A novel monolayer cell line derived from human umbilical cord blood cells shows high sensitivity to measles virus

Measles virus selectively blind to signaling lymphocyte activity molecule has oncolytic efficacy against nectin-4-expressing pancreatic cancer cells

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most intractable cancers and has a devastating prognosis; over the past three decades the 5-year survival rate has been <10%. Therefore, development of a novel anticancer treatment for pancreatic cancer is a matter of urgency. We previously developed an oncolytic recombinant measles virus (MV), rMV-SLAMblind, that had lost the ability to bind to its principal receptor, signaling lymphocyte activity molecule (SLAM), but which selectively infected and efficiently killed nectin-4-expressing breast and lung cancer cells. In this study, we analyzed the antitumor effect of this virus against pancreatic cancer. Nectin-4 was expressed on the surface of 4/16 tested pancreatic cancer cell lines, which were efficiently infected and killed by rMV-SLAMblind in vitro. The intratumoral inoculation of rMV-SLAMblind suppressed the growth of KLM1 and Capan-2 cells xenografted in SCID mice. The sequence analysis of MV isolated from the tumor revealed that the designed mutation in the H protein of rMV-SLAMblind had been stably maintained for 47 days after the last inoculation. These results suggest that rMV-SLAMblind is a promising candidate for the novel treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Measles Virus Infection Inactivates Cellular Protein Phosphatase 5 with Consequent Suppression of Sp1 and c-Myc Activities

Measles virus (MeV) causes several unique syndromes, including transient immunosuppression. To clarify the cellular responses to MeV infection, we previously analyzed a MeV-infected epithelial cell line and a lymphoid cell line by microarray and showed that the expression of numerous genes was up- or downregulated in the epithelial cells. In particular, there was a characteristic comprehensive downregulation of housekeeping genes during late stage infection. To identify the mechanism underlying this phenomenon, we examined the phosphorylation status of transcription factors and kinase/phosphatase activities in epithelial cells after infection. MeV infection inactivated cellular protein phosphatase 5 (PP5) that consequently inactivated DNA-dependent protein kinase, which reduced Sp1 phosphorylation levels, and c-Myc degradation, both of which downregulated the expression of many housekeeping genes. In addition, intracellular accumulation of viral nucleocapsid inactivated PP5 and subsequent downstream responses. These findings demonstrate a novel strategy of MeV during infection, which causes the collapse of host cellular functions.

IMPORTANCE

Measles virus (MeV) is one of the most important pathogens in humans. We previously showed that MeV infection induces the comprehensive downregulation of housekeeping genes in epithelial cells. By examining this phenomenon, we clarified the molecular mechanism underlying the constitutive expression of housekeeping genes in cells, which is maintained by cellular protein phosphatase 5 (PP5) and DNA-dependent protein kinase. We also demonstrated that MeV targets PP5 for downregulation in epithelial cells. This is the first report to show how MeV infection triggers a reduction in overall cellular functions of infected host cells. Our findings will help uncover unique pathogenicities caused by MeV.

A systems biology starter kit for arenaviruses

Systems biology approaches in virology aim to integrate viral and host biological networks, and thus model the infection process. The growing availability of high-throughput “-omics” techniques and datasets, as well as the ever-increasing sophistication of in silico modeling tools, has resulted in a corresponding rise in the complexity of the analyses that can be performed. The present study seeks to review and organize published evidence regarding virus-host interactions for the arenaviruses, from alterations in the host proteome during infection, to reported protein-protein interactions. In this way, we hope to provide an overview of the interplay between arenaviruses and the host cell, and lay the foundations for complementing current arenavirus research with a systems-level approach.

Selective translation of the measles virus nucleocapsid mRNA by la protein

Measles, caused by measles virus (MeV) infection, is the leading cause of death in children because of secondary infections attributable to MeV-induced immune suppression. Recently, we have shown that wild-type MeVs induce the suppression of protein synthesis in host cells (referred to as “shutoff”) and that viral mRNAs are preferentially translated under shutoff conditions in infected cells. To determine the mechanism behind the preferential translation of viral mRNA, we focused on the 5′ untranslated region (UTR) of nucleocapsid (N) mRNA. The La/SSB autoantigen (La) was found to specifically bind to an N-5′UTR probe. Recombinant La enhanced the translation of luciferase mRNA containing the N-5′UTR (N-fLuc), and RNA interference of La suppressed N-fLuc translation. Furthermore, recombinant MeV lacking the La-binding motif in the N-5′UTR displayed delayed viral protein synthesis and growth kinetics at an early phase of infection. These results suggest that La induced predominant translation of N mRNA via binding to its 5′UTR under shutoff conditions. This is the first report on a cellular factor that specifically regulates paramyxovirus mRNA translation.

