Department of Preventive Medicine, Public Health and Microbiology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.
Microbiol Spectr. 2023 Jun 15;11(3):e0450822. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.04508-22. Epub 2023 Apr 10.
Viruses have developed many different strategies to counteract immune responses, and (VACV) is one of a kind in this aspect. To ensure an efficient infection, VACV undergoes a complex morphogenetic process resulting in the production of two types of infective virions: intracellular mature virus (MV) and extracellular enveloped virus (EV), whose spread depends on different dissemination mechanisms. MVs disseminate after cell lysis, whereas EVs are released or propelled in actin tails from living cells. Here, we show that ISG15 participates in the control of VACV dissemination. Infection of mouse embryonic fibroblasts with VACV International Health Department-J (IHD-J) strain resulted in decreased EV production, concomitant with reduced induction of actin tails and the abolition of comet-shaped plaque formation, compared to cells. Transmission electron microscopy revealed the accumulation of intracellular virus particles and a decrease in extracellular virus particles in the absence of interferon-stimulated gene 15 (ISG15), a finding consistent with altered virus egress. Immunoblot and quantitative proteomic analysis of sucrose gradient-purified virions from both genotypes reported differences in protein levels and composition of viral proteins present on virions, suggesting an ISG15-mediated control of viral proteome. Lastly, the generation of a recombinant IHD-J expressing V5-tagged ISG15 (IHD-J-ISG15) allowed us to identify several viral proteins as potential ISG15 targets, highlighting the proteins A34 and A36, which are essential for EV formation. Altogether, our results indicate that ISG15 is an important host factor in the regulation of VACV dissemination. Viral infections are a constant battle between the virus and the host. While the host's only goal is victory, the main purpose of the virus is to spread and conquer new territories at the expense of the host's resources. Along millions of years of incessant encounters, poxviruses have developed a unique strategy consisting in the production two specialized "troops": intracellular mature virions (MVs) and extracellular virions (EVs). MVs mediate transmission between hosts, and EVs ensure advance on the battlefield mediating the long-range dissemination. The mechanism by which the virus "decides" to shed from the primary site of infection and its significant impact in viral transmission is not yet fully established. Here, we demonstrate that this process is finely regulated by ISG15/ISGylation, an interferon-induced ubiquitin-like protein with broad antiviral activity. Studying the mechanism that viruses use during infection could result in new ways of understanding our perpetual war against disease and how we might win the next great battle.
病毒已经开发出许多不同的策略来对抗免疫反应,而(VACV)在这方面是独一无二的。为了确保有效的感染,VACV 经历了一个复杂的形态发生过程,导致产生两种类型的感染性病毒粒子:细胞内成熟病毒(MV)和细胞外包膜病毒(EV),其传播取决于不同的传播机制。MVs 在细胞裂解后传播,而 EVs 则从活细胞中以肌动蛋白尾巴的形式释放或推动。在这里,我们表明 ISG15 参与了 VACV 传播的控制。用 VACV 国际卫生署-J(IHD-J)株感染 小鼠胚胎成纤维细胞导致 EV 产生减少,同时诱导肌动蛋白尾巴减少和彗星形斑块形成减少,与 细胞相比。透射电子显微镜显示,在没有干扰素刺激基因 15(ISG15)的情况下,细胞内病毒颗粒积累,细胞外病毒颗粒减少,这与病毒出芽改变一致。来自两种基因型的蔗糖梯度纯化病毒的免疫印迹和定量蛋白质组学分析报告了病毒蛋白的蛋白水平和组成的差异,表明 ISG15 介导了病毒蛋白质组的控制。最后,生成表达 V5 标记的 ISG15(IHD-J-ISG15)的重组 IHD-J 允许我们鉴定出几种潜在的 ISG15 靶标病毒蛋白,突出了 A34 和 A36 蛋白,它们是 EV 形成所必需的。总的来说,我们的结果表明,ISG15 是调节 VACV 传播的重要宿主因子。病毒感染是病毒和宿主之间的一场持续不断的战斗。虽然宿主的唯一目标是胜利,但病毒的主要目的是传播并征服新的领土,牺牲宿主的资源。在数百万年的不断遭遇中,痘病毒已经发展出一种独特的策略,包括产生两种专门的“部队”:细胞内成熟病毒(MVs)和细胞外病毒(EVs)。MVs 在宿主之间传播,EVs 通过介导远程传播确保在战场上的推进。病毒“决定”从原发性感染部位脱落的机制及其对病毒传播的重大影响尚未完全确定。在这里,我们证明了这个过程是由 ISG15/ISGylation 精细调节的,ISG15/ISGylation 是一种具有广泛抗病毒活性的干扰素诱导的泛素样蛋白。研究病毒在感染过程中使用的机制可能会导致我们对与疾病的持久战争以及我们如何赢得下一场伟大战役的新的理解方式。