Viruses (Jul 2019)

The Nucleoprotein and Phosphoprotein of Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus Inhibit Interferons Signaling by Blocking the JAK-STAT Pathway

  • Pengfei Li,
  • Zixiang Zhu,
  • Xiangle Zhang,
  • Wen Dang,
  • Linlin Li,
  • Xiaoli Du,
  • Miaotao Zhang,
  • Chunyan Wu,
  • Qinghong Xue,
  • Xiangtao Liu,
  • Haixue Zheng,
  • Yuchen Nan

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/v11070629
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 7
p. 629

Abstract

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Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) is associated with global peste des petits ruminants resulting in severe economic loss. Peste des petits ruminants virus dampens host interferon-based signaling pathways through multiple mechanisms. Previous studies deciphered the role of V and C in abrogating IFN-β production. Moreover, V protein directly interacted with signal transducers and activators of transcription 1 (STAT1) and STAT2 resulting in the impairment of host IFN responses. In our present study, PPRV infection inhibited both IFN-β- and IFN-γ-induced activation of IFN-stimulated response element (ISRE) and IFN-γ-activated site (GAS) element, respectively. Both N and P proteins, functioning as novel IFN response antagonists, markedly suppressed IFN-β-induced ISRE and IFN-γ-induced GAS promoter activation to impair downstream upregulation of various interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) and prevent STAT1 nuclear translocation. Specifically, P protein interacted with STAT1 and subsequently inhibited STAT1 phosphorylation, whereas N protein neither interacted with STAT1 nor inhibited STAT1 phosphorylation as well as dimerization, suggesting that the N and P protein antagonistic effects were different. Though they differed in their relationship to STAT1, both proteins blocked JAK-STAT signaling, severely negating the host antiviral immune response. Our study revealed a new mechanism employed by PPRV to evade host innate immune response, providing a platform to study the interaction of paramyxoviruses and host response.

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