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Xu C, Wang M, Cheng A, Yang Q, Huang J, Ou X, Sun D, He Y, Wu Z, Wu Y, Zhang S, Tian B, Zhao X, Liu M, Zhu D, Jia R, Chen S. Multiple functions of the nonstructural protein 3D in picornavirus infection. Front Immunol 2024; 15:1365521. [PMID: 38629064 PMCID: PMC11018997 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1365521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2024] [Accepted: 03/21/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024] Open
Abstract
3D polymerase, also known as RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, is encoded by all known picornaviruses, and their structures are highly conserved. In the process of picornavirus replication, 3D polymerase facilitates the assembly of replication complexes and directly catalyzes the synthesis of viral RNA. The nuclear localization signal carried by picornavirus 3D polymerase, combined with its ability to interact with other viral proteins, viral RNA and cellular proteins, indicate that its noncatalytic role is equally important in viral infections. Recent studies have shown that 3D polymerase has multiple effects on host cell biological functions, including inducing cell cycle arrest, regulating host cell translation, inducing autophagy, evading immune responses, and triggering inflammasome formation. Thus, 3D polymerase would be a very valuable target for the development of antiviral therapies. This review summarizes current studies on the structure of 3D polymerase and its regulation of host cell responses, thereby improving the understanding of picornavirus-mediated pathogenesis caused by 3D polymerase.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenxia Xu
- Engineering Research Center of Southwest Animal Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, Chengdu, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease and Human Health of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- International Joint Research Center for Animal Disease Prevention and Control of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Immunology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
- Research Center of Avian Disease, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | - Mingshu Wang
- Engineering Research Center of Southwest Animal Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, Chengdu, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease and Human Health of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- International Joint Research Center for Animal Disease Prevention and Control of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Immunology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
- Research Center of Avian Disease, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | - Anchun Cheng
- Engineering Research Center of Southwest Animal Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, Chengdu, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease and Human Health of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- International Joint Research Center for Animal Disease Prevention and Control of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Immunology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
- Research Center of Avian Disease, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | - Qiao Yang
- Engineering Research Center of Southwest Animal Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, Chengdu, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease and Human Health of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- International Joint Research Center for Animal Disease Prevention and Control of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Immunology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
- Research Center of Avian Disease, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | - Juan Huang
- Engineering Research Center of Southwest Animal Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, Chengdu, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease and Human Health of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- International Joint Research Center for Animal Disease Prevention and Control of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Immunology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
- Research Center of Avian Disease, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | - Xumin Ou
- Engineering Research Center of Southwest Animal Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, Chengdu, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease and Human Health of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- International Joint Research Center for Animal Disease Prevention and Control of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Immunology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
- Research Center of Avian Disease, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | - Di Sun
- Engineering Research Center of Southwest Animal Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, Chengdu, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease and Human Health of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- International Joint Research Center for Animal Disease Prevention and Control of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Immunology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
- Research Center of Avian Disease, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | - Yu He
- Engineering Research Center of Southwest Animal Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, Chengdu, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease and Human Health of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- International Joint Research Center for Animal Disease Prevention and Control of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Immunology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
- Research Center of Avian Disease, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | - Zhen Wu
- Engineering Research Center of Southwest Animal Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, Chengdu, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease and Human Health of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- International Joint Research Center for Animal Disease Prevention and Control of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Immunology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
- Research Center of Avian Disease, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | - Ying Wu
- Engineering Research Center of Southwest Animal Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, Chengdu, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease and Human Health of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- International Joint Research Center for Animal Disease Prevention and Control of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Immunology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
- Research Center of Avian Disease, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | - Shaqiu Zhang
- Engineering Research Center of Southwest Animal Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, Chengdu, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease and Human Health of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- International Joint Research Center for Animal Disease Prevention and Control of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Immunology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
- Research Center of Avian Disease, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | - Bin Tian
- Engineering Research Center of Southwest Animal Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, Chengdu, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease and Human Health of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- International Joint Research Center for Animal Disease Prevention and Control of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Immunology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
- Research Center of Avian Disease, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | - Xinxin Zhao
- Engineering Research Center of Southwest Animal Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, Chengdu, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease and Human Health of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- International Joint Research Center for Animal Disease Prevention and Control of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Immunology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
- Research Center of Avian Disease, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | - Mafeng Liu
- Engineering Research Center of Southwest Animal Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, Chengdu, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease and Human Health of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- International Joint Research Center for Animal Disease Prevention and Control of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Immunology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
- Research Center of Avian Disease, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | - Dekang Zhu
- Engineering Research Center of Southwest Animal Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, Chengdu, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease and Human Health of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- International Joint Research Center for Animal Disease Prevention and Control of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- Research Center of Avian Disease, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | - Renyong Jia
- Engineering Research Center of Southwest Animal Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, Chengdu, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease and Human Health of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- International Joint Research Center for Animal Disease Prevention and Control of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Immunology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
- Research Center of Avian Disease, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | - Shun Chen
- Engineering Research Center of Southwest Animal Disease Prevention and Control Technology, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, Chengdu, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease and Human Health of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- International Joint Research Center for Animal Disease Prevention and Control of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, China
- Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Immunology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
- Research Center of Avian Disease, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
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Zabrady M, Zabrady K, Li AH, Doherty AJ. Reverse transcriptases prime DNA synthesis. Nucleic Acids Res 2023; 51:7125-7142. [PMID: 37279911 PMCID: PMC10415136 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkad478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2023] [Revised: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 06/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The discovery of reverse transcriptases (RTs) challenged the central dogma by establishing that genetic information can also flow from RNA to DNA. Although they act as DNA polymerases, RTs are distantly related to replicases that also possess de novo primase activity. Here we identify that CRISPR associated RTs (CARTs) directly prime DNA synthesis on both RNA and DNA. We demonstrate that RT-dependent priming is utilized by some CRISPR-Cas complexes to synthesise new spacers and integrate these into CRISPR arrays. Expanding our analyses, we show that primer synthesis activity is conserved in representatives of other major RT classes, including group II intron RT, telomerase and retroviruses. Together, these findings establish a conserved innate ability of RTs to catalyse de novo DNA primer synthesis, independently of accessory domains or alternative priming mechanisms, which likely plays important roles in a wide variety of biological pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matej Zabrady
- Genome Damage and Stability Centre, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9RQ, UK
| | - Katerina Zabrady
- Genome Damage and Stability Centre, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9RQ, UK
| | - Arthur W H Li
- Genome Damage and Stability Centre, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9RQ, UK
| | - Aidan J Doherty
- Genome Damage and Stability Centre, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9RQ, UK
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Ntemafack A, Dzelamonyuy A, Nchinda G, Bopda Waffo A. Evolutionary Qβ Phage Displayed Nanotag Library and Peptides for Biosensing. Viruses 2023; 15:1414. [PMID: 37515102 PMCID: PMC10386108 DOI: 10.3390/v15071414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2023] [Revised: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 06/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
We selected a novel biotin-binding peptide for sensing biotin, biotinylated proteins, and nucleotides. From a 15-mer library displayed on the RNA coliphage Qβ, a 15-amino acid long peptide (HGHGWQIPVWPWGQG) hereby referred to as a nanotag was identified to selectively bind biotin. The target selection was achieved through panning with elution by infection. The selected peptide was tested as a transducer for an immunogenic epitope of the foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) on Qβ phage platform separated by a linker. The biotin-tag showed no significant influence on the affinity of the epitope to its cognate antibody (SD6). The nanotag-bound biotin selectively fused either to the C- or N-terminus of the epitope. The epitope would not bind or recognize SD6 while positioned at the N-terminus of the nanotag. Additionally, the biotin competed linearly with the SD6 antibody in a competitive ELISA. Competition assays using the selected recombinant phage itself as a probe or transducer enable the operationalization of this technology as a biosensor toolkit to sense and quantify SD6 analyte. Herein, the published Strep II nanotag (DVEWLDERVPLVET) was used as a control and has similar functionalities to our proposed novel biotin-tag thereby providing a new platform for developing devices for diagnostic purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Augustin Ntemafack
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, 635 Barnhill Dr., Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA
| | - Aristide Dzelamonyuy
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, 635 Barnhill Dr., Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA
| | - Godwin Nchinda
- Laboratory of Vaccinology and Biobanking, CIRCB BP 3077 Messa, Yaoundé P.O. Box 3077, Cameroon
- Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka 420110, Nigeria
- African Center of Excellence for Clinical and Translational Sciences (ACECTS), Yaoundé P.O. Box 13591, Cameroon
| | - Alain Bopda Waffo
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, 635 Barnhill Dr., Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA
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Naidu SAG, Mustafa G, Clemens RA, Naidu AS. Plant-Derived Natural Non-Nucleoside Analog Inhibitors (NNAIs) against RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase Complex (nsp7/nsp8/nsp12) of SARS-CoV-2. J Diet Suppl 2023; 20:254-283. [PMID: 34850656 DOI: 10.1080/19390211.2021.2006387] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
The emergence of fast-spreading SARS-CoV-2 mutants has sparked a new phase of COVID-19 pandemic. There is a dire necessity for antivirals targeting highly conserved genomic domains on SARS-CoV-2 that are less prone to mutation. The nsp12, also known as the RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase (RdRp), the core component of 'SARS-CoV-2 replication-transcription complex', is a potential well-conserved druggable antiviral target. Several FDA-approved RdRp 'nucleotide analog inhibitors (NAIs)' such as remdesivir, have been repurposed to treat COVID-19 infections. The NAIs target RdRp protein translation and competitively block the nucleotide insertion into the RNA chain, resulting in the inhibition of viral replication. However, the replication proofreading function of nsp14-ExoN could provide resistance to SARS-CoV-2 against many NAIs. Conversely, the 'non-nucleoside analog inhibitors (NNAIs)' bind to allosteric sites on viral polymerase surface, change the redox state; thereby, exert antiviral activity by altering interactions between the enzyme substrate and active core catalytic site of the RdRp. NNAIs neither require metabolic activation (unlike NAIs) nor compete with intracellular pool of nucleotide triphosphates (NTPs) for anti-RdRp activity. The NNAIs from phytonutrient origin are potential antiviral candidates compared to their synthetic counterparts. Several in-silico studies reported the antiviral spectrum of natural phytonutrient-NNAIs such as Suramin, Silibinin (flavonolignan), Theaflavin (tea polyphenol), Baicalein (5,6,7-trihydroxyflavone), Corilagin (gallotannin), Hesperidin (citrus bioflavonoid), Lycorine (pyrrolidine alkaloid), with superior redox characteristics (free binding energy, hydrogen-bonds, etc.) than antiviral drugs (i.e. remdesivir, favipiravir). These phytonutrient-NNAIs also exert anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immunomodulatory and cardioprotective functions, with multifunctional therapeutic benefits in the clinical management of COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ghulam Mustafa
- Department of Biochemistry, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan
| | - Roger A Clemens
- Department of International Regulatory Science, University of Southern California School of Pharmacy, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Revisiting Viral RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerases: Insights from Recent Structural Studies. Viruses 2022; 14:v14102200. [PMID: 36298755 PMCID: PMC9612308 DOI: 10.3390/v14102200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2022] [Revised: 09/29/2022] [Accepted: 10/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRPs) represent a distinctive yet versatile class of nucleic acid polymerases encoded by RNA viruses for the replication and transcription of their genome. The structure of the RdRP is comparable to that of a cupped right hand consisting of fingers, palm, and thumb subdomains. Despite the presence of a common structural core, the RdRPs differ significantly in the mechanistic details of RNA binding and polymerization. The present review aims at exploring these incongruities in light of recent structural studies of RdRP complexes with diverse cofactors, RNA moieties, analogs, and inhibitors.
