Caruso Paola, Burla Romina, Piersanti Stefania, Cherubini Gioia, Remoli Cristina, Martina Yuri, Saggio Isabella
Sapienza University of Rome Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology, Rome, Italy.
Virology. 2009 Mar 15;385(2):343-50. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2008.12.005. Epub 2009 Jan 12.
The prion protein is a cell surface glycoprotein whose physiological role remains elusive, while its implication in transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) has been demonstrated. Multiple interactions between the prion protein and viruses have been described: viruses can act as co-factors in TSEs and life cycles of different viruses have been found to be controlled by prion modulation. We present data showing that human Adenovirus 5 induces prion expression. Inactivated Adenovirus did not alter prion transcription, while variants encoding for early products did, suggesting that the prion is stimulated by an early adenoviral function. Down-regulation of the prion through RNA interference showed that the prion controls adenovirus replication and expression. These data suggest that the prion protein could play a role in the defense strategy mounted by the host during viral infection, in a cell autonomous manner. These results have implications for the study of the prion protein and of associated TSEs.
朊病毒蛋白是一种细胞表面糖蛋白，其生理作用仍然难以捉摸，但其在传染性海绵状脑病（TSEs）中的作用已得到证实。朊病毒蛋白与病毒之间的多种相互作用已被描述：病毒可作为TSEs中的辅助因子，并且已发现不同病毒的生命周期受朊病毒调节的控制。我们提供的数据表明，人腺病毒5可诱导朊病毒表达。灭活的腺病毒不会改变朊病毒转录，而编码早期产物的变体则会改变，这表明朊病毒受到腺病毒早期功能的刺激。通过RNA干扰下调朊病毒表明，朊病毒控制腺病毒的复制和表达。这些数据表明，朊病毒蛋白可能以细胞自主的方式在宿主在病毒感染期间采取的防御策略中发挥作用。这些结果对朊病毒蛋白及相关TSEs的研究具有启示意义。
