a fundamental, and unusual, biophysical property of hantavirus glycoprotein-membrane interactions during entry. IMPORTANCE:Although hantaviruses cause important human diseases worldwide, no specific antiviral treatments are available. One of the major obstacles to the development of new therapies is a lack of understanding of how hantaviruses hijack our own host factors to enter cells. Here, we identified multiple cellular genes that control the levels of cholesterol in cellular membranes to be important for hantavirus entry. Our findings suggest that high concentrations of cholesterol in cellular membranes are required at a specific step in the entry process-fusion between viral and cellular membranes-that allows escape of the hantavirus genome into the host cell cytoplasm to initiate infection. Our findings uncover a fundamental feature of the hantavirus infection mechanism and point to cholesterol-lowering drugs as a potential new treatment of hantaviral infections.

Project description:The conformational change of the influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) protein mediating the fusion between the virus envelope and the endosomal membrane was hypothesized to be induced by protonation of specific histidine residues since their pKas match the pHs of late endosomes (pK(a) of ? 6.0). However, such critical key histidine residues remain to be identified. We investigated the highly conserved His184 at the HA1-HA1 interface and His110 at the HA1-HA2 interface of highly pathogenic H5N1 HA as potential pH sensors. By replacing both histidines with different amino acids and analyzing the effect of these mutations on conformational change and fusion, we found that His184, but not His110, plays an essential role in the pH dependence of the conformational change of HA. Computational modeling of the protonated His184 revealed that His184 is central in a conserved interaction network possibly regulating the pH dependence of conformational change via its pKa. As the propensity of histidine to get protonated largely depends on its local environment, mutation of residues in the vicinity of histidine may affect its pK(a). The HA of highly pathogenic H5N1 viruses carries a Glu-to-Arg mutation at position 216 close to His184. By mutation of residue 216 in the highly pathogenic as well as the low pathogenic H5 HA, we observed a significant influence on the pH dependence of conformational change and fusion. These results are in support of a pK(a)-modulating effect of neighboring residues.The main pathogenic determinant of influenza viruses, the hemagglutinin (HA) protein, triggers a key step of the infection process: the fusion of the virus envelope with the endosomal membrane releasing the viral genome. Whereas essential aspects of the fusion-inducing mechanism of HA at low pH are well understood, the molecular trigger of the pH-dependent conformational change inducing fusion has been unclear. We provide evidence that His184 regulates the pH dependence of the HA conformational change via its pK(a). Mutations of neighboring residues which may affect the pK(a) of His184 could play an important role in virus adaptation to a specific host. We suggest that mutation of neighboring residue 216, which is present in all highly pathogenic phenotypes of H5N1 influenza virus strains, contributed to the adaptation of these viruses to the human host via its effect on the pKa of His184.

Dataset Information

PH Dependence of Zika Membrane Fusion Kinetics Reveals an Off-Pathway State.

Publications

pH Dependence of Zika Membrane Fusion Kinetics Reveals an Off-Pathway State.

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