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Sakaguchi S, Urayama SI, Takaki Y, Hirosuna K, Wu H, Suzuki Y, Nunoura T, Nakano T, Nakagawa S. NeoRdRp: A Comprehensive Dataset for Identifying RNA-dependent RNA Polymerases of Various RNA Viruses from Metatranscriptomic Data. Microbes Environ 2022; 37. [PMID: 36002304 PMCID: PMC9530720 DOI: 10.1264/jsme2.me22001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
RNA viruses are distributed throughout various environments, and most have recently been identified by metatranscriptome sequencing. However, due to the high nucleotide diversity of RNA viruses, it is still challenging to identify novel RNA viruses from metatranscriptome data. To overcome this issue, we created a dataset of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) domains that are essential for all RNA viruses belonging to Orthornavirae. Genes with RdRp domains from various RNA viruses were clustered based on amino acid sequence similarities. A multiple sequence alignment was generated for each cluster, and a hidden Markov model (HMM) profile was created when the number of sequences was greater than three. We further refined 426 HMM profiles by detecting RefSeq RNA virus sequences and subsequently combined the hit sequences with the RdRp domains. As a result, 1,182 HMM profiles were generated from 12,502 RdRp domain sequences, and the dataset was named NeoRdRp. The majority of NeoRdRp HMM profiles successfully detected RdRp domains, specifically in the UniProt dataset. Furthermore, we compared the NeoRdRp dataset with two previously reported methods for RNA virus detection using metatranscriptome sequencing data. Our methods successfully identified the majority of RNA viruses in the datasets; however, some RNA viruses were not detected, similar to the other two methods. NeoRdRp may be repeatedly improved by the addition of new RdRp sequences and is applicable as a system for detecting various RNA viruses from diverse metatranscriptome data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shoichi Sakaguchi
- Department of Microbiology and Infection Control, Faculty of Medicine, Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University
| | - Syun-Ichi Urayama
- Laboratory of Fungal Interaction and Molecular Biology (donated by IFO), Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba
| | - Yoshihiro Takaki
- Super-cuttingedge Grand and Advanced Research (SUGAR) Program, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC)
| | | | - Hong Wu
- Department of Microbiology and Infection Control, Faculty of Medicine, Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University
| | - Youichi Suzuki
- Department of Microbiology and Infection Control, Faculty of Medicine, Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University
| | - Takuro Nunoura
- Research Center for Bioscience and Nanoscience (CeBN), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC)
| | - Takashi Nakano
- Department of Microbiology and Infection Control, Faculty of Medicine, Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University
| | - So Nakagawa
- Department of Molecular Life Science, Tokai University School of Medicine
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Sadiq S, Chen YM, Zhang YZ, Holmes EC. Resolving deep evolutionary relationships within the RNA virus phylum Lenarviricota. Virus Evol 2022; 8:veac055. [PMID: 35795296 PMCID: PMC9252102 DOI: 10.1093/ve/veac055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2022] [Revised: 05/22/2022] [Accepted: 06/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The RNA virus phylum Lenarviricota is composed of the fungi-associated families Narnaviridae and Mitoviridae, the RNA bacteriophage Leviviridae, and the plant and fungi-associated Botourmiaviridae. Members of the Lenarviricota are abundant in most environments and boast remarkable phylogenetic and genomic diversity. As this phylum includes both RNA bacteriophage and fungi- and plant-associated species, the Lenarviricota likely mark a major evolutionary transition between those RNA viruses associated with prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Despite the remarkable expansion of this phylum following metagenomic studies, the phylogenetic relationships among the families within the Lenarviricota remain uncertain. Utilising a large data set of relevant viral sequences, we performed phylogenetic and genomic analyses to resolve the complex evolutionary history within this phylum and identify patterns in the evolution of virus genome organisation. Despite limitations reflecting very high levels of sequence diversity, our phylogenetic analyses suggest that the Leviviridae comprise the basal lineage within the Lenarviricota. Our phylogenetic results also support the construction of a new virus family-the Narliviridae-comprising a set of diverse and phylogenetically distinct species, including a number of uniquely encapsidated viruses. We propose a taxonomic restructuring within the Lenarviricota to better reflect the phylogenetic relationships documented here, with the Botourmiaviridae and Narliviridae combined into the order Ourlivirales, the Narnaviridae remaining in the order Wolframvirales, and these orders combined into the single class, the Amabiliviricetes. In sum, this study provides insights into the complex evolutionary relationships among the diverse families that make up the Lenarviricota.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina Sadiq
- Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases, School of Life and Environmental Sciences and School of Medical Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Yan-Mei Chen
- Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences and Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Yong-Zhen Zhang
- Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences and Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Edward C Holmes
- Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases, School of Life and Environmental Sciences and School of Medical Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
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Jácome R, Campillo-Balderas JA, Becerra A, Lazcano A. Structural Analysis of Monomeric RNA-Dependent Polymerases Revisited. J Mol Evol 2022; 90:283-295. [PMID: 35639164 PMCID: PMC9153872 DOI: 10.1007/s00239-022-10059-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
In the past few years, our understanding of the RNA virosphere has changed dramatically due to the growth and spurt of metagenomics, exponentially increasing the number of RNA viral sequences, and providing a better understanding of their range of potential hosts. As of today, the only conserved protein among RNA viruses appears to be the monomeric RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. This enzyme belongs to the right-hand DNA-and RNA polymerases, which also includes reverse transcriptases and eukaryotic replicative DNA polymerases. The ubiquity of this protein in RNA viruses makes it a unique evolutionary marker and an appealing broad-spectrum antiviral target. In this work pairwise structural comparisons of viral RdRps and RTs were performed, including tertiary structures that have been obtained in the last few years. The resulting phylogenetic tree shows that the RdRps from (+)ss- and dsRNA viruses might have been recruited several times throughout the evolution of mobile genetic elements. RTs also display multiple evolutionary routes. We have identified a structural core comprising the entire palm, a large moiety of the fingers and the N-terminal helices of the thumb domain, comprising over 300 conserved residues, including two regions that we have named the “knuckles” and the “hypothenar eminence”. The conservation of an helix bundle in the region preceding the polymerase domain confirms that (−)ss and dsRNA Reoviruses’ polymerases share a recent ancestor. Finally, the inclusion of DNA polymerases into our structural analyses suggests that monomeric RNA-dependent polymerases might have diverged from B-family polymerases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo Jácome
- Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico, Mexico
| | | | - Arturo Becerra
- Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico, Mexico
| | - Antonio Lazcano
- Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico, Mexico.
- Miembro de El Colegio Nacional, Mexico, Mexico.
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9
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Abstract
RNA viruses usually have linear genomes and are encapsidated by their own capsids. Here, we newly identified four mycoviruses and two previously reported mycoviruses (a fungal reovirus and a botybirnavirus) in the hypovirulent strain SCH941 of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. One of the newly discovered mycoviruses, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum yadokarivirus 1 (SsYkV1), with a nonsegmented positive-sense single-stranded RNA (+ssRNA) genome, was molecularly characterized. SsYkV1 is 5,256 nucleotides (nt) in length, excluding the poly(A) structure, and has a large open reading frame that putatively encodes a polyprotein with the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) domain and a 2A-like motif. SsYkV1 was phylogenetically positioned into the family Yadokariviridae and was most closely related to Rosellinia necatrix yadokarivirus 2 (RnYkV2), with 40.55% identity (78% coverage). Although SsYkV1 does not encode its own capsid protein, the RNA and RdRp of SsYkV1 are trans-encapsidated in virions of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum botybirnavirus 3 (SsBV3), a bisegmented double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) mycovirus within the genus Botybirnavirus. In this way, SsYkV1 likely replicates inside the heterocapsid comprised of the SsBV3 capsid protein, like a dsRNA virus. SsYkV1 has a limited impact on the biological features of S. sclerotiorum. This study represents an example of a yadokarivirus trans-encapsidated by an unrelated dsRNA virus, which greatly deepens our knowledge and understanding of the unique life cycles of RNA viruses. IMPORTANCE RNA viruses typically encase their linear genomes in their own capsids. However, a capsidless +ssRNA virus (RnYkV1) highjacks the capsid of a nonsegmented dsRNA virus for the trans-encapsidation of its own RNA and RdRp. RnYkV1 belongs to the family Yadokariviridae, which already contains more than a dozen mycoviruses. However, it is unknown whether other yadokariviruses except RnYkV1 are also hosted by a heterocapsid, although dsRNA viruses with capsid proteins were detected in fungi harboring yadokarivirus. It is noteworthy that almost all presumed partner dsRNA viruses of yadokariviruses belong to the order Ghabrivirales (most probably a totivirus or toti-like virus). Here, we found a capsidless +ssRNA mycovirus, SsYkV1, from hypovirulent strain SCH941 of S. sclerotiorum, and the RNA and RdRp of this mycovirus are trans-encapsidated in virions of a bisegmented dsRNA virus within the free-floating genus Botybirnavirus. Our results greatly expand our knowledge of the unique life cycles of RNA viruses.
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In vitro characterisation of the MS2 RNA polymerase complex reveals host factors that modulate emesviral replicase activity. Commun Biol 2022; 5:264. [PMID: 35338258 PMCID: PMC8956599 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-03178-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Accepted: 02/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
The RNA phage MS2 is one of the most important model organisms in molecular biology and virology. Despite its comprehensive characterisation, the composition of the RNA replication machinery remained obscure. Here, we characterised host proteins required to reconstitute the functional replicase in vitro. By combining a purified replicase sub-complex with elements of an in vitro translation system, we confirmed that the three host factors, EF-Ts, EF-Tu, and ribosomal protein S1, are part of the active replicase holocomplex. Furthermore, we found that the translation initiation factors IF1 and IF3 modulate replicase activity. While IF3 directly competes with the replicase for template binding, IF1 appears to act as an RNA chaperone that facilitates polymerase readthrough. Finally, we demonstrate in vitro formation of RNAs containing minimal motifs required for amplification. Our work sheds light on the MS2 replication machinery and provides a new promising platform for cell-free evolution.
