Specific interaction between the classical swine fever virus NS5B protein and the viral genome

Proline to Threonine Mutation at Position 162 of NS5B of Classical Swine Fever Virus Vaccine C Strain Promoted Genome Replication and Infectious Virus Production by Facilitating Initiation of RNA Synthesis

The 3′untranslated region (3′UTR) and NS5B of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) play vital roles in viral genome replication. In this study, two chimeric viruses, vC/SM3′UTR and vC/b3′UTR, with 3′UTR substitution of CSFV Shimen strain or bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) NADL strain, were constructed based on the infectious cDNA clone of CSFV vaccine C strain, respectively. After virus rescue, each recombinant chimeric virus was subjected to continuous passages in PK-15 cells. The representative passaged viruses were characterized and sequenced. Serial passages resulted in generation of mutations and the passaged viruses exhibited significantly increased genomic replication efficiency and infectious virus production compared to parent viruses. A proline to threonine mutation at position 162 of NS5B was identified in both passaged vC/SM3′UTR and vC/b3′UTR. We generated P162T mutants of two chimeras using the reverse genetics system, separately. The single P162T mutation in NS5B of vC/SM3′UTR or vC/b3′UTR played a key role in increased viral genome replication and infectious virus production. The P162T mutation increased vC/SM3′UTR_P162T replication in rabbits. From RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) assays in vitro, the NS5B containing P162T mutation (NS5B_P162T) exhibited enhanced RdRp activity for different RNA templates. We further identified that the enhanced RdRp activity originated from increased initiation efficiency of RNA synthesis. These findings revealed a novel function for the NS5B residue 162 in modulating pestivirus replication.

Compartmentalized evolution of Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus type 2 in an immunotolerant persistently infected cow

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is one of the most important pathogens of cattle worldwide. BVDV-1 is widely distributed in Italy, while BVDV-2 has been detected occasionally. BVDV can be classified in two biotypes, cytopathic (CP) or noncytopathic (NCP). The characteristic of the virus is linked with the infection of a pregnant dam with a NCP strain: due to viral establishment before maturation of the fetal immune system the calf remains persistently infected (PI) and immunotolerant to the infecting BVDV strain. Thanks to their immunotolerance, PI animals represent a unique model to study the viral distribution and compartmentalization in absence of immunoresponse in vivo. In the present study, NGS sequencing was used to characterize the BVDV2 viral strain infecting a PI calf and to describe the viral quasispecies in tissues. Even if the consensus sequences obtained by all the samples were highly similar, quasispecies was described evaluating the presence and the frequency of variants among all the sequencing reads in each tissue. The results suggest a high heterogeneity of the infecting viral strain suggesting viral compartmentalization. The quasispecies analysis highlights the complex dynamics of viral population structure and can increase the knowledge about viral evolution in BVDV-2 persistently infected animals.

Crystal Structure of Classical Swine Fever Virus NS5B Reveals a Novel N-Terminal Domain

Classical swine fever virus (CSFV) is the cause of classical swine fever (CSF). Nonstructural protein 5B (NS5B) is an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) that is a key enzyme initiating viral RNA replication by a de novo mechanism. It is also an attractive target for the development of anti-CSFV drugs. To gain a better understanding of the mechanism of CSFV RNA synthesis, here, we solved the first crystal structure of CSFV NS5B. Our studies show that the CSFV NS5B RdRp contains the characteristic finger, palm, and thumb domains, as well as a unique N-terminal domain (NTD) that has never been observed. Mutagenesis studies on NS5B validated the importance of the NTD in the catalytic activity of this novel RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. Moreover, our results shed light on CSFV infection.IMPORTANCE Pigs are important domesticated animals. However, a highly contagious viral disease named classical swine fever (CSF) causes devastating economic losses. Classical swine fever virus (CSFV), the primary cause of CSF, is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the genus Pestivirus, family Flaviviridae Genome replication of CSFV depends on an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) known as NS5B. However, the structure of CSFV NS5B has never been reported, and the mechanism of CSFV replication is poorly understood. Here, we solve the first crystal structure of CSFV NS5B and analyze the functions of the characteristic finger, palm, and thumb domains. Additionally, our structure revealed the presence of a novel N-terminal domain (NTD). Biochemical studies demonstrated that the NTD of CSFV NS5B is very important for RdRp activity. Collectively, our studies provide a structural basis for future rational design of anti-CSFV drugs, which is critically important, as no effective anti-CSFV drugs have been developed.

