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Schmitz KS, Handrejk K, Liepina L, Bauer L, Haas GD, van Puijfelik F, Veldhuis Kroeze EJB, Riekstina M, Strautmanis J, Cao H, Verdijk RM, GeurtsvanKessel CH, van Boheemen S, van Riel D, Lee B, Porotto M, de Swart RL, de Vries RD. Functional properties of measles virus proteins derived from a subacute sclerosing panencephalitis patient who received repeated remdesivir treatments. J Virol 2024; 98:e0187423. [PMID: 38329336 PMCID: PMC10949486 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01874-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) is a rare but fatal late neurological complication of measles, caused by persistent measles virus (MeV) infection of the central nervous system. There are no drugs approved for the treatment of SSPE. Here, we followed the clinical progression of a 5-year-old SSPE patient after treatment with the nucleoside analog remdesivir, conducted a post-mortem evaluation of the patient's brain, and characterized the MeV detected in the brain. The quality of life of the patient transiently improved after the first two courses of remdesivir, but a third course had no further clinical effect, and the patient eventually succumbed to his condition. Post-mortem evaluation of the brain displayed histopathological changes including loss of neurons and demyelination paired with abundant presence of MeV RNA-positive cells throughout the brain. Next-generation sequencing of RNA isolated from the brain revealed a complete MeV genome with mutations that are typically detected in SSPE, characterized by a hypermutated M gene. Additional mutations were detected in the polymerase (L) gene, which were not associated with resistance to remdesivir. Functional characterization showed that mutations in the F gene led to a hyperfusogenic phenotype predominantly mediated by N465I. Additionally, recombinant wild-type-based MeV with the SSPE-F gene or the F gene with the N465I mutation was no longer lymphotropic but instead efficiently disseminated in neural cultures. Altogether, this case encourages further investigation of remdesivir as a potential treatment of SSPE and highlights the necessity to functionally understand SSPE-causing MeV.IMPORTANCEMeasles virus (MeV) causes acute, systemic disease and remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality in humans. Despite the lack of known entry receptors in the brain, MeV can persistently infect the brain causing the rare but fatal neurological disorder subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE). SSPE-causing MeVs are characterized by a hypermutated genome and a hyperfusogenic F protein that facilitates the rapid spread of MeV throughout the brain. No treatment against SSPE is available, but the nucleoside analog remdesivir was recently demonstrated to be effective against MeV in vitro. We show that treatment of an SSPE patient with remdesivir led to transient clinical improvement and did not induce viral escape mutants, encouraging the future use of remdesivir in SSPE patients. Functional characterization of the viral proteins sheds light on the shared properties of SSPE-causing MeVs and further contributes to understanding how those viruses cause disease.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kim Handrejk
- Department of Viroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Lelde Liepina
- Clinic for Pediatric Neurology and Neurosurgery, Children’s Clinical University Hospital, Riga, Latvia
| | - Lisa Bauer
- Department of Viroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Griffin D. Haas
- Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | | | | | - Marta Riekstina
- Department of Pathology, Children’s Clinical University Hospital, Riga, Latvia
| | - Jurgis Strautmanis
- Clinic for Pediatric Neurology and Neurosurgery, Children’s Clinical University Hospital, Riga, Latvia
| | - Huyen Cao
- Departments of Clinical Research, Biometrics, and Virology, Gilead Sciences, Inc., Foster City, California, USA
| | - Robert M. Verdijk
- Department of Pathology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | | | | | - Debby van Riel
- Department of Viroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Benhur Lee
- Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Matteo Porotto
- Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York, USA
- Center for Host–Pathogen Interaction, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York, USA
- Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Caserta, Italy
| | - Rik L. de Swart
- Department of Viroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Rory D. de Vries
- Department of Viroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