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11
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Favipiravir Inhibits Hepatitis A Virus Infection in Human Hepatocytes. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23052631. [PMID: 35269774 PMCID: PMC8910232 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23052631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2022] [Revised: 02/24/2022] [Accepted: 02/25/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is a causative agent of acute hepatitis and can occasionally induce acute liver failure. However, specific potent anti-HAV drug is not available on the market currently. Thus, we investigated several novel therapeutic drugs through a drug repositioning approach, targeting ribonucleic acid (RNA)-dependent RNA polymerase and RNA-dependent deoxyribonucleic acid polymerase. In the present study, we examined the anti-HAV activity of 18 drugs by measuring the HAV subgenomic replicon and HAV HA11-1299 genotype IIIA replication in human hepatoma cell lines, using a reporter assay and real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, respectively. Mutagenesis of the HAV 5’ untranslated region was also examined by next-generation sequencing. These specific parameters were explored because lethal mutagenesis has emerged as a novel potential therapeutic approach to treat RNA virus infections. Favipiravir inhibited HAV replication in both Huh7 and PLC/PRF/5 cells, although ribavirin inhibited HAV replication in only Huh7 cells. Next-generation sequencing demonstrated that favipiravir could introduce nucleotide mutations into the HAV genome more than ribavirin. In conclusion, favipiravir could introduce nucleotide mutations into the HAV genome and work as an antiviral against HAV infection. Provided that further in vivo experiments confirm its efficacy, favipiravir would be useful for the treatment of severe HAV infection.
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12
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Pathania S, Rawal RK, Singh PK. RdRp (RNA-dependent RNA polymerase): A key target providing anti-virals for the management of various viral diseases. J Mol Struct 2022; 1250:131756. [PMID: 34690363 PMCID: PMC8520695 DOI: 10.1016/j.molstruc.2021.131756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2021] [Revised: 10/13/2021] [Accepted: 10/15/2021] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
With the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, anti-viral agents have regained center stage in the arena of medicine. Out of the various drug targets involved in managing RNA-viral infections, the one that dominates almost all RNA viruses is RdRp (RNA-dependent RNA polymerase). RdRp are proteins that are involved in the replication of RNA-based viruses. Inhibition of RdRps has been an integral approach for managing various viral infections such as dengue, influenza, HCV (Hepatitis), BVDV, etc. Inhibition of the coronavirus RdRp is currently rigorously explored for the treatment of Covid-19 related complications. So, keeping in view the importance and current relevance of this drug target, we have discussed the importance of RdRp in developing anti-viral agents against various viral diseases. Different reported inhibitors have also been discussed, and emphasis has been laid on highlighting the inhibitor's pharmacophoric features and SAR profile.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shelly Pathania
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, ISF College of Pharmacy, Moga-142001, Punjab, India
| | - Ravindra K. Rawal
- Department of Chemistry, Maharishi Markandeshwar (Deemed to be University), Mullana-133207, Haryana, India,CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat-785006, Assam, India,Corresponding authors
| | - Pankaj Kumar Singh
- Faculty of Medicine, Integrative Physiology and Pharmacology, Institute of Biomedicine, University of Turku, Turku, FI-20014, Finland,Corresponding authors
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13
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Hashemian SMR, Pourhanifeh MH, Hamblin MR, Shahrzad MK, Mirzaei H. RdRp inhibitors and COVID-19: Is molnupiravir a good option? Biomed Pharmacother 2022; 146:112517. [PMID: 34902743 PMCID: PMC8654603 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2021.112517] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2021] [Revised: 12/03/2021] [Accepted: 12/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Rapid changes in the viral genome allow viruses to evade threats posed by the host immune response or antiviral drugs, and can lead to viral persistence in the host cells. RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) is an essential enzyme in RNA viruses, which is involved in RNA synthesis through the formation of phosphodiester bonds. Therefore, in RNA viral infections such as SARS-CoV-2, RdRp could be a crucial therapeutic target. The present review discusses the promising application of RdRp inhibitors, previously approved or currently being tested in human clinical trials, in the treatment of RNA virus infections. Nucleoside inhibitors (NIs) bind to the active site of RdRp, while nonnucleoside inhibitors (NNIs) bind to allosteric sites. Given the absence of highly effective drugs for the treatment of COVID-19, the discovery of an efficient treatment for this pandemic is an urgent concern for researchers around the world. We review the evidence for molnupiravir (MK-4482, EIDD-2801), an antiviral drug originally designed for Alphavirus infections, as a potential preventive and therapeutic agent for the management of COVID-19. At the beginning of this pandemic, molnupiravir was in preclinical development for seasonal influenza. When COVID-19 spread dramatically, the timeline for development was accelerated to focus on the treatment of this pandemic. Real time consultation with regulators took place to expedite this program. We summarize the therapeutic potential of RdRp inhibitors, and highlight molnupiravir as a new small molecule drug for COVID-19 treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seyed Mohammad Reza Hashemian
- Chronic Respiratory Diseases Research Center (CRDRC), National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Michael R. Hamblin
- Laser Research Centre, Faculty of Health Science, University of Johannesburg, Doornfontein 2028, South Africa
| | - Mohammad Karim Shahrzad
- Department of Internal Medicine and Endocrinology, ShohadaeTajrish Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
| | - Hamed Mirzaei
- Student Research Committee, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran; Research Center for Biochemistry and Nutrition in Metabolic Diseases, Institute for Basic Sciences, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR, Iran.
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14
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Ebenezer O, Damoyi N, Shapi M. Predicting New Anti-Norovirus Inhibitor With the Help of Machine Learning Algorithms and Molecular Dynamics Simulation-Based Model. Front Chem 2021; 9:753427. [PMID: 34869204 PMCID: PMC8636098 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2021.753427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2021] [Accepted: 10/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) inhibitors are essential in the treatment of human norovirus (HuNoV). This study aimed to map out HCV NS5B RNA-dependent RNA polymerase inhibitors that could potentially be responsible for the inhibitory activity of HuNoV RdRp. It is necessary to develop robust machine learning and in silico methods to predict HuNoV RdRp compounds. In this study, Naïve Bayesian and random forest models were built to categorize norovirus RdRp inhibitors from the non-inhibitors using their molecular descriptors and PubChem fingerprints. The best model observed had accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity values of 98.40%, 97.62%, and 97.62%, respectively. Meanwhile, an external test set was used to validate model performance before applicability to the screened HCV compounds database. As a result, 775 compounds were predicted as NoV RdRp inhibitors. The pharmacokinetics calculations were used to filter out the inhibitors that lack drug-likeness properties. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation investigated the inhibitors' binding modes and residues critical for the HuNoV RdRp receptor. The most active compound, CHEMBL167790, closely binds to the binding pocket of the RdRp enzyme and depicted stable binding with RMSD 0.8-3.2 Å, and the RMSF profile peak was between 1.0-4.0 Å, and the conformational fluctuations were at 450-460 residues. Moreover, the dynamic residue cross-correlation plot also showed the pairwise correlation between the binding residues 300-510 of the HuNoV RdRp receptor and CHEMBL167790. The principal component analysis depicted the enhanced movement of protein atoms. Moreover, additional residues such as Glu510 and Asn505 interacted with CHEMBL167790 via water bridge and established H-bond interactions after the simulation. http://zinc15.docking.org/substances/ZINC000013589565.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oluwakemi Ebenezer
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Science, Mangosuthu University of Technology, Durban, South Africa
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15
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Thangamani L, Balasubramanian B, Easwaran M, Natarajan J, Pushparaj K, Meyyazhagan A, Piramanayagam S. GalNAc-siRNA conjugates: Prospective tools on the frontier of anti-viral therapeutics. Pharmacol Res 2021; 173:105864. [PMID: 34474100 PMCID: PMC8405237 DOI: 10.1016/j.phrs.2021.105864] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2021] [Revised: 08/27/2021] [Accepted: 08/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The growing use of short-interfering RNA (siRNA)-based therapeutics for viral diseases reflects the most recent innovations in anti-viral vaccines and drugs. These drugs play crucial roles in the fight against many hitherto incurable diseases, the causes, pathophysiologies, and molecular processes of which remain unknown. Targeted liver drug delivery systems are in clinical trials. The receptor-mediated endocytosis approach involving the abundant asialoglycoprotein receptors (ASGPRs) on the surfaces of liver cells show great promise. We here review N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc)-siRNA conjugates that treat viral diseases such as hepatitis B infection, but we also mention that novel, native conjugate-based, targeted siRNA anti-viral drugs may also cure several life-threatening diseases such as hemorrhagic cystitis, multifocal leukoencephalopathy, and severe acute respiratory syndrome caused by coronaviruses and human herpes virus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lokesh Thangamani
- Computational Biology Lab, Department of Bioinformatics, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore 641046, Tamil Nadu, India
| | | | - Murugesh Easwaran
- International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi 110067, India
| | - Jeyakumar Natarajan
- Data Mining and Text Mining Laboratory, Department of Bioinformatics, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore 641046, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Karthika Pushparaj
- Department of Zoology, School of Biosciences, Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore 641043, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Arun Meyyazhagan
- Department of Life Sciences, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru 560029, Karnataka, India.
| | - Shanmughavel Piramanayagam
- Computational Biology Lab, Department of Bioinformatics, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore 641046, Tamil Nadu, India.
