Zinc Finger CCCH-Type Antiviral Protein 1 Restricts the Viral Replication by Positively Regulating Type I Interferon Response
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
Authors: Zhang, Baoge; Goraya, Mohsan Ullah; Chen, Na; Xu, Lifeng; Hong, Yan; Zhu, Meiyi; Chen, Ji-Long
Abstract
Zinc finger CCCH-type antiviral protein 1 (ZC3HAV1) is a host antiviral factor that can repress translation and promote degradation of specific viral mRNAs. In this study, we found that expression of ZC3HAV1 was significantly induced by infection with influenza A virus (IAV) and Sendai virus (Sev). It was shown that deficiency of IFNAR resulted in a dramatic decrease in the virus-induced expression of ZC3HAV1. Furthermore, transfection with poly(I:C) and treatment with interferon beta (IFN-beta) induced the ZC3HAV1 expression. Interference with the endogenous expression of ZC3HAV1 enhanced the replication of influenza virus by impairing the production of IFN-beta and MxA, following the infection of influenza virus. In contrast, ectopic expression of ZC3HAV1 significantly restricted the replication of influenza virus by increasing the IFN-beta expression. In addition, ZC3HAV1 also promoted the induction of tumor necrosis factor and interleukin 6. These results suggest that ZC3HAV1 is induced by IFN-beta/IFNAR signaling during IAV and Sev infection and involved in positive regulation of IFN-dependent innate antiviral response.
H2 influenza A virus is not pathogenic in Tmprss2 knock-out mice
VIROLOGY JOURNAL
Authors: Lambertz, Ruth Lydia Olga; Gerhauser, Ingo; Nehlmeier, Inga; Gaertner, Sabine; Winkler, Michael; Leist, Sarah Rebecca; Kollmus, Heike; Poehlmann, Stefan; Schughart, Klaus
Abstract
The host cell protease TMPRSS2 cleaves the influenza A virus (IAV) hemagglutinin (HA). Several reports have described resistance of Tmprss2(-/-) knock-out (KO) mice to IAV infection but IAV of the H2 subtype have not been examined yet. Here, we demonstrate that TMPRSS2 is able to cleave H2-HA in cell culture and that Tmprss2(-/-) mice are resistant to infection with a re-assorted PR8_HA(H2) virus. Infection of KO mice did not cause major body weight loss or death. Furthermore, no significant increase in lung weights and no virus replication were observed in Tmprss2(-/-) mice. Finally, only minor tissue damage and infiltration of immune cells were detected and no virus-positive cells were found in histological sections of Tmprss2(-/-) mice. In summary, our studies indicate that TMPRSS2 is required for H2 IAV spread and pathogenesis in mice. These findings extend previous results pointing towards a central role of TMPRSS2 in IAV infection and validate host proteases as a potential target for antiviral therapy.
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