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Satoh Y, Higuchi K, Nishikawa D, Wakimoto H, Konami M, Sakamoto K, Kitagawa Y, Gotoh B, Jiang DP, Hotta H, Itoh M. M protein of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis virus, synergistically with the F protein, plays a crucial role in viral neuropathogenicity. J Gen Virol 2021; 102. [PMID: 34643483 PMCID: PMC8604190 DOI: 10.1099/jgv.0.001682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) is a rare fatal neurodegenerative disease caused by a measles virus (MV) variant, SSPE virus, that accumulates mutations during long-term persistent infection of the central nervous system (CNS). Clusters of mutations identified around the matrix (M) protein in many SSPE viruses suppress productive infectious particle release and accelerate cell–cell fusion, which are features of SSPE viruses. It was reported, however, that these defects of M protein function might not be correlated directly with promotion of neurovirulence, although they might enable establishment of persistent infection. Neuropathogenicity is closely related to the character of the viral fusion (F) protein, and amino acid substitution(s) in the F protein of some SSPE viruses confers F protein hyperfusogenicity, facilitating viral propagation in the CNS through cell–cell fusion and leading to neurovirulence. The F protein of an SSPE virus Kobe-1 strain, however, displayed only moderately enhanced fusion activity and required additional mutations in the M protein for neuropathogenicity in mice. We demonstrated here the mechanism for the M protein of the Kobe-1 strain supporting the fusion activity of the F protein and cooperatively inducing neurovirulence, even though each protein, independently, has no effect on virulence. The occurrence of SSPE has been estimated recently as one in several thousand in children who acquired measles under the age of 5 years, markedly higher than reported previously. The probability of a specific mutation (or mutations) occurring in the F protein conferring hyperfusogenicity and neuropathogenicity might not be sufficient to explain the high frequency of SSPE. The induction of neurovirulence by M protein synergistically with moderately fusogenic F protein could account for the high frequency of SSPE.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuto Satoh
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Bio-Science, Nagahama Institute of Bio-Science and Technology, Nagahama, Shiga, Japan
| | - Kurara Higuchi
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Bio-Science, Nagahama Institute of Bio-Science and Technology, Nagahama, Shiga, Japan
| | - Daichi Nishikawa
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Bio-Science, Nagahama Institute of Bio-Science and Technology, Nagahama, Shiga, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Wakimoto
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Bio-Science, Nagahama Institute of Bio-Science and Technology, Nagahama, Shiga, Japan
| | - Miho Konami
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Bio-Science, Nagahama Institute of Bio-Science and Technology, Nagahama, Shiga, Japan
| | - Kento Sakamoto
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Bio-Science, Nagahama Institute of Bio-Science and Technology, Nagahama, Shiga, Japan
| | - Yoshinori Kitagawa
- Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Department of Pathology, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Shiga, Japan
| | - Bin Gotoh
- Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Department of Pathology, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Shiga, Japan
| | - Da-Peng Jiang
- Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe University, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan
| | - Hak Hotta
- Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe University, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan
- Present address: Faculty of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, Konan Women’s University, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan
| | - Masae Itoh
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Bio-Science, Nagahama Institute of Bio-Science and Technology, Nagahama, Shiga, Japan
- *Correspondence: Masae Itoh,
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Structures of the prefusion form of measles virus fusion protein in complex with inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:2496-2501. [PMID: 29463726 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1718957115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Measles virus (MeV), a major cause of childhood morbidity and mortality, is highly immunotropic and one of the most contagious pathogens. MeV may establish, albeit rarely, persistent infection in the central nervous system, causing fatal and intractable neurodegenerative diseases such as subacute sclerosing panencephalitis and measles inclusion body encephalitis. Recent studies have suggested that particular substitutions in the MeV fusion (F) protein are involved in the pathogenesis by destabilizing the F protein and endowing it with hyperfusogenicity. Here we show the crystal structures of the prefusion MeV-F alone and in complex with the small compound AS-48 or a fusion inhibitor peptide. Notably, these independently developed inhibitors bind the same hydrophobic pocket located at the region connecting the head and stalk of MeV-F, where a number of substitutions in MeV isolates from neurodegenerative diseases are also localized. Since these inhibitors could suppress membrane fusion mediated by most of the hyperfusogenic MeV-F mutants, the development of more effective inhibitors based on the structures may be warranted to treat MeV-induced neurodegenerative diseases.
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