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16
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Xu X, Zhang L, Chu JTS, Wang Y, Chin AWH, Chong TH, Dai Z, Poon LLM, Cheung PPH, Huang X. A novel mechanism of enhanced transcription activity and fidelity for influenza A viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. Nucleic Acids Res 2021; 49:8796-8810. [PMID: 34379778 PMCID: PMC8421151 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkab660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2021] [Revised: 07/13/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
During RNA elongation, the influenza A viral (IAV) RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) residues in the active site interact with the triphosphate moiety of nucleoside triphosphate (NTP) for catalysis. The molecular mechanisms by which they control the rate and fidelity of NTP incorporation remain elusive. Here, we demonstrated through enzymology, virology and computational approaches that the R239 and K235 in the PB1 subunit of RdRp are critical to controlling the activity and fidelity of transcription. Contrary to common beliefs that high-fidelity RdRp variants exert a slower incorporation rate, we discovered a first-of-its-kind, single lysine-to-arginine mutation on K235 exhibited enhanced fidelity and activity compared with wild-type. In particular, we employed a single-turnover NTP incorporation assay for the first time on IAV RdRp to show that K235R mutant RdRp possessed a 1.9-fold increase in the transcription activity of the cognate NTP and a 4.6-fold increase in fidelity compared to wild-type. Our all-atom molecular dynamics simulations further elucidated that the higher activity is attributed to the shorter distance between K235R and the triphosphate moiety of NTP compared with wild-type. These results provide novel insights into NTP incorporation and fidelity control mechanisms, which lay the foundation for the rational design of IAV vaccine and antiviral targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinzhou Xu
- The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology-Shenzhen Research Institute, Hi-Tech Park, Nanshan, Shenzhen 518057, China.,Bioengineering Graduate Program, Department of Biological and Chemical Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong, China
| | - Lu Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Structural Chemistry, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Julie Tung Sem Chu
- School of Public Health, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Yuqing Wang
- The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology-Shenzhen Research Institute, Hi-Tech Park, Nanshan, Shenzhen 518057, China.,Bioengineering Graduate Program, Department of Biological and Chemical Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong, China
| | - Alex Wing Hong Chin
- School of Public Health, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.,Centre for Immunity and Infection, Hong Kong Science Park, Hong Kong, China
| | - Tin Hang Chong
- The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology-Shenzhen Research Institute, Hi-Tech Park, Nanshan, Shenzhen 518057, China.,Department of Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
| | - Zixi Dai
- Department of Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
| | - Leo Lit Man Poon
- School of Public Health, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.,HKU-Pasteur Research Pole, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.,Centre for Immunity and Infection, Hong Kong Science Park, Hong Kong, China
| | - Peter Pak-Hang Cheung
- The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology-Shenzhen Research Institute, Hi-Tech Park, Nanshan, Shenzhen 518057, China.,Department of Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.,Department of Chemical Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, China.,Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, Li Ka Shing Medical Sciences Building, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, China
| | - Xuhui Huang
- The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology-Shenzhen Research Institute, Hi-Tech Park, Nanshan, Shenzhen 518057, China.,Department of Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
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17
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Domanska A, Guryanov S, Butcher SJ. A comparative analysis of parechovirus protein structures with other picornaviruses. Open Biol 2021; 11:210008. [PMID: 34315275 PMCID: PMC8316810 DOI: 10.1098/rsob.210008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Parechoviruses belong to the genus Parechovirus within the family Picornaviridae and are non-enveloped icosahedral viruses with a single-stranded RNA genome. Parechoviruses include human and animal pathogens classified into six species. Those that infect humans belong to the Parechovirus A species and can cause infections ranging from mild gastrointestinal or respiratory illness to severe neonatal sepsis. There are no approved antivirals available to treat parechovirus (nor any other picornavirus) infections. In this parechovirus review, we focus on the cleaved protein products resulting from the polyprotein processing after translation comparing and contrasting their known or predicted structures and functions to those of other picornaviruses. The review also includes our original analysis from sequence and structure prediction. This review highlights significant structural differences between parechoviral and other picornaviral proteins, suggesting that parechovirus drug development should specifically be directed to parechoviral targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aušra Domanska
- Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Molecular and Integrative Bioscience Research Programme, and Helsinki Institute of Life Sciences-Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Sergey Guryanov
- Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Molecular and Integrative Bioscience Research Programme, and Helsinki Institute of Life Sciences-Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Sarah J Butcher
- Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Molecular and Integrative Bioscience Research Programme, and Helsinki Institute of Life Sciences-Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
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18
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Bhatia S, Narayanan N, Nagpal S, Nair DT. Antiviral therapeutics directed against RNA dependent RNA polymerases from positive-sense viruses. Mol Aspects Med 2021; 81:101005. [PMID: 34311994 DOI: 10.1016/j.mam.2021.101005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2021] [Revised: 07/14/2021] [Accepted: 07/16/2021] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Viruses with positive-sense single stranded RNA (+ssRNA) genomes are responsible for different diseases and represent a global health problem. In addition to developing new vaccines that protect against severe illness on infection, it is imperative to identify new antiviral molecules to treat infected patients. The genome of these RNA viruses generally codes for an enzyme with RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP) activity. This molecule is centrally involved in the duplication of the RNA genome. Inhibition of this enzyme by small molecules will prevent duplication of the RNA genome and thus reduce the viral titer. An overview of the different therapeutic strategies used to inhibit RdRPs from +ssRNA viruses is provided, along with an analysis of these enzymes to highlight new binding sites for inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonam Bhatia
- Regional Centre for Biotechnology, 3rd Milestone, Faridabad-Gurgaon Expressway, Faridabad, 121001, India
| | - Naveen Narayanan
- Regional Centre for Biotechnology, 3rd Milestone, Faridabad-Gurgaon Expressway, Faridabad, 121001, India
| | - Shilpi Nagpal
- Regional Centre for Biotechnology, 3rd Milestone, Faridabad-Gurgaon Expressway, Faridabad, 121001, India; National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, GKVK Campus, Bangalore, 560065, India
| | - Deepak T Nair
- Regional Centre for Biotechnology, 3rd Milestone, Faridabad-Gurgaon Expressway, Faridabad, 121001, India.
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19
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Vlachakis D. Genetic and structural analyses of ssRNA viruses pave the way for the discovery of novel antiviral pharmacological targets. Mol Omics 2021; 17:357-364. [PMID: 33725065 DOI: 10.1039/d0mo00173b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
In the era of big data and artificial intelligence, a lot of new discoveries have influenced the fields of antiviral drug design and pharmacophore identification. Viruses have always been a threat to society in terms of public health and economic stability. Viruses not only affect humans but also livestock and agriculture with a direct impact on food safety, economy and environmental imprint. Most recently, with the pandemic of COVID-19, it was made clear that a single virus can have a devastating impact on global well-being and economy. In this direction, there is an emerging need for the identification of promising pharmacological targets in viruses. Herein, an effort has been made to discuss the current knowledge, state-of-the-art applications and future implications for the main pharmacological targets of single-stranded RNA viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dimitrios Vlachakis
- Laboratory of Genetics, Department of Biotechnology, School of Applied BIology and Biotechnology, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
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20
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The Picornavirus Precursor 3CD Has Different Conformational Dynamics Compared to 3C pro and 3D pol in Functionally Relevant Regions. Viruses 2021; 13:v13030442. [PMID: 33803479 PMCID: PMC8001691 DOI: 10.3390/v13030442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2021] [Revised: 03/06/2021] [Accepted: 03/08/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Viruses have evolved numerous strategies to maximize the use of their limited genetic material, including proteolytic cleavage of polyproteins to yield products with different functions. The poliovirus polyprotein 3CD is involved in important protein-protein, protein-RNA and protein-lipid interactions in viral replication and infection. It is a precursor to the 3C protease and 3D RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, but has different protease specificity, is not an active polymerase, and participates in other interactions differently than its processed products. These functional differences are poorly explained by the known X-ray crystal structures. It has been proposed that functional differences might be due to differences in conformational dynamics between 3C, 3D and 3CD. To address this possibility, we conducted nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy experiments, including multiple quantum relaxation dispersion, chemical exchange saturation transfer and methyl spin-spin relaxation, to probe conformational dynamics across multiple timescales. Indeed, these studies identified differences in conformational dynamics in functionally important regions, including enzyme active sites, and RNA and lipid binding sites. Expansion of the conformational ensemble available to 3CD may allow it to perform additional functions not observed in 3C and 3D alone despite having nearly identical lowest-energy structures.
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21
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Virus Prospecting in Crickets-Discovery and Strain Divergence of a Novel Iflavirus in Wild and Cultivated Acheta domesticus. Viruses 2021; 13:v13030364. [PMID: 33669085 PMCID: PMC7996529 DOI: 10.3390/v13030364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2021] [Revised: 02/18/2021] [Accepted: 02/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Orthopteran insects have high reproductive rates leading to boom-bust population dynamics with high local densities that are ideal for short, episodic disease epidemics. Viruses are particularly well suited for such host population dynamics, due to their supreme ability to adapt to changing transmission criteria. However, very little is known about the viruses of Orthopteran insects. Since Orthopterans are increasingly reared commercially, for animal feed and human consumption, there is a risk that viruses naturally associated with these insects can adapt to commercial rearing conditions, and cause disease. We therefore explored the virome of the house cricket Acheta domesticus, which is both part of the natural Swedish landscape and reared commercially for the pet feed market. Only 1% of the faecal RNA and DNA from wild-caught A. domesticus consisted of viruses. These included both known and novel viruses associated with crickets/insects, their bacterial-fungal microbiome, or their plant food. Relatively abundant among these viral Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) was a novel Iflavirus, tentatively named Acheta domesticus Iflavirus (AdIV). Quantitative analyses showed that AdIV was also abundant in frass and insect samples from commercially reared crickets. Interestingly, the wild and commercial AdIV strains had short, extremely divergent variation hotspots throughout the genome, which may indicate specific adaptation to their hosts’ distinct rearing environments.
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22
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Structure Unveils Relationships between RNA Virus Polymerases. Viruses 2021; 13:v13020313. [PMID: 33671332 PMCID: PMC7922027 DOI: 10.3390/v13020313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2020] [Revised: 02/14/2021] [Accepted: 02/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
RNA viruses are the fastest evolving known biological entities. Consequently, the sequence similarity between homologous viral proteins disappears quickly, limiting the usability of traditional sequence-based phylogenetic methods in the reconstruction of relationships and evolutionary history among RNA viruses. Protein structures, however, typically evolve more slowly than sequences, and structural similarity can still be evident, when no sequence similarity can be detected. Here, we used an automated structural comparison method, homologous structure finder, for comprehensive comparisons of viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRps). We identified a common structural core of 231 residues for all the structurally characterized viral RdRps, covering segmented and non-segmented negative-sense, positive-sense, and double-stranded RNA viruses infecting both prokaryotic and eukaryotic hosts. The grouping and branching of the viral RdRps in the structure-based phylogenetic tree follow their functional differentiation. The RdRps using protein primer, RNA primer, or self-priming mechanisms have evolved independently of each other, and the RdRps cluster into two large branches based on the used transcription mechanism. The structure-based distance tree presented here follows the recently established RdRp-based RNA virus classification at genus, subfamily, family, order, class and subphylum ranks. However, the topology of our phylogenetic tree suggests an alternative phylum level organization.