Porcine Mx1 Protein Inhibits Classical Swine Fever Virus Replication by Targeting Nonstructural Protein NS5B

Mx proteins are interferon (IFN)-induced GTPases that have broad antiviral activity against a wide range of RNA and DNA viruses; they belong to the dynamin superfamily of large GTPases. In this study, we confirmed the anti-classical swine fever virus (CSFV) activity of porcine Mx1 in vitro and showed that porcine Mx2 (poMx2), human MxA (huMxA), and mouse Mx1 (mmMx1) also have anti-CSFV activity in vitro Small interfering RNA (siRNA) experiments revealed that depletion of endogenous poMx1 or poMx2 enhanced CSFV replication, suggesting that porcine Mx proteins are responsible for the antiviral activity of interferon alpha (IFN-α) against CSFV infection. Confocal microscopy, immunoprecipitation, glutathione S-transferase (GST) pulldown, and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) demonstrated that poMx1 associated with NS5B, the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of CSFV. We used mutations in the poMx1 protein to elucidate the mechanism of their anti-CSFV activity and found that mutants that disrupted the association with NS5B lost all anti-CSV activity. Moreover, an RdRp activity assay further revealed that poMx1 undermined the RdRp activities of NS5B. Together, these results indicate that porcine Mx proteins exert their antiviral activity against CSFV by interacting with NS5B.IMPORTANCE Our previous studies have shown that porcine Mx1 (poMx1) inhibits classical swine fever virus (CSFV) replication in vitro and in vivo, but the molecular mechanism of action remains largely unknown. In this study, we dissect the molecular mechanism of porcine Mx1 and Mx2 against CSFV in vitro Our results show that poMx1 associates with NS5B, the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of CSFV, resulting in the reduction of CSFV replication. Moreover, the mutants of poMx1 further elucidate the mechanism of their anti-CSFV activities.

Bovine viral diarrhea virus genomic variation within persistently infected cattle

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is a single stranded RNA virus in the family Flaviviridae that causes a form of persistent infection. If a fetus is infected in utero during the first 120days of gestation the resulting calf will be immunotolerant to the infecting strain and maintain the virus for life. These animals are epidemiologically important in maintaining BVDV on farms, but also present a unique opportunity to study quasispecies in vivo in the absence of significant selection by the host adaptive immune response. We used deep sequencing and novel analytical methods to characterize the viral populations within the mesenteric lymph nodes of 10 persistently infected animals. Our results indicate that the pattern of variability across the viral genome from animal to animal is very consistent within BVDV subgenotypes. However, the individual mutations that constitute this variation are not necessarily the same in each animal. Even in the absence of significant immune selection the structural genes of BVDV vary more extensively than the non-structural genes. These findings could be useful for future vaccine design against BVDV as well as for measuring and understanding patterns of variation in other ssRNA viruses, especially those that belong to the family Flaviviridae.

Complex Virus-Host Interactions Involved in the Regulation of Classical Swine Fever Virus Replication: A Minireview

Classical swine fever (CSF), caused by classical swine fever virus (CSFV), is one of the most devastating epizootic diseases of pigs in many countries. Viruses are small intracellular parasites and thus rely on the cellular factors for replication. Fundamental aspects of CSFV-host interactions have been well described, such as factors contributing to viral attachment, modulation of genomic replication and translation, antagonism of innate immunity, and inhibition of cell apoptosis. However, those host factors that participate in the viral entry, assembly, and release largely remain to be elucidated. In this review, we summarize recent progress in the virus-host interactions involved in the life cycle of CSFV and analyze the potential mechanisms of viral entry, assembly, and release. We conclude with future perspectives and highlight areas that require further understanding.

FKBP8 interact with classical swine fever virus NS5A protein and promote virus RNA replication

The non-structural 5A (NS5A) protein of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) is proven to be involved in viral replication and can also modulate cellular signaling and host cellular responses via to its ability to interact with various cellular proteins. FKBP8 is also reported to promote virus replication. Here, we show that NS5A specifically interacts with FKBP8 through coimmunoprecipitation and GST-pulldown studies. Additionally, confocal microscopy study showed that NS5A and FKBP8 colocalized in the cytoplasm. Overexpression of FKBP8 via the eukaryotic expression plasmid pDsRED N1 significantly promoted viral RNA synthesis. The cells knockdown of FKBP8 by lentivirus-mediated shRNA markedly decreased the virus replication when infected with CSFV. These data suggest that FKBP8 plays a critical role in the viral life cycle, particularly during the virus RNA replication period. The investigation of FKBP8 protein functions may be beneficial for developing new strategies to treat CSFV infection.

