Magic™ Anti-DDX5 (Phospho Y593) polyclonal Antibody

Myxoma virus (MYXV), a Leporipoxvirus, is being developed as an oncolytic virotherapeutic for the treatment of a variety of human cancers. MYXV tropism for human cancer cells is largely mediated by intracellular signaling networks that regulate viral replication or innate antiviral response pathways. Thus, MYXV is fully or partially permissive for the majority of human cancer cells that harbor defects in antiviral signaling, but a minority are nonpermissive because the virus infection aborts before its completion. To identify host factors relevant for MYXV tropism in human cancer cells, we performed a small interfering RNA (siRNA) library screen targeting the 58 human DEAD-box RNA helicases in two permissive human cancer cells (HeLa and A549), one semi-permissive (786-0), and one nonpermissive cell line (PANC-1). Five host RNA helicases (DDX3X, DDX5, DHX9, DHX37, DDX52) were inhibitory for optimal replication and thus classified as anti-viral, while three other cellular RNA helicases (DHX29, DHX35, RIG-I) were identified as pro-viral or pro-cellular because knockdown consistently reduced MYXV replication and/or required metabolic functions of permissive cancer cells. These findings suggest that replication of MYXV, and likely all poxviruses, is dramatically regulated positively and negatively by multiple host DEAD-box RNA helicases.

We recently identified a missense single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in DDX5 (rs1140409, p.S480A) that enhances the risk of developing cirrhosis. DDX5 is an ATP-dependent RNA helicase and transcriptional modulator. We hypothesized that the activity of DDX5 in regulating fibrogenic gene transcription in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) is altered by the S480A SNP. To test this, we employed two approaches: 1) transient overexpression of DDX5 cDNA or siRNA knockdown of endogenous DDX5, with replacement by either DDX5 wild type (WT) or SNP cDNA, or 2) stable expression of exogenous DDX5 WT and SNP in HSC lines. WT DDX5 mRNA in HSCs was inversely correlated with gene expression for alpha 2(I) collagen, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1, and transforming growth factor-beta 1. Stable DDX5 SNP-expressing cells had higher basal and transforming growth factor-beta 1-stimulated expression and enhanced promoter activities of fibrogenic genes. DDX5 variant-expressing cells also had higher Smad3 and AP-1-responsive reporter activities. In a one-hybrid GAL4 system, co-expression of the DDX5 SNP variant with chimeras of GAL4 DNA binding domain linked to JunD or Sp1 displayed higher transactivation of a GAL4-responsive reporter than that of DDX5 WT. Increased fibrogenic gene expression in DDX5 SNP-expressing cells was associated with reduced recruitment of DDX5 homodimers to responsive promoters, but there was no difference in the recruitment of the co-repressor HDAC1 (histone deacetylase 1). These data suggest that DDX5 is a repressor of fibrogenic genes in HSCs through interaction with transcriptional complexes. The enhanced fibrogenic activity of the DDX5 risk variant is linked to a reduced repressive function toward these target genes.