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23
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Picarazzi F, Vicenti I, Saladini F, Zazzi M, Mori M. Targeting the RdRp of Emerging RNA Viruses: The Structure-Based Drug Design Challenge. Molecules 2020; 25:E5695. [PMID: 33287144 PMCID: PMC7730706 DOI: 10.3390/molecules25235695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2020] [Revised: 11/30/2020] [Accepted: 12/01/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) is an essential enzyme for the viral replication process, catalyzing the viral RNA synthesis using a metal ion-dependent mechanism. In recent years, RdRp has emerged as an optimal target for the development of antiviral drugs, as demonstrated by recent approvals of sofosbuvir and remdesivir against Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), respectively. In this work, we overview the main sequence and structural features of the RdRp of emerging RNA viruses such as Coronaviruses, Flaviviruses, and HCV, as well as inhibition strategies implemented so far. While analyzing the structural information available on the RdRp of emerging RNA viruses, we provide examples of success stories such as for HCV and SARS-CoV-2. In contrast, Flaviviruses' story has raised attention about how the lack of structural details on catalytically-competent or ligand-bound RdRp strongly hampers the application of structure-based drug design, either in repurposing and conventional approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Picarazzi
- Department of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Department of Excellence 2018–2022, University of Siena, Via Aldo Moro 2, 53100 Siena, Italy;
| | - Ilaria Vicenti
- Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy; (I.V.); (F.S.); (M.Z.)
| | - Francesco Saladini
- Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy; (I.V.); (F.S.); (M.Z.)
| | - Maurizio Zazzi
- Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy; (I.V.); (F.S.); (M.Z.)
| | - Mattia Mori
- Department of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Department of Excellence 2018–2022, University of Siena, Via Aldo Moro 2, 53100 Siena, Italy;
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24
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Gibbs A. Binomial nomenclature for virus species: a long view. Arch Virol 2020; 165:3079-3083. [PMID: 33025196 DOI: 10.1007/s00705-020-04828-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2020] [Accepted: 08/31/2020] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
On several occasions over the past century it has been proposed that Latinized (Linnaean) binomial names (LBs) should be used for the formal names of virus species, and the opinions expressed in the early debates are still valid. The use of LBs would be sensible for the current Taxonomy if confined to the names of the specific and generic taxa of viruses of which some basic biological properties are known (e.g. ecology, hosts and virions); there is no advantage in filling the literature with formal names for partly described viruses or virus-like gene sequences. The ICTV should support the time-honoured convention that LBs are only used with biological (phylogenetic) classifications. Recent changes have left the ICTV Taxonomy and its Code uncoordinated, and its aims and audience uncertain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrian Gibbs
- Emeritus Faculty, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
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25
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Abid N, Pietrucci D, Salemi M, Chillemi G. New Insights into the Effect of Residue Mutations on the Rotavirus VP1 Function Using Molecular Dynamic Simulations. J Chem Inf Model 2020; 60:5011-5025. [PMID: 32786703 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.0c00475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Rotavirus group A remains a major cause of diarrhea in infants and young children worldwide. The permanent emergence of new genotypes puts the potential effectiveness of vaccines under serious questions. Thirteen VP1 structures with mutations mapping to the RNA entry site were analyzed using molecular dynamics simulations, and the results were combined with the experimental findings reported previously. The results revealed structural fluctuations in the protein-protein recognition sites and in the bottleneck of the RNA entry site that may affect the interaction of different proteins and delay the initiation of the viral replication, respectively. Altogether, the structural analysis of VP1 in the region crucial for the initiation of the viral replication, mainly the bottleneck site, may boost efforts to develop antivirals, as they might complement the available vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nabil Abid
- Laboratory of Transmissible Diseases and Biological Active Substances LR99ES27, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Monastir, Rue Ibn Sina, 5000 Monastir, Tunisia.,High Institute of Biotechnology of Sidi Thabet, Department of Biotechnology, University Manouba, BP-66, 2020 Ariana-Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Daniele Pietrucci
- Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via Della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - Marco Salemi
- Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Florida College of Medicine, Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, P.O. Box 100009, Gainesville, Florida 32610-3633, United States
| | - Giovanni Chillemi
- Department for Innovation in Biological, Agro-Food and Forest Systems, DIBAF, University of Tuscia, Via S. Camillo de Lellis s.n.c., 01100 Viterbo, Italy.,Institute of Biomembranes, Bioenergetics and Molecular Biotechnologies, IBIOM, CNR, Via Giovanni Amendola, 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy
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26
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Wang Y, Anirudhan V, Du R, Cui Q, Rong L. RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of SARS-CoV-2 as a therapeutic target. J Med Virol 2020; 93:300-310. [PMID: 32633831 DOI: 10.1002/jmv.26264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2020] [Revised: 06/30/2020] [Accepted: 07/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
The global pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), named coronavirus disease 2019, has infected more than 8.9 million people worldwide. This calls for urgent effective therapeutic measures. RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) activity in viral transcription and replication has been recognized as an attractive target to design novel antiviral strategies. Although SARS-CoV-2 shares less genetic similarity with SARS-CoV (~79%) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (~50%), the respective RdRps of the three coronaviruses are highly conserved, suggesting that RdRp is a good broad-spectrum antiviral target for coronaviruses. In this review, we discuss the antiviral potential of RdRp inhibitors (mainly nucleoside analogs) with an aim to provide a comprehensive account of drug discovery on SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanyan Wang
- College of Pharmacy, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, China
| | - Varada Anirudhan
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Ruikun Du
- College of Pharmacy, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, China.,Shandong Provincial Collaborative Innovation Center for Antiviral Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, China.,Qingdao Academy of Chinese Medicinal Sciences, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Qingdao, China
| | - Qinghua Cui
- College of Pharmacy, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, China.,Shandong Provincial Collaborative Innovation Center for Antiviral Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, China.,Qingdao Academy of Chinese Medicinal Sciences, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Qingdao, China
| | - Lijun Rong
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
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27
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Ortiz-Baez AS, Eden JS, Moritz C, Holmes EC. A Divergent Articulavirus in an Australian Gecko Identified Using Meta-Transcriptomics and Protein Structure Comparisons. Viruses 2020; 12:v12060613. [PMID: 32512909 PMCID: PMC7354609 DOI: 10.3390/v12060613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2020] [Revised: 06/01/2020] [Accepted: 06/03/2020] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The discovery of highly divergent RNA viruses is compromised by their limited sequence similarity to known viruses. Evolutionary information obtained from protein structural modelling offers a powerful approach to detect distantly related viruses based on the conservation of tertiary structures in key proteins such as the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). We utilised a template-based approach for protein structure prediction from amino acid sequences to identify distant evolutionary relationships among viruses detected in meta-transcriptomic sequencing data from Australian wildlife. The best predicted protein structural model was compared with the results of similarity searches against protein databases. Using this combination of meta-transcriptomics and protein structure prediction we identified the RdRp (PB1) gene segment of a divergent negative-sense RNA virus, denoted Lauta virus (LTAV), in a native Australian gecko (Gehyra lauta). The presence of this virus was confirmed by PCR and Sanger sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that Lauta virus likely represents a newly described genus within the family Amnoonviridae, order Articulavirales, that is most closely related to the fish virus Tilapia tilapinevirus (TiLV). These findings provide important insights into the evolution of negative-sense RNA viruses and structural conservation of the viral replicase among members of the order Articulavirales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayda Susana Ortiz-Baez
- Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, School of Life and Environmental Sciences and School of Medical Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006, Australia; (A.S.O.-B.); (J-S.E.)
| | - John-Sebastian Eden
- Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, School of Life and Environmental Sciences and School of Medical Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006, Australia; (A.S.O.-B.); (J-S.E.)
- Centre for Virus Research, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Westmead NSW 2145, Australia
| | - Craig Moritz
- Research School of Biology & Centre for Biodiversity Analysis, The Australian National University, Acton ACT 6201, Australia;
| | - Edward C. Holmes
- Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, School of Life and Environmental Sciences and School of Medical Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006, Australia; (A.S.O.-B.); (J-S.E.)
- Correspondence:
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Stefanik M, Valdes JJ, Ezebuo FC, Haviernik J, Uzochukwu IC, Fojtikova M, Salat J, Eyer L, Ruzek D. FDA-Approved Drugs Efavirenz, Tipranavir, and Dasabuvir Inhibit Replication of Multiple Flaviviruses in Vero Cells. Microorganisms 2020; 8:microorganisms8040599. [PMID: 32326119 PMCID: PMC7232190 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms8040599] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2020] [Revised: 03/16/2020] [Accepted: 04/15/2020] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Vector-borne flaviviruses (VBFs) affect human health worldwide, but no approved drugs are available specifically to treat VBF-associated infections. Here, we performed in silico screening of a library of U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved antiviral drugs for their interaction with Zika virus proteins. Twelve hit drugs were identified by the docking experiments and tested in cell-based antiviral assay systems. Efavirenz, tipranavir, and dasabuvir at micromolar concentrations were identified to inhibit all VBFs tested; i.e., two representatives of mosquito-borne flaviviruses (Zika and West Nile viruses) and one representative of flaviviruses transmitted by ticks (tick-borne encephalitis virus). The results warrant further research into these drugs, either individually or in combination, as possible pan-flavivirus inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michal Stefanik
- Department of Virology, Veterinary Research Institute, Hudcova 70, CZ-62100 Brno, Czech Republic; (M.S.); (J.J.V.); (J.H.); (M.F.); (J.S.); (L.E.)
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Mendel University in Brno, Zemedelska 1, CZ-613 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - James J. Valdes
- Department of Virology, Veterinary Research Institute, Hudcova 70, CZ-62100 Brno, Czech Republic; (M.S.); (J.J.V.); (J.H.); (M.F.); (J.S.); (L.E.)
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Branisovska 31, CZ-37005 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Fortunatus C. Ezebuo
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, PMB 5025 Awka 420281, Nigeria; (F.C.E.); (I.C.U.)
| | - Jan Haviernik
- Department of Virology, Veterinary Research Institute, Hudcova 70, CZ-62100 Brno, Czech Republic; (M.S.); (J.J.V.); (J.H.); (M.F.); (J.S.); (L.E.)
- Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, CZ-625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Ikemefuna C. Uzochukwu
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, PMB 5025 Awka 420281, Nigeria; (F.C.E.); (I.C.U.)
| | - Martina Fojtikova
- Department of Virology, Veterinary Research Institute, Hudcova 70, CZ-62100 Brno, Czech Republic; (M.S.); (J.J.V.); (J.H.); (M.F.); (J.S.); (L.E.)
| | - Jiri Salat
- Department of Virology, Veterinary Research Institute, Hudcova 70, CZ-62100 Brno, Czech Republic; (M.S.); (J.J.V.); (J.H.); (M.F.); (J.S.); (L.E.)
| | - Ludek Eyer
- Department of Virology, Veterinary Research Institute, Hudcova 70, CZ-62100 Brno, Czech Republic; (M.S.); (J.J.V.); (J.H.); (M.F.); (J.S.); (L.E.)
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Branisovska 31, CZ-37005 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Daniel Ruzek
- Department of Virology, Veterinary Research Institute, Hudcova 70, CZ-62100 Brno, Czech Republic; (M.S.); (J.J.V.); (J.H.); (M.F.); (J.S.); (L.E.)