Generation and evaluation of a chimeric classical swine fever virus expressing a visible marker gene

Classical swine fever virus (CSFV) is a noncytopathogenic virus, and the incorporation of an enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) tag into the viral genome provides a means of direct monitoring of viral infection without immunostaining. It is well established that the 3' untranslated region (3'-UTR) of the CSFV plays an important role in viral RNA replication. Although CSFV carrying a reporter gene and chimeric CSFV have been generated and evaluated, a chimeric CSFV with a visible marker has not yet been reported. Here, we generated and evaluated a chimeric virus containing the EGFP tag and the 3'-UTR from vaccine strain HCLV (C-strain) in the genetic background of the highly virulent CSFV Shimen strain. The chimeric marker CSFV was fluorescent and had an approximately 100-fold lower viral titer, lower replication level of viral genome, and weaker fluorescence intensity than the recombinant CSFV with only the EGFP tag or the parental virus. Furthermore, the marker chimera was avirulent and displayed no viremia in inoculated pigs, which were completely protected from lethal CSFV challenge as early as 15 days post-inoculation. The chimeric marker virus was visible in vitro and attenuated in vitro and in vivo, which suggests that CSFV can be engineered to produce attenuated variants with a visible marker to facilitate in vitro studies of CSFV infection and replication and to develop of novel vaccines against CSF.

eEF1A Interacts with the NS5A Protein and Inhibits the Growth of Classical Swine Fever Virus

The NS5A protein of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) is involved in the RNA synthesis and viral replication. However, the NS5A-interacting cellular proteins engaged in the CSFV replication are poorly defined. Using yeast two-hybrid screen, the eukaryotic elongation factor 1A (eEF1A) was identified to be an NS5A-binding partner. The NS5A-eEF1A interaction was confirmed by coimmunoprecipitation, glutathione S-transferase (GST) pulldown and laser confocal microscopy assays. The domain I of eEF1A was shown to be critical for the NS5A-eEF1A interaction. Overexpression of eEF1A suppressed the CSFV growth markedly, and conversely, knockdown of eEF1A enhanced the CSFV replication significantly. Furthermore, eEF1A, as well as NS5A, was found to reduce the translation efficiency of the internal ribosome entry site (IRES) of CSFV in a dose-dependent manner, as demonstrated by luciferase reporter assay. Streptavidin pulldown assay revealed that eEF1A could bind to the CSFV IRES. Collectively, our results suggest that eEF1A interacts with NS5A and negatively regulates the growth of CSFV.

Annexin A2 is involved in the production of classical swine fever virus infectious particles

Annexin A2 (ANXA2) is an important host factor regulating several key processes in many viruses. To evaluate the potential involvement of ANXA2 in the life cycle of classical swine fever virus (CSFV), an RNA interference (RNAi) approach was utilized. Knockdown of ANXA2 did not impair CSFV RNA replication but significantly reduced CSFV production. A comparable reduction of extracellular and intracellular infectivity levels was detected, indicating that ANXA2 might play a role in CSFV assembly rather than in genome replication and virion release. Furthermore, ANXA2 was found to bind CSFV NS5A, an essential replicase component. Amino acids R338, N359, G378 of NS5A were revealed to be pivotal for the ANXA2-NS5A interaction. Substitutions of these amino acids had no effect on viral RNA replication but substantially reduced CSFV production, which might partly be due to these mutations destroying the ANXA2-NS5A interaction. These results suggested that ANXA2 might participate in CSFV production process by binding NS5A.

