N-Myc interactor inhibits prototype foamy virus by sequestering viral Tas protein in the cytoplasm.

Abstract:

UNLABELLED:Foamy viruses (FVs) are complex retroviruses that establish lifelong persistent infection without evident pathology. However, the roles of cellular factors in FV latency are poorly understood. This study revealed that N-Myc interactor (Nmi) could inhibit the replication of prototype foamy virus (PFV). Overexpression of Nmi reduced PFV replication, whereas its depletion by small interfering RNA increased PFV replication. The Nmi-mediated impairment of PFV replication resulted from the diminished transactivation by PFV Tas of the viral long terminal repeat (LTR) and an internal promoter (IP). Nmi was determined to interact with Tas and abrogate its function by sequestration in the cytoplasm. In addition, human and bovine Nmi proteins were found to inhibit the replication of bovine foamy virus (BFV) and PFV. Together, these results indicate that Nmi inhibits both human and bovine FVs by interfering with the transactivation function of Tas and may have a role in the host defense against FV infection. IMPORTANCE:From this study, we report that the N-Myc interactor (Nmi), an interferon-induced protein, can interact with the regulatory protein Tas of the prototype foamy virus and sequester it in the cytoplasm. The results of this study suggest that Nmi plays an important role in maintaining foamy virus latency and may reveal a new pathway in the interferon-mediated antiviral barrier against viruses. These findings are important for understanding virus-host relationships not only with FVs but potentially for other retroviruses as well.

journal_name

J Virol

journal_title

Journal of virology

authors

Hu X,Yang W,Liu R,Geng Y,Qiao W,Tan J

doi

10.1128/JVI.00799-14

subject

Has Abstract

pub_date

2014-06-01 00:00:00

pages

7036-44

issue

12

eissn

0022-538X

issn

1098-5514

pii

JVI.00799-14

journal_volume

88

pub_type

杂志文章