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Branisovska 31, CZ-37005 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
- Correspondence:
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29
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Ng WM, Stelfox AJ, Bowden TA. Unraveling virus relationships by structure-based phylogenetic classification. Virus Evol 2020; 6:veaa003. [PMID: 32064119 PMCID: PMC7015158 DOI: 10.1093/ve/veaa003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Delineation of the intricacies of protein function from macromolecular structure constitutes a continual obstacle in the study of cell and pathogen biology. Structure-based phylogenetic analysis has emerged as a powerful tool for addressing this challenge, allowing the detection and quantification of conserved architectural properties between proteins, including those with low or no detectable sequence homology. With a focus on viral protein structure, we highlight how a number of investigations have utilized this powerful method to infer common functionality and ancestry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weng M Ng
- Division of Structural Biology, Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
| | - Alice J Stelfox
- Division of Structural Biology, Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
| | - Thomas A Bowden
- Division of Structural Biology, Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
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30
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Terret-Welter Z, Bonnet G, Moury B, Gallois JL. Analysis of tomato spotted wilt virus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase adaptative evolution and constrained domains using homology protein structure modelling. J Gen Virol 2020; 101:334-346. [PMID: 31958051 DOI: 10.1099/jgv.0.001380] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV; genus Orthotospovirus, family Tospoviridae) has a huge impact on a large range of plants worldwide. In this study, we determined the sequence of the large (L) RNA segment that encodes the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) from a TSWV isolate (LYE51) collected in the south of France. Analysis of the phylogenetic relationships of TSWV-LYE51 with other TSWV isolates shows that it is closely related to other European isolates. A 3D model of TSWV-LYE51 RdRp was built by homology with the RdRp structure of the La Crosse virus (genus Orthobunyavirus, family Peribunyaviridae). Finally, an analysis of positive and negative selection was carried out on 30 TSWV full-length RNA L sequences and compared with the phylogeny and the protein structure data. We showed that the seven codons that are under positive selection are distributed all along the RdRp gene. By contrast, the codons associated with negative selection are especially concentrated in three highly constrained domains: the endonuclease in charge of the cap-snatching mechanism, the thumb domain and the mid domain. Those three domains could constitute good candidates to look for host targets on which genetic resistance by loss of susceptibility could be developed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoé Terret-Welter
- Syngeta Seeds SAS, 346 Route des Pasquiers - F84260 Sarrians, France
- GAFL, INRA, Montfavet, France
| | - Grégori Bonnet
- Syngeta Seeds SAS, 346 Route des Pasquiers - F84260 Sarrians, France
| | - Benoit Moury
- INRA, UR407 Pathologie Végétale, 84140, Montfavet, France
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31
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Smertina E, Urakova N, Strive T, Frese M. Calicivirus RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerases: Evolution, Structure, Protein Dynamics, and Function. Front Microbiol 2019; 10:1280. [PMID: 31244803 PMCID: PMC6563846 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.01280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2019] [Accepted: 05/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The Caliciviridae are viruses with a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA genome that is packaged into an icosahedral, environmentally stable protein capsid. The family contains five genera (Norovirus, Nebovirus, Sapovirus, Lagovirus, and Vesivirus) that infect vertebrates including amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. The RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) replicates the genome of RNA viruses and can speed up evolution due to its error-prone nature. Studying calicivirus RdRps in the context of genuine virus replication is often hampered by a lack of suitable model systems. Enteric caliciviruses and RHDV in particular are notoriously difficult to propagate in cell culture; therefore, molecular studies of replication mechanisms are challenging. Nevertheless, research on recombinant proteins has revealed several unexpected characteristics of calicivirus RdRps. For example, the RdRps of RHDV and related lagoviruses possess the ability to expose a hydrophobic motif, to rearrange Golgi membranes, and to copy RNA at unusually high temperatures. This review is focused on the structural dynamics, biochemical properties, kinetics, and putative interaction partners of these RdRps. In addition, we discuss the possible existence of a conserved but as yet undescribed structural element that is shared amongst the RdRps of all caliciviruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Smertina
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Health and Biosecurity, Canberra, ACT, Australia
- Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Nadya Urakova
- Department of Entomology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States
| | - Tanja Strive
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Health and Biosecurity, Canberra, ACT, Australia
- Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Michael Frese
- Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia
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32
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Wainaina JM, Ateka E, Makori T, Kehoe MA, Boykin LM. A metagenomic study of DNA viruses from samples of local varieties of common bean in Kenya. PeerJ 2019; 7:e6465. [PMID: 30891366 PMCID: PMC6422016 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.6465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2018] [Accepted: 01/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the primary source of protein and nutrients in the majority of households in sub-Saharan Africa. However, pests and viral diseases are key drivers in the reduction of bean production. To date, the majority of viruses reported in beans have been RNA viruses. In this study, we carried out a viral metagenomic analysis on virus symptomatic bean plants. Our virus detection pipeline identified three viral fragments of the double-stranded DNA virus Pelargonium vein banding virus (PVBV) (family, Caulimoviridae, genus Badnavirus). This is the first report of the dsDNA virus and specifically PVBV in legumes to our knowledge. In addition two previously reported +ssRNA viruses the bean common mosaic necrosis virus (BCMNVA) (Potyviridae) and aphid lethal paralysis virus (ALPV) (Dicistroviridae) were identified. Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of the Badnavirus (PVBV) using amino acid sequences of the RT/RNA-dependent DNA polymerase region showed the Kenyan sequence (SRF019_MK014483) was closely matched with two Badnavirus viruses: Dracaena mottle virus (DrMV) (YP_610965) and Lucky bamboo bacilliform virus (ABR01170). Phylogenetic analysis of BCMNVA was based on amino acid sequences of the Nib region. The BCMNVA phylogenetic tree resolved two clades identified as clade (I and II). Sequence from this study SRF35_MK014482, clustered within clade I with other Kenyan sequences. Conversely, Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of ALPV was based on nucleotide sequences of the hypothetical protein gene 1 and 2. Three main clades were resolved and identified as clades I-III. The Kenyan sequence from this study (SRF35_MK014481) clustered within clade II, and nested within a sub-clade; comprising of sequences from China and an earlier ALPV sequences from Kenya isolated from maize (MF458892). Our findings support the use of viral metagenomics to reveal the nascent viruses, their viral diversity and evolutionary history of these viruses. The detection of ALPV and PVBV indicate that these viruses have likely been underreported due to the unavailability of diagnostic tools.
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Affiliation(s)
- James M. Wainaina
- School of Molecular Sciences and Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Elijah Ateka
- Department of Horticulture, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Timothy Makori
- Department of Horticulture, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Monica A. Kehoe
- Diagnostic Laboratory Service, Plant Pathology, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, South Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Laura M. Boykin
- School of Molecular Sciences and Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
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33
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Warrilow D, Huang B, Newton ND, Harrison JJ, Johnson KN, Chow WK, Hall RA, Hobson-Peters J. The taxonomy of an Australian nodavirus isolated from mosquitoes. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0210029. [PMID: 30596795 PMCID: PMC6312370 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0210029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2018] [Accepted: 12/14/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
We describe a virus isolated from Culex annulirostris mosquitoes in Australia. Phylogenetic analysis of its RNA-dependent RNA polymerase sequence and that of other related viruses revealed 6 clades, two of which corresponded wholly or partly with existing genera in the family Nodaviridae. There was greater genetic diversity within the family than previously recognized prompting us to suggest that additional genera should be considered within the family.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Warrilow
- Public Health Virology Laboratory, Queensland Health Forensic and Scientific Services, Archerfield, Queensland
- * E-mail: (DW); (JHP)
| | - Bixing Huang
- Public Health Virology Laboratory, Queensland Health Forensic and Scientific Services, Archerfield, Queensland
| | - Natalee D. Newton
- Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| | - Jessica J. Harrison
- Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| | - Karyn N. Johnson
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| | - Weng Kong Chow
- Australian Defence Force Malaria and Infectious Disease Institute, Queensland, Australia
| | - Roy A. Hall
- Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| | - Jody Hobson-Peters
- Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
- * E-mail: (DW); (JHP)
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Venkataraman S, Prasad BVLS, Selvarajan R. RNA Dependent RNA Polymerases: Insights from Structure, Function and Evolution. Viruses 2018; 10:v10020076. [PMID: 29439438 PMCID: PMC5850383 DOI: 10.3390/v10020076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 200] [Impact Index Per Article: 33.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2017] [Revised: 01/30/2018] [Accepted: 02/03/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) is one of the most versatile enzymes of RNA viruses that is indispensable for replicating the genome as well as for carrying out transcription. The core structural features of RdRps are conserved, despite the divergence in their sequences. The structure of RdRp resembles that of a cupped right hand and consists of fingers, palm and thumb subdomains. The catalysis involves the participation of conserved aspartates and divalent metal ions. Complexes of RdRps with substrates, inhibitors and metal ions provide a comprehensive view of their functional mechanism and offer valuable insights regarding the development of antivirals. In this article, we provide an overview of the structural aspects of RdRps and their complexes from the Group III, IV and V viruses and their structure-based phylogeny.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sangita Venkataraman
- Department of Biotechnology, Acharya Nagarjuna University, Nagarjuna Nagar, Guntur 522510, India.
| | - Burra V L S Prasad
- Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University Haryana, Manesar, Gurgaon 122413, India.
| | - Ramasamy Selvarajan
- ICAR National Research Centre for Banana, Thayanur Post, Tiruchirapalli 620102, India.