Characterization of the C-terminal sequence of NS5A necessary for the assembly and production of classical swine fever virus infectious particles

Recent studies show that classical swine fever virus (CSFV) NS5A is an essential replicase component, but it is not known how NS5A participates in viral particle production. In this study, deletion and substitution mutations were introduced into the C-terminus of CSFV NS5A. The efficiency of Core protein release and extracellular and intracellular infectivity levels were assessed and NS5A-Core interaction was investigated. These results suggested that CSFV NS5A was a key factor for the assembly of infectious CSFV particles. The C-terminal sequence from amino acids 478 to 487 and amino acids S481 and T482 were necessary for CSFV assembly and production. The effect of NS5A on CSFV assembly and production might be related to NS5A-Core interaction. T482 was found to be conserved in the C-terminus of NS5A proteins of pestiviruses and hepatitis C virus (HCV), therefore suggesting that it might be important for these virus assembly and production.

RNA helicase is involved in the expression and replication of classical swine fever virus and interacts with untranslated region

To investigate whether cytoplasmic RNA helicase A (RHA) influences the expression and replication of classical swine fever virus (CSFV), an siRNA molecule targeted to RHA was transfected into PK-15 cells. The siRNA was found to reduce cytoplasmic RHA. In CSFV subgenomic replicon transfected cells, incubation with the siRNAs negatively impacted viral NS3 and RNA production. In the CSFV infected cells, treatment with the siRNA resulted in a significant reduction of viral replication by 65-70%. Furthermore, affinity chromatography and UV-crosslinking assays revealed that RHA can bind the 5' and 3' terminal region of CSFV 3'-untranslated region (UTR), the 5' terminal region and domain III of CSFV 5' UTR. All these regions are important for viral replication and translation. These data showed that RHA is involved in the expression and replication of CSFV and might participate in modulation of RNA synthesis, replication and translation of CSFV by binding these regions.

Classical swine fever virus NS5A regulates viral RNA replication through binding to NS5B and 3'UTR

In this report, classical swine fever virus (CSFV) NS5A inhibit viral RNA replication when its concentration reached and surpassed the level of NS5B. Three amino acid fragments of CSFV NS5A, 137-172, 224-268 and 390-414 individually were shown to be essential to NS5B binding. The former two fragments were independently necessary for regulation of viral RNA replication and correlated with NS5B and 3'UTR binding activity. We also found that amino acids W143, V145, P227, T246, P257, K399, T401, E406 and L413 of CSFV NS5A were essential to NS5B binding activity. Furthermore, these amino acids were shown to be necessary for viral RNA replication and infection and conserved in NS5A proteins of CSFV, BDV, BVDV and HCV. These results indicated that NS5A may regulate viral RNA replication by binding to NS5B and 3'UTR. NS5A can still regulate viral RNA synthesis through binding to 3'UTR when binding to NS5B is not available.

Classical swine fever virus NS5B protein suppresses the inhibitory effect of NS5A on viral translation by binding to NS5A

In order to investigate molecular mechanisms of internal ribosome entry site (IRES)-mediated translation in classical swine fever virus (CSFV), an important pathogen of pigs, the expression level of NS3 was evaluated in the context of genomic RNAs and reporter RNA fragments. All data showed that the NS5A protein has an inhibitory effect on IRES-mediated translation and that NS5B proteins suppress the inhibitory effect of NS5A on viral translation, but CSFV NS5B GDD mutants do not. Furthermore, glutathione S-transferase pull-down assay and immunoprecipitation analysis, associated with deletion and alanine-scanning mutations, were performed. Results showed that NS5B interacts with NS5A and that the region aa 390–414, located in the C-terminal half of NS5A, is important for binding of NS5B to NS5A. Furthermore, amino acids K399, T401, E406 and L413 in the region were found to be essential for NS5A–NS5B interaction, virus rescue and infection. The above-mentioned region and four amino acids were observed to overlap with the site responsible for inhibition of IRES-mediated translation by the NS5A protein. We also found that aa 63–72, aa 637–653 and the GDD motif of NS5B were necessary for the interaction between NS5A and NS5B. These findings suggest that the repression activity of the NS5B protein toward the role of NS5A in translation might be achieved by NS5A–NS5B interaction, for which aa 390–414 of NS5A and aa 63–72, aa 637–653 and the GDD motif of NS5B are indispensable. This is important for understanding the role of NS5A–NS5B interaction in the virus life cycle.

