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Arginine methylation of SARS-Cov-2 nucleocapsid protein regulates RNA binding, its ability to suppress stress granule formation, and viral replication.

ABSTRACT: Viral proteins are known to be methylated by host protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) necessary for the viral life cycle, but it remains unknown whether severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) proteins are methylated. Herein, we show that PRMT1 methylates SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) protein at residues R95 and R177 within RGG/RG motifs, preferred PRMT target sequences. We confirmed arginine methylation of N protein by immunoblotting viral proteins extracted from SARS-CoV-2 virions isolated from cell culture. Type I PRMT inhibitor (MS023) or substitution of R95 or R177 with lysine inhibited interaction of N protein with the 5'-UTR of SARS-CoV-2 genomic RNA, a property required for viral packaging. We also defined the N protein interactome in HEK293 cells, which identified PRMT1 and many of its RGG/RG substrates, including the known interacting protein G3BP1 as well as other components of stress granules (SGs), which are part of the host antiviral response. Methylation of R95 regulated the ability of N protein to suppress the formation of SGs, as R95K substitution or MS023 treatment blocked N-mediated suppression of SGs. Also, the coexpression of methylarginine reader Tudor domain-containing protein 3 quenched N protein-mediated suppression of SGs in a dose-dependent manner. Finally, pretreatment of VeroE6 cells with MS023 significantly reduced SARS-CoV-2 replication. Because type I PRMT inhibitors are already undergoing clinical trials for cancer treatment, inhibiting arginine methylation to target the later stages of the viral life cycle such as viral genome packaging and assembly of virions may represent an additional therapeutic application of these drugs.

SUBMITTER: Cai T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8141346 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Cytoplasmic stress granules (SGs) are generally triggered by stress-induced translation arrest for storing mRNAs. Recently, it has been shown that SGs exert anti-viral functions due to their involvement in protein synthesis shut off and recruitment of innate immune signaling intermediates. The largest RNA viruses, coronaviruses, impose great threat to public safety and animal health; however, the significance of SGs in coronavirus infection is largely unknown. Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV) is the first identified coronavirus in 1930s and has been prevalent in poultry farm for many years. In this study, we provided evidence that IBV overcomes the host antiviral response by inhibiting SGs formation via the virus-encoded endoribonuclease nsp15. By immunofluorescence analysis, we observed that IBV infection not only did not trigger SGs formation in approximately 80% of the infected cells, but also impaired the formation of SGs triggered by heat shock, sodium arsenite, or NaCl stimuli. We further demonstrated that the intrinsic endoribonuclease activity of nsp15 was responsible for the interference of SGs formation. In fact, nsp15-defective recombinant IBV (rIBV-nsp15-H238A) greatly induced the formation of SGs, along with accumulation of dsRNA and activation of PKR, whereas wild type IBV failed to do so. Consequently, infection with rIBV-nsp15-H238A strongly triggered transcription of IFN-β which in turn greatly affected rIBV-nsp15-H238A replication. Further analysis showed that SGs function as an antiviral hub, as demonstrated by the attenuated IRF3-IFN response and increased production of IBV in SG-defective cells. Additional evidence includes the aggregation of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and signaling intermediates to the IBV-induced SGs. Collectively, our data demonstrate that the endoribonuclease nsp15 of IBV interferes with the formation of antiviral hub SGs by regulating the accumulation of viral dsRNA and by antagonizing the activation of PKR, eventually ensuring productive virus replication. We further demonstrated that nsp15s from PEDV, TGEV, SARS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2 harbor the conserved function to interfere with the formation of chemically-induced SGs. Thus, we speculate that coronaviruses employ similar nsp15-mediated mechanisms to antagonize the host anti-viral SGs formation to ensure efficient virus replication.

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Arginine methylation of SARS-Cov-2 nucleocapsid protein regulates RNA binding, its ability to suppress stress granule formation, and viral replication.

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