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35
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Jordan PC, Stevens SK, Deval J. Nucleosides for the treatment of respiratory RNA virus infections. Antivir Chem Chemother 2018; 26:2040206618764483. [PMID: 29562753 PMCID: PMC5890544 DOI: 10.1177/2040206618764483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 91] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2017] [Accepted: 02/07/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus, human metapneumovirus, parainfluenza virus, coronaviruses, and rhinoviruses are among the most common viruses causing mild seasonal colds. These RNA viruses can also cause lower respiratory tract infections leading to bronchiolitis and pneumonia. Young children, the elderly, and patients with compromised cardiac, pulmonary, or immune systems are at greatest risk for serious disease associated with these RNA virus respiratory infections. In addition, swine and avian influenza viruses, together with severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome coronaviruses, represent significant pandemic threats to the general population. In this review, we describe the current medical need resulting from respiratory infections caused by RNA viruses, which justifies drug discovery efforts to identify new therapeutic agents. The RNA polymerase of respiratory viruses represents an attractive target for nucleoside and nucleotide analogs acting as inhibitors of RNA chain synthesis. Here, we present the molecular, biochemical, and structural fundamentals of the polymerase of the four major families of RNA respiratory viruses: Orthomyxoviridae, Pneumoviridae/Paramyxoviridae, Coronaviridae, and Picornaviridae. We summarize past and current efforts to develop nucleoside and nucleotide analogs as antiviral agents against respiratory virus infections. This includes molecules with very broad antiviral spectrum such as ribavirin and T-705 (favipiravir), and others targeting more specifically one or a few virus families. Recent advances in our understanding of the structure(s) and function(s) of respiratory virus polymerases will likely support the discovery and development of novel nucleoside analogs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul C Jordan
- Alios BioPharma, Inc., a Janssen Pharmaceutical Company of Johnson & Johnson, South San Francisco, USA
| | - Sarah K Stevens
- Alios BioPharma, Inc., a Janssen Pharmaceutical Company of Johnson & Johnson, South San Francisco, USA
| | - Jerome Deval
- Alios BioPharma, Inc., a Janssen Pharmaceutical Company of Johnson & Johnson, South San Francisco, USA
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36
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de Farias ST, Dos Santos Junior AP, Rêgo TG, José MV. Origin and Evolution of RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase. Front Genet 2017; 8:125. [PMID: 28979293 PMCID: PMC5611760 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2017.00125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2017] [Accepted: 09/04/2017] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRp) are very ancient enzymes and are essential for all viruses with RNA genomes. We reconstruct the origin and evolution of this polymerase since the initial stages of the origin of life. The origin of the RdRp was traced back from tRNA ancestors. At the origin of the RdRp the most ancient part of the protein is the cofactor-binding site that had the capacity of binding to simple molecules as magnesium, calcium, and ribonucleotides. Our results suggest that RdRp originated from junctions of proto-tRNAs that worked as the first genes at the emergence of the primitive translation system, where the RNA was the informational molecule. The initial domain, worked as a building block for the emergence of the fingers and thumb domains. From the ancestral RdRp, we could establish the evolutionary stages of viral evolution from a rooted ancestor to modern viruses. It was observed that the selective pressure under the RdRp was the organization and functioning of the genome, where RNA double-stranded and RNA single-stranded virus formed a separate group. We propose an evolutionary route to the polymerases and the results suggest an ancient scenario for the origin of RNA viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Savio T de Farias
- Laboratório de Genética Evolutiva Paulo Leminsk, Departamento de Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal da ParaíbaJoão Pessoa, Brazil
| | - Ariosvaldo P Dos Santos Junior
- Laboratório de Genética Evolutiva Paulo Leminsk, Departamento de Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal da ParaíbaJoão Pessoa, Brazil
| | - Thais G Rêgo
- Departamento de Informática, Universidade Federal da ParaíbaJoão Pessoa, Brazil
| | - Marco V José
- Theoretical Biology Group, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMexico City, Mexico
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Urakova N, Warden AC, White PA, Strive T, Frese M. A Motif in the F Homomorph of Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus Polymerase Is Important for the Subcellular Localisation of the Protein and Its Ability to Induce Redistribution of Golgi Membranes. Viruses 2017; 9:v9080202. [PMID: 28763035 PMCID: PMC5580459 DOI: 10.3390/v9080202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2017] [Revised: 07/21/2017] [Accepted: 07/21/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) is a calicivirus that infects and frequently kills rabbits. Previously, we showed that the RHDV RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) is associated with distinct, but yet uncharacterised subcellular structures and is capable of inducing a redistribution of Golgi membranes. In this study, we identified a partially hidden hydrophobic motif that determines the subcellular localisation of recombinant RHDV RdRp in transfected cells. This novel motif, 189LLWGCDVGVAVCAAAVFHNICY210, is located within the F homomorph, between the conserved F3 and A motifs of the core RdRp domain. Amino acid substitutions that decrease the hydrophobicity of this motif reduced the ability of the protein to accumulate in multiple subcellular foci and to induce a rearrangement of the Golgi network. Furthermore, preliminary molecular dynamics simulations suggest that the RHDV RdRp could align with the negatively charged surfaces of biological membranes and undergo a conformational change involving the F homomorph. These changes would expose the newly identified hydrophobic motif so it could immerse itself into the outer leaflet of intracellular membranes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadya Urakova
- Health and Biosecurity, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
- Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
- Health Research Institute, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
| | - Andrew C Warden
- Health and Biosecurity, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
| | - Peter A White
- School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
| | - Tanja Strive
- Health and Biosecurity, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
- Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
- Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
| | - Michael Frese
- Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
- Health Research Institute, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
- Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
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Amroun A, Priet S, de Lamballerie X, Quérat G. Bunyaviridae RdRps: structure, motifs, and RNA synthesis machinery. Crit Rev Microbiol 2017; 43:753-778. [PMID: 28418734 DOI: 10.1080/1040841x.2017.1307805] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Bunyaviridae family is the largest and most diverse family of RNA viruses. It has more than 350 members divided into five genera: Orthobunyavirus, Phlebovirus, Nairovirus, Hantavirus, and Tospovirus. They are present in the five continents, causing recurrent epidemics, epizootics, and considerable agricultural loss. The genome of bunyaviruses is divided into three segments of negative single-stranded RNA according to their relative size: L (Large), M (Medium) and S (Small) segment. Bunyaviridae RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) is encoded by the L segment, and is in charge of the replication and transcription of the viral RNA in the cytoplasm of the infected cell. Viral RdRps share a characteristic right hand-like structure with three subdomains: finger, palm, and thumb subdomains that define the formation of the catalytic cavity. In addition to the N-terminal endonuclease domain, eight conserved motifs (A-H) have been identified in the RdRp of Bunyaviridae. In this review, we have summarized the recent insights from the structural and functional studies of RdRp to understand the roles of different motifs shared by RdRps, the mechanism of viral RNA replication, genome segment packaging by the nucleoprotein, cap-snatching, mRNA transcription, and other RNA mechanisms of bunyaviruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdennour Amroun
- a Faculté de Médecine , UMR "Emergence des Pathologies Virales" (Aix-Marseille University - IRD 190 - Inserm 1207 - EHESP), Fondation IHU Méditerranée Infection, APHM Public Hospitals of Marseille , Marseille , France
| | - Stéphane Priet
- a Faculté de Médecine , UMR "Emergence des Pathologies Virales" (Aix-Marseille University - IRD 190 - Inserm 1207 - EHESP), Fondation IHU Méditerranée Infection, APHM Public Hospitals of Marseille , Marseille , France
| | - Xavier de Lamballerie
- a Faculté de Médecine , UMR "Emergence des Pathologies Virales" (Aix-Marseille University - IRD 190 - Inserm 1207 - EHESP), Fondation IHU Méditerranée Infection, APHM Public Hospitals of Marseille , Marseille , France
| | - Gilles Quérat
- a Faculté de Médecine , UMR "Emergence des Pathologies Virales" (Aix-Marseille University - IRD 190 - Inserm 1207 - EHESP), Fondation IHU Méditerranée Infection, APHM Public Hospitals of Marseille , Marseille , France
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Peersen OB. Picornaviral polymerase structure, function, and fidelity modulation. Virus Res 2017; 234:4-20. [PMID: 28163093 PMCID: PMC5476519 DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2017.01.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2016] [Accepted: 01/27/2017] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Like all positive strand RNA viruses, the picornaviruses replicate their genomes using a virally encoded RNA-dependent RNA polymerase enzyme known as 3Dpol. Over the past decade we have made tremendous advances in our understanding of 3Dpol structure and function, including the discovery of a novel mechanism for closing the active site that allows these viruses to easily fine tune replication fidelity and quasispecies distributions. This review summarizes current knowledge of picornaviral polymerase structure and how the enzyme interacts with RNA and other viral proteins to form stable and processive elongation complexes. The picornaviral RdRPs are among the smallest viral polymerases, but their fundamental molecular mechanism for catalysis appears to be generally applicable as a common feature of all positive strand RNA virus polymerases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olve B Peersen
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1870, United States.
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Urakova N, Strive T, Frese M. RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerases of Both Virulent and Benign Rabbit Caliciviruses Induce Striking Rearrangement of Golgi Membranes. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0169913. [PMID: 28072826 PMCID: PMC5224886 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169913] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2016] [Accepted: 12/22/2016] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The extremely pathogenic Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) and the completely benign Rabbit calicivirus (RCV) are closely related members of the genus Lagovirus (family Caliciviridae). The molecular mechanisms that determine the dramatic difference in virulence are unknown, but indirect evidence suggests that different properties of their RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRps) may at least partially be responsible for the contrasting phenotypes. Here we report that the unusual ability of the RHDV RdRp to induce a striking rearrangement of the Golgi network is not specific to RHDV, but a common feature of virulent and benign rabbit caliciviruses alike. Expression of rabbit calicivirus RdRps induced a redistribution of both cis/medial and medial/trans Golgi membrane markers, but not that of an endoplasmic reticulum membrane marker. Inactivating mutations in the conserved GDD motif did not abolish the ability of RHDV RdRp to rearrange the Golgi network, suggesting that polymerase activity and metal co-factors are not required for this function. Finally, we discuss possible implications of RdRp-induced membrane rearrangements on virus replication and host immune responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadya Urakova
- CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
- Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre, University of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
- Health Research Institute, University of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Tanja Strive
- CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
- Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre, University of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
- Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Michael Frese
- CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
- Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre, University of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
- Health Research Institute, University of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
- Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
- * E-mail:
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Deep Sequencing Analysis Reveals the Mycoviral Diversity of the Virome of an Avirulent Isolate of Rhizoctonia solani AG-2-2 IV. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0165965. [PMID: 27814394 PMCID: PMC5096721 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0165965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2016] [Accepted: 10/20/2016] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Rhizoctonia solani represents an important plant pathogenic Basidiomycota species complex and the host of many different mycoviruses, as indicated by frequent detection of dsRNA elements in natural populations of the fungus. To date, eight different mycoviruses have been characterized in Rhizoctonia and some of them have been reported to modulate its virulence. DsRNA extracts of the avirulent R. solani isolate DC17 (AG2-2-IV) displayed a diverse pattern, indicating multiple infections with mycoviruses. Deep sequencing analysis of the dsRNA extract, converted to cDNA, revealed that this isolate harbors at least 17 different mycovirus species. Based on the alignment of the conserved RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase (RdRp) domain, this viral community included putative members of the families Narnaviridae, Endornaviridae, Partitiviridae and Megabirnaviridae as well as of the order Tymovirales. Furthermore, viruses, which could not be assigned to any existing family or order, but showed similarities to so far unassigned species like Sclerotinia sclerotiorum RNA virus L, Rhizoctonia solani dsRNA virus 1, Aspergillus foetidus slow virus 2 or Rhizoctonia fumigata virus 1, were identified. This is the first report of a fungal isolate infected by 17 different viral species and a valuable study case to explore the diversity of mycoviruses infecting R. solani.
