TY - JOUR
T1 - NSm protein of rift valley fever virus suppresses virus-induced apoptosis
AU - Won, Sungyong
AU - Ikegami, Tetsuro
AU - Peters, C. J.
AU - Makino, Shinji
PY - 2007/12
Y1 - 2007/12
N2 - Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is a member of the genus Phlebovirus within the family Bunyaviridae. It can cause severe epidemics among ruminants and fever, myalgia, a hemorrhagic syndrome, and/or encephalitis in humans. The RVFV M segment encodes the NSm and 78-kDa proteins and two major envelope proteins, Gn and Gc. The biological functions of the NSm and 78-kDa proteins are unknown; both proteins are dispensable for viral replication in cell cultures. To determine the biological functions of the NSm and 78-kDa proteins, we generated the mutant virus arMP-12-del21/384, carrying a large deletion in the pre-Gn region of the M segment. Neither NSm nor the 78-kDa protein was synthesized in arMP-12-del21/384-infected cells. Although arMP-12-del21/384 and its parental virus, arMP-12, showed similar growth kinetics and viral RNA and protein accumulation in infected cells, arMP-12-del21/384-infected cells induced extensive cell death and produced larger plaques than did arMP-12-infected cells. arMP-12-del21/384 replication triggered apoptosis, including the cleavage of caspase-3, the cleavage of its downstream substrate, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, and activation of the initiator caspases, caspase-8 and -9, earlier in infection than arMP-12. NSm expression in arMP-12-del21/384-infected cells suppressed the severity of caspase-3 activation. Further, NSm protein expression inhibited the staurosporine-induced activation of caspase-8 and -9, demonstrating that other viral proteins were dispensable for NSm's function in inhibiting apoptosis. RVFV NSm protein is the first identified Phlebovirus protein that has an antiapoptotic function.
AB - Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is a member of the genus Phlebovirus within the family Bunyaviridae. It can cause severe epidemics among ruminants and fever, myalgia, a hemorrhagic syndrome, and/or encephalitis in humans. The RVFV M segment encodes the NSm and 78-kDa proteins and two major envelope proteins, Gn and Gc. The biological functions of the NSm and 78-kDa proteins are unknown; both proteins are dispensable for viral replication in cell cultures. To determine the biological functions of the NSm and 78-kDa proteins, we generated the mutant virus arMP-12-del21/384, carrying a large deletion in the pre-Gn region of the M segment. Neither NSm nor the 78-kDa protein was synthesized in arMP-12-del21/384-infected cells. Although arMP-12-del21/384 and its parental virus, arMP-12, showed similar growth kinetics and viral RNA and protein accumulation in infected cells, arMP-12-del21/384-infected cells induced extensive cell death and produced larger plaques than did arMP-12-infected cells. arMP-12-del21/384 replication triggered apoptosis, including the cleavage of caspase-3, the cleavage of its downstream substrate, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, and activation of the initiator caspases, caspase-8 and -9, earlier in infection than arMP-12. NSm expression in arMP-12-del21/384-infected cells suppressed the severity of caspase-3 activation. Further, NSm protein expression inhibited the staurosporine-induced activation of caspase-8 and -9, demonstrating that other viral proteins were dispensable for NSm's function in inhibiting apoptosis. RVFV NSm protein is the first identified Phlebovirus protein that has an antiapoptotic function.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=37049008494&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=37049008494&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1128/JVI.01238-07
DO - 10.1128/JVI.01238-07
M3 - Article
C2 - 17913816
AN - SCOPUS:37049008494
SN - 0022-538X
VL - 81
SP - 13335
EP - 13345
JO - Journal of virology
JF - Journal of virology
IS - 24
ER -