Classical swine fever virus NS5A protein interacts with 3'-untranslated region and regulates viral RNA synthesis

To investigate the function of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) NS5A protein, the experiments for viral RNA synthesis and viral replication were performed in the co-presence of NS5A and NS5B. Results showed that small concentrations of NS5A stimulated, large concentrations of NS5A inhibited, viral RNA synthesis and viral replication. Affinity chromatography experiments and UV-crosslinking assays revealed that CSFV NS5A and NS5B bound its cognate 3'UTR and that NS5A had higher affinity than NS5B protein in binding to 3'UTR. 200 ng of NS5A inhibited NS5B-3'UTR complex formation by about 95%. CSFV 3'UTR was found to contain two NS5A-binding sites, located in 3'UTRSL-1 (nt 161-231) and 3'UTRSL-2 (nt 90-160), respectively, a NS5B-binding site, also located in 3'UTRSL-1. The 3'UTRSL-1 is the common binding site for NS5A and NS5B. Furthermore, competitive electrophoretic mobility shift assays indicated that binding of CSFV NS5A to 3'UTRSL-1 is more efficiently than to 3'UTRSL-2. These results suggested that the different concentrations of NS5A, the different binding activities of NS5A and NS5B to 3'UTR and binding of NS5A to different regions of 3'UTR might contribute at least partially to modulation of CSFV replication.

Influence of the 5'-proximal elements of the 5'-untranslated region of classical swine fever virus on translation and replication

The 5'-terminal sequence spanning nt 1-29 of the 5'-untranslated region of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) forms a 5'-proximal stem-loop structure known as domain Ia. Deletions and replacement mutations were performed to examine the role of this domain. Deletion of the 5'-proximal nucleotides and disruption of the stem-loop structure greatly increased internal ribosome entry site-mediated translation but abolished the replication of the replicons. Internal deletions resulting in a change in the size of the loop of domain Ia, and even removal of the entire domain, did not substantially change the translation activity, but reduced the replication of CSFV replicons provided the replicons contained the extreme 5'-GUAU terminal sequence. Internal replacements leading to a change in the nucleotide sequence of the loop did not alter the translation and replication activities of the CSFV RNA replicon, and did not influence the rescue of viruses and growth characteristics of new viruses. These results may be important for our understanding of the regulation of translation, replication and encapsidation in CSFV and other positive-sense RNA viruses.

Classical swine fever virus NS3 is an IRES-binding protein and increases IRES-dependent translation

To get more evidences for understanding the role of NS3 in viral translation, we observed the promotive effect of CSFV NS3 on IRES-mediated translation by using dicistronic and monocistronic systems containing the precise segment comprising CSFV IRES. The results for affinity chromatography and UV-crosslinking assays indicated that NS3 bound CSFV IRES and that CSFV NS5A and NS5B could reduce the IRES-NS3 interaction. Further experiments showed that the NS5A also bound the IRES and that NS3 and NS5A bound the same binding sites of the IRES, suggesting that NS3 and NS5A competitively bind the same sites in IRES RNA sequence, thus hampering the interaction CSFV NS3 and IRES. But, CSFV NS5B was not found to interact with the IRES. The inhibitive effect of NS5B on binding of CSFV NS3 to IRES was supposed to result from the NS3-NS5B interaction which has been documented.

Classical swine fever virus NS3 enhances RNA-dependent RNA polymerase activity by binding to NS5B

NS3 of pestiviruses contains a protease domain and a RNA helicase/NTPase domain. Contradictory results have been reported regarding NS3 in RNA synthesis. To investigate the effect of NS3 on classical swine fever virus (CSFV) NS5B RNA-dependent RNA polymerase activity (RdRp) activity and NS3-NS5B interaction, RdRp reactions, GST-pull-down assays and co-immunoprecipitation analyses containing NS5B and either of NS3 protein and the different truncated NS3 mutants were performed, respectively. We found that NS3 stimulated NS5B RdRp activity in a dose-dependent manner by binding to NS5 through a NS3 protease domain. Furthermore, mapping important regions of the NS3 protease domain was carried out by deletion mutagenesis, associated with RdRp reactions, GST-pull-down assays and co-immunoprecipitation analyses. Results showed that stimulation of CSFV NS5B RdRp activity was obtained by NS3 binding to NS5B through a 31-amino acid fragment at the N-terminal end of NS3 protease domain, which mediated a specific NS3-NS5B interaction.