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Du Y, Wu NC, Jiang L, Zhang T, Gong D, Shu S, Wu TT, Sun R. Annotating Protein Functional Residues by Coupling High-Throughput Fitness Profile and Homologous-Structure Analysis. mBio 2016; 7:e01801-16. [PMID: 27803181 PMCID: PMC5090041 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.01801-16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2016] [Accepted: 10/07/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Identification and annotation of functional residues are fundamental questions in protein sequence analysis. Sequence and structure conservation provides valuable information to tackle these questions. It is, however, limited by the incomplete sampling of sequence space in natural evolution. Moreover, proteins often have multiple functions, with overlapping sequences that present challenges to accurate annotation of the exact functions of individual residues by conservation-based methods. Using the influenza A virus PB1 protein as an example, we developed a method to systematically identify and annotate functional residues. We used saturation mutagenesis and high-throughput sequencing to measure the replication capacity of single nucleotide mutations across the entire PB1 protein. After predicting protein stability upon mutations, we identified functional PB1 residues that are essential for viral replication. To further annotate the functional residues important to the canonical or noncanonical functions of viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (vRdRp), we performed a homologous-structure analysis with 16 different vRdRp structures. We achieved high sensitivity in annotating the known canonical polymerase functional residues. Moreover, we identified a cluster of noncanonical functional residues located in the loop region of the PB1 β-ribbon. We further demonstrated that these residues were important for PB1 protein nuclear import through the interaction with Ran-binding protein 5. In summary, we developed a systematic and sensitive method to identify and annotate functional residues that are not restrained by sequence conservation. Importantly, this method is generally applicable to other proteins about which homologous-structure information is available. IMPORTANCE To fully comprehend the diverse functions of a protein, it is essential to understand the functionality of individual residues. Current methods are highly dependent on evolutionary sequence conservation, which is usually limited by sampling size. Sequence conservation-based methods are further confounded by structural constraints and multifunctionality of proteins. Here we present a method that can systematically identify and annotate functional residues of a given protein. We used a high-throughput functional profiling platform to identify essential residues. Coupling it with homologous-structure comparison, we were able to annotate multiple functions of proteins. We demonstrated the method with the PB1 protein of influenza A virus and identified novel functional residues in addition to its canonical function as an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. Not limited to virology, this method is generally applicable to other proteins that can be functionally selected and about which homologous-structure information is available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yushen Du
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Cancer Institute, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, ZJU-UCLA Joint Center for Medical Education and Research, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Nicholas C Wu
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Molecular Biology Institute, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Lin Jiang
- Department of Neurology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Tianhao Zhang
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Molecular Biology Institute, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Danyang Gong
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Sara Shu
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Ting-Ting Wu
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Ren Sun
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Cancer Institute, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, ZJU-UCLA Joint Center for Medical Education and Research, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- Molecular Biology Institute, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
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Lu G, Gong P. Natural polymerase fusion as an initiation regulator? Oncotarget 2016; 7:35498-35499. [PMID: 27244885 PMCID: PMC5094939 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.9565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2016] [Accepted: 05/22/2016] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Guoliang Lu
- Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens and Biosafety, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Peng Gong
- Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens and Biosafety, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei, China
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Černý J, Černá Bolfíková B, de A Zanotto PM, Grubhoffer L, Růžek D. A deep phylogeny of viral and cellular right-hand polymerases. INFECTION GENETICS AND EVOLUTION 2015; 36:275-286. [PMID: 26431690 DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2015.09.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2015] [Revised: 09/22/2015] [Accepted: 09/28/2015] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Right-hand polymerases are important players in genome replication and repair in cellular organisms as well as in viruses. All right-hand polymerases are grouped into seven related protein families: viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerases, reverse transcriptases, single-subunit RNA polymerases, and DNA polymerase families A, B, D, and Y. Although the evolutionary relationships of right-hand polymerases within each family have been proposed, evolutionary relationships between families remain elusive because their sequence similarity is too low to allow classical phylogenetic analyses. The structure of viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerases recently was shown to be useful in inferring their evolution. Here, we address evolutionary relationships between right-hand polymerase families by combining sequence and structure information. We used a set of 22 viral and cellular polymerases representing all right-hand polymerase families with known protein structure. In contrast to previous studies, which focused only on the evolution of particular families, the current approach allowed us to present the first robust phylogenetic analysis unifying evolution of all right-hand polymerase families. All polymerase families branched into discrete lineages, following a fairly robust adjacency pattern. Only single-subunit RNA polymerases formed an inner group within DNA polymerase family A. RNA-dependent RNA polymerases of RNA viruses and reverse transcriptases of retroviruses formed two sister groups and were distinguishable from all other polymerases. DNA polymerases of DNA bacteriophages did not form a monophyletic group and are phylogenetically mixed with cellular DNA polymerase families A and B. Based on the highest genetic variability and structural simplicity, we assume that RNA-dependent RNA polymerases are the most ancient group of right-hand polymerases, in agreement with the RNA World hypothesis, because RNA-dependent RNA polymerases are enzymes that could serve in replication of RNA genomes. Moreover, our results show that protein structure can be used in phylogenetic analyses of distantly related proteins that share only limited sequence similarity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiří Černý
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
| | - Barbora Černá Bolfíková
- Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 126, Suchdol, 165 21 Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Paolo M de A Zanotto
- Department of Microbiology, Biomedical Sciences Institute, ICB II University of Sao Paulo, 05508-000 Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Libor Grubhoffer
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Daniel Růžek
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Veterinary Research Institute, Hudcova 296/70, 621 00 Brno, Czech Republic
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Tallei TE. Putative DNA-dependent RNA polymerase in Mitochondrial Plasmid of Paramecium caudatum Stock GT704. HAYATI JOURNAL OF BIOSCIENCES 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.hjb.2016.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022] Open
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Jácome R, Becerra A, Ponce de León S, Lazcano A. Structural Analysis of Monomeric RNA-Dependent Polymerases: Evolutionary and Therapeutic Implications. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0139001. [PMID: 26397100 PMCID: PMC4634563 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0139001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2015] [Accepted: 09/07/2015] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The crystal structures of monomeric RNA-dependent RNA polymerases and reverse transcriptases of more than 20 different viruses are available in the Protein Data Bank. They all share the characteristic right-hand shape of DNA- and RNA polymerases formed by the fingers, palm and thumb subdomains, and, in many cases, “fingertips” that extend from the fingers towards the thumb subdomain, giving the viral enzyme a closed right-hand appearance. Six conserved structural motifs that contain key residues for the proper functioning of the enzyme have been identified in all these RNA-dependent polymerases. These enzymes share a two divalent metal-ion mechanism of polymerization in which two conserved aspartate residues coordinate the interactions with the metal ions to catalyze the nucleotidyl transfer reaction. The recent availability of crystal structures of polymerases of the Orthomyxoviridae and Bunyaviridae families allowed us to make pairwise comparisons of the tertiary structures of polymerases belonging to the four main RNA viral groups, which has led to a phylogenetic tree in which single-stranded negative RNA viral polymerases have been included for the first time. This has also allowed us to use a homology-based structural prediction approach to develop a general three-dimensional model of the Ebola virus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. Our model includes several of the conserved structural motifs and residues described in other viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerases that define the catalytic and highly conserved palm subdomain, as well as portions of the fingers and thumb subdomains. The results presented here help to understand the current use and apparent success of antivirals, i.e. Brincidofovir, Lamivudine and Favipiravir, originally aimed at other types of polymerases, to counteract the Ebola virus infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo Jácome
- Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cd. Universitaria, México D.F., México
| | - Arturo Becerra
- Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cd. Universitaria, México D.F., México
| | - Samuel Ponce de León
- Dirección General de Investigación, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cd. Universitaria, México D.F., México
| | - Antonio Lazcano
- Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cd. Universitaria, México D.F., México
- Miembro de El Colegio Nacional, México D.F., México
- * E-mail:
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Ahola T, Karlin DG. Sequence analysis reveals a conserved extension in the capping enzyme of the alphavirus supergroup, and a homologous domain in nodaviruses. Biol Direct 2015; 10:16. [PMID: 25886938 PMCID: PMC4392871 DOI: 10.1186/s13062-015-0050-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2014] [Accepted: 03/24/2015] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Members of the alphavirus supergroup include human pathogens such as chikungunya virus, hepatitis E virus and rubella virus. They encode a capping enzyme with methyltransferase-guanylyltransferase (MTase-GTase) activity, which is an attractive drug target owing to its unique mechanism. However, its experimental study has proven very difficult. Results We examined over 50 genera of viruses by sequence analyses. Earlier studies showed that the MTase-GTase contains a “Core” region conserved in sequence. We show that it is followed by a long extension, which we termed “Iceberg” region, whose secondary structure, but not sequence, is strikingly conserved throughout the alphavirus supergroup. Sequence analyses strongly suggest that the minimal capping domain corresponds to the Core and Iceberg regions combined, which is supported by earlier experimental data. The Iceberg region contains all known membrane association sites that contribute to the assembly of viral replication factories. We predict that it may also contain an overlooked, widely conserved membrane-binding amphipathic helix. Unexpectedly, we detected a sequence homolog of the alphavirus MTase-GTase in taxa related to nodaviruses and to chronic bee paralysis virus. The presence of a capping enzyme in nodaviruses is biologically consistent, since they have capped genomes but replicate in the cytoplasm, where no cellular capping enzyme is present. The putative MTase-GTase domain of nodaviruses also contains membrane-binding sites that may drive the assembly of viral replication factories, revealing an unsuspected parallel with the alphavirus supergroup. Conclusions Our work will guide the functional analysis of the alphaviral MTase-GTase and the production of domains for structure determination. The identification of a homologous domain in a simple model system, nodaviruses, which replicate in numerous eukaryotic cell systems (yeast, flies, worms, mammals, and plants), can further help crack the function and structure of the enzyme. Reviewers This article was reviewed by Valerian Dolja, Eugene Koonin and Sebastian Maurer-Stroh. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13062-015-0050-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tero Ahola
- Department of Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland.
| | - David G Karlin
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK. .,The Division of Structural Biology, Henry Wellcome Building, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford, OX3 7BN, UK.
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Mönttinen HAM, Ravantti JJ, Stuart DI, Poranen MM. Automated structural comparisons clarify the phylogeny of the right-hand-shaped polymerases. Mol Biol Evol 2014; 31:2741-52. [PMID: 25063440 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msu219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Polymerases are essential for life, being responsible for replication, transcription, and the repair of nucleic acid molecules. Those that share a right-hand-shaped fold and catalytic site structurally similar to the DNA polymerase I of Escherichia coli may catalyze RNA- or DNA-dependent RNA polymerization, reverse transcription, or DNA replication in eukarya, archaea, bacteria, and their viruses. We have applied novel computational methods for structure-based clustering and phylogenetic analyses of this functionally diverse polymerase superfamily, which currently comprises six families. We identified a structural core common to all right-handed polymerases, composed of 57 amino acid residues, harboring two positionally and chemically conserved residues, the catalytic aspartates. The structural conservation within each of the six families is considerable, for example, the structural core shared by family Y DNA polymerases covers over 90% of the polymerase domain of the Sulfolobus solfataricus Dpo4. Our phylogenetic analyses propose an early separation of RNA-dependent polymerases that use primers from those that are primer-independent. Furthermore, the exchange of polymerase genes between viruses and their hosts is evident. Because of this horizontal gene transfer, the phylogeny of polymerases does not always reflect the evolutionary history of the corresponding organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heli A M Mönttinen
- Department of Biosciences, Viikki Biocenter, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Janne J Ravantti
- Department of Biosciences, Viikki Biocenter, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland Institute of Biotechnology, Viikki Biocenter, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - David I Stuart
- Division of Structural Biology and the Oxford Protein Production Facility, The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom Diamond Light Source Limited, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
| | - Minna M Poranen
- Department of Biosciences, Viikki Biocenter, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
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