Peroxiredoxin 1 is required for efficient transcription and replication of measles virus

Measles is a highly contagious human disease caused by the measles virus (MeV). In this study, by proteomic analysis, we identified peroxiredoxin 1 (Prdx1) as a host factor that binds to the C-terminal region of the nucleoprotein (N; N(TAIL)) of MeV. Glutathione S-transferase (GST) pulldown experiments showed that the Prdx1-binding site overlapped with the MeV phosphoprotein (P)-binding site on N(TAIL) and that Prdx1 competed for the binding to N(TAIL) with the P protein, which is a component of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). Furthermore, RNA interference for Prdx1 resulted in a significant reduction in MeV growth in HEK293-SLAM cells. A minigenome assay indicated that Prdx1 suppression affected the viral RNA transcription and/or replication step. Relative quantification of viral RNA by real-time PCR (RT-PCR) showed that Prdx1 suppression not only reduced viral RNA transcription and replication but also enhanced polar attenuation in viral mRNA transcription. Surface plasmon resonance analysis showed that the binding affinity of Prdx1 to MeV-N was 40-fold lower than that of MeV-P to MeV-N, which suggested that Prdx1 might be involved in the early stage of MeV infection, when the expression level of Prdx1 was much higher than that of MeV-P. Since Prdx1 was expressed abundantly and constitutively in various cells, the results in this study indicate that Prdx1 is one of the inherent host factors implicated in MeV RNA synthesis.

CD147/EMMPRIN acts as a functional entry receptor for measles virus on epithelial cells

Measles is a highly contagious human disease caused by measles virus (MeV) and remains the leading cause of death in children, particularly in developing countries. Wild-type MeV preferentially infects lymphocytes by using signaling lymphocytic activation molecule (SLAM), whose expression is restricted to hematopoietic cells, as a receptor. MeV also infects other epithelial and neuronal cells that do not express SLAM and causes pneumonia and diarrhea and, sometimes, serious symptoms such as measles encephalitis and subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. The discrepancy between the tissue tropism of MeV and the distribution of SLAM-positive cells suggests that there are unknown receptors other than SLAM for MeV. Here we identified CD147/EMMPRIN (extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer), a transmembrane glycoprotein, which acts as a receptor for MeV on epithelial cells. Furthermore, we found the incorporation of cyclophilin B (CypB), a cellular ligand for CD147, in MeV virions, and showed that inhibition of CypB incorporation significantly attenuated SLAM-independent infection on epithelial cells, while it had no effect on SLAM-dependent infection. To date, MeV infection was considered to be triggered by binding of its hemagglutinin (H) protein and cellular receptors. Our present study, however, indicates that MeV infection also occurs via CD147 and virion-associated CypB, independently of MeV H. Since CD147 is expressed in a variety of cells, including epithelial and neuronal cells, this molecule possibly functions as an entry receptor for MeV in SLAM-negative cells. This is the first report among members of the Mononegavirales that CD147 is used as a virus entry receptor via incorporated CypB in the virions.

Measles virus induces cell-type specific changes in gene expression

Measles virus (MV) causes various responses including the induction of immune responses, transient immunosuppression and establishment of long-lasting immunity. To obtain a comprehensive view of the effects of MV infection on target cells, DNA microarray analyses of two different cell-types were performed. An epithelial (293SLAM; a 293 cell line stably expressing SLAM) and lymphoid (COBL-a) cell line were inoculated with purified wild-type MV. Microarray analyses revealed significant differences in the regulation of cellular gene expression between these two different cells. In 293SLAM cells, upregulation of genes involved in the antiviral response was rapidly induced; in the later stages of infection, this was followed by regulation of many genes across a broad range of functional categories. On the other hand, in COBL-a cells, only a limited set of gene expression profiles was modulated after MV infection. Since it was reported that V protein of MV inhibited the IFN signaling pathway, we performed a microarray analysis using V knockout MV to evaluate V protein's effect on cellular gene expression. The V knockout MV displayed a similar profile to that of parental MV. In particular, in COBL-a cells infected with the virus, no alteration of cellular gene expression, including IFN signaling, was observed. Furthermore, IFN signaling analyzed in vitro was completely suppressed by MV infection in the COBL-a cells. These results reveal that MV induces different cellular responses in a cell-type specific manner. Microarray analyses will provide us useful information about potential mechanisms of MV pathogenesis.

Measles virus N protein inhibits host translation by binding to eIF3-p40

The nonsegmented, negative-sense RNA genome of measles virus (MV) is encapsidated by the virus-encoded nucleocapsid protein (N). In this study, we searched for N-binding cellular proteins by using MV-N as bait and screening the human T-cell cDNA library by yeast two-hybrid assay and isolated the p40 subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 3 (eIF3-p40) as a binding partner. The interaction between MV-N and eIF3-p40 in mammalian cells was confirmed by coimmunoprecipitation. Since eIF3-p40 is a translation initiation factor, we analyzed the potential inhibitory effect of MV-N on protein synthesis. Glutathione S-transferase (GST)-fused MV-N (GST-N) inhibited translation of reporter mRNAs in rabbit reticulocyte lysate translation system in a dose-dependent manner. Encephalomyocarditis virus internal ribosomal entry site-mediated translation, which requires canonical initiation factors to initiate translation, was also inhibited by GST-N. In contrast, a unique form of translation mediated by the intergenic region of Plautia stali intestine virus, which can assemble 80S ribosomes in the absence of canonical initiation factors, was scarcely affected by GST-N. In vivo expression of MV-N induced by the Cre/loxP switching system inhibited the synthesis of a transfected reporter protein, as well as overall protein synthesis. These results suggest that MV-N targets eIF3-p40 and may be involved in inhibiting MV-induced host translation.