Influence of NS5A protein of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) on CSFV internal ribosome entry site-dependent translation

An internal ribosome entry site (IRES) present in the 5' untranslated region (UTR) promotes translation of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) genomes. Using an in vitro system with monocistronic reporter RNA containing the CSFV 5'UTR, this study found that CSFV NS5A decreased CSFV IRES-mediated translation in a dose-dependent manner. Deletion analysis showed that the region responsible for repressing CSFV IRES activity might cover aa 390-414, located in the C-terminal half of CSFV NS5A. Triple and single alanine-scanning mutagenesis revealed that the inhibitory effect on CSFV IRES-directed translation mapped to the K399, T401, E406 and L413 residues of NS5A. These important amino acids were also found to be present in the NS5A proteins of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV)-1, BVDV-2, border disease virus and hepatitis C virus, indicating that NS5A may play an important role in the switch from translation to replication in these viruses.

Effect of NS3 and NS5B proteins on classical swine fever virus internal ribosome entry site-mediated translation and its host cellular translation

A full-length NS3 (NS3F) and a truncated NS3 protein (NS3H) with an RNA helicase domain possess RNA helicase activity. Using an in vitro system with a monocistronic reporter RNA or DNA, containing the CSFV 5′-UTR, we observed that both NS3F and NS3H enhanced internal ribosome entry site (IRES)-mediated and cellular translation in a dose-dependent manner, but NS3 protease (NS3P) that lacks a helicase domain did not. NS3F was stronger than NS3H in promoting both translations. These results showed that viral RNA helicase could promote viral and cellular translation, and higher RNA helicase activity might be more efficient. The NS5B protein, the viral replicase, did not significantly affect the IRES-directed or cellular translation alone. NS5B significantly enhanced the stimulative effect of NS3F on both IRES-mediated and cellular translation, but did not affect that of NS3H or NS3P. This suggests that NS5B and NS3 interact via the protease domain during the enhancement of translation.

Biochemical characterization of a recombinant Japanese encephalitis virus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase

BACKGROUND

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) NS5 is a viral nonstructural protein that carries both methyltransferase and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) domains. It is a key component of the viral RNA replicase complex that presumably includes other viral nonstructural and cellular proteins. The biochemical properties of JEV NS5 have not been characterized due to the lack of a robust in vitro RdRp assay system, and the molecular mechanisms for the initiation of RNA synthesis by JEV NS5 remain to be elucidated.

RESULTS

To characterize the biochemical properties of JEV RdRp, we expressed in Escherichia coli and purified an enzymatically active full-length recombinant JEV NS5 protein with a hexahistidine tag at the N-terminus. The purified NS5 protein, but not the mutant NS5 protein with an Ala substitution at the first Asp of the RdRp-conserved GDD motif, exhibited template- and primer-dependent RNA synthesis activity using a poly(A) RNA template. The NS5 protein was able to use both plus- and minus-strand 3'-untranslated regions of the JEV genome as templates in the absence of a primer, with the latter RNA being a better template. Analysis of the RNA synthesis initiation site using the 3'-end 83 nucleotides of the JEV genome as a minimal RNA template revealed that the NS5 protein specifically initiates RNA synthesis from an internal site, U81, at the two nucleotides upstream of the 3'-end of the template.

CONCLUSION

As a first step toward the understanding of the molecular mechanisms for JEV RNA replication and ultimately for the in vitro reconstitution of viral RNA replicase complex, we for the first time established an in vitro JEV RdRp assay system with a functional full-length recombinant JEV NS5 protein and characterized the mechanisms of RNA synthesis from nonviral and viral RNA templates. The full-length recombinant JEV NS5 will be useful for the elucidation of the structure-function relationship of this enzyme and for the development of anti-JEV agents.

Characterization of interaction of classical swine fever virus NS3 helicase with 3' untranslated region

The classical swine fever virus (CSFV) full-length NS3 protein (NS3F) and the truncated NS3 protein (NS3H) with postulated helicase domain were expressed and demonstrated to have helicase activity. Further, the electrophoretic mobility shift assays containing NS3H and the viral 3' terminal sequences showed that NS3H specifically bound to the plus- and minus-strand 3'UTR. The minus-strand 3'UTR had higher binding activity. The 21-nt fragments at the 3'-most terminal sequences of both 3'UTRs were essential to NS3H binding. A 12-nt insertion, CUUUUUUCUUUU, present in the 3'UTR of a CSFV live attenuated vaccine strain, was also found to be deleterious to helicase binding. Intact secondary structure of 3' terminal sequence of 3'UTR might be important in helicase binding. Our results show that interaction between the helicase and the viral 3'UTR is similar to that between the replicase and the 3'UTR, suggesting that NS3 helicase is important for CSFV genomic replication.

Genome comparison of a novel classical swine fever virus isolated in China in 2004 with other CSFV strains

The genome of a novel classical swine fever virus (CSFV), SWH/CA/2004, isolated from a hog pen in Henan Province, central China, is 12,296 nucleotides (nt) in length. It is composed of a 373-nt 5' terminal non-translated region (NTR), a 11,697-nt open reading frame (ORF) encoding a polyprotein of 3,898 amino acids (aa), and a 226-nt 3'-NTR. Genome comparison of the SWH/CA/2004 isolate (GenBank Accession: DQ127910) with other known CSFV isolates was performed and analyzed. Corresponding segments from SWH/CA/2004 and other reported strains shared 80.4-99.8% identity at the nucleotide level and 89.5-99.8% identity at the amino acid level. From an evolutionary point of view, isolate SWH/CA/2004 is closely related to the highly virulent isolate cF114/CA/2001, with a pairwise distance of 0.013; and distantly related to the moderately virulent isolate GXWZ02/CA/2003, with pairwise distance 0.170. The phylogenetic trees of the full-length genome and the following region E(rns), E1, E2, and NS5B-based neighbor-joining (NJ) method were constructed and approximately divided into different genetic groups according to avirulence, moderate virulence and high virulence, while other region-based NJ trees demonstrated sequence conservation between these groups. The four genomic regions may constitute important criteria for genetic typing of diverse CSFV isolates. Based on these analyses, isolate SWH/CA/2004 was deduced to belong to the highly virulent isolate group. However, SWH/CA/2004 also contains a 14-U deletion in the 3'-NTR that is characteristic of avirulent isolates. These analyses constitute a comprehensive study of the phylogenetics of CSF based on distinct regions of the genome and may provide the basis for future molecular epidemiology research to identify virulent strain outbreaks and trigger implementation of appropriate control measures.

Mutational analysis of the GDD sequence motif of classical swine fever virus RNA-dependent RNA polymerases

To define the function of the GDD motif of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of classical swine fever virus (CSFV), single amino acid substitutions were introduced into the CSFV NS5B. All substitutions within the GDD motif were detrimental to the polymerase activity, the binding activity and the terminal nucleotidyl transferase activity of the NS5B protein. It was also found that the wild-type NS5B had higher RdRp activity with Mg(+2) than with Mn(+2) whereas some mutants worked better with Mn(+2) than with Mg(+2), suggesting that substitutions within the GDD motif modified the enzyme cation preferences and the GDD sequence of CSFV NS5B might be involved in polymerase-metal interaction. Therefore, the GDD amino acid sequence is important for the function of CSFV RdRp.

Characterization of the N-terminal domain of classical swine fever virus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase

To investigate RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) further, mutational analysis of the N-terminal domain of the NS5B protein of Classical swine fever virus was performed. Results show that the N-terminal domain (positions 1–300) of the protein might be divided artificially into four different regions, N1–N4. The N1 region (positions 1–61) contained neither conserved lysine nor conserved arginine residues. NS5B protein with deletion of the N1 region has the capacity for elongative RNA synthesis, but not for de novo RNA synthesis on natural templates. All substitutions of the conserved lysines and arginines in the N2 region (positions 63–216) destroyed RdRp activity completely. Substitutions of the conserved arginines in the N3 region (positions 217–280) seriously reduced RdRp activity. However, all substitutions of the conserved lysines in this region enhanced RNA synthesis and made the mutants synthesize RNA on any template. Substitutions of the conserved arginines in the N4 region (positions 281–300) reduced elongative synthesis and destroyed de novo RNA synthesis. In contrast, substitutions of lysines in this region did not affect RdRp activity significantly. These data indicate that the N3 region might be related to the enzymic specificity for templates, and the conserved lysines and arginines in different regions have different effects on RdRp activity. In combination with the published crystal structure of bovine viral diarrhea virus NS5B, these results define the important role of the N-terminal domain of NS5B for template recognition and de novo RNA synthesis.