Swain J, Bierre M, Veyrié L, Richard CA, Eleouet JF, Muriaux D, Bajorek M. Selective targeting and clustering of phosphatidylserine lipids by RSV M protein is critical for virus particle production.
J Biol Chem 2023;
299:105323. [PMID:
37805138 PMCID:
PMC10641529 DOI:
10.1016/j.jbc.2023.105323]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2023] [Revised: 09/16/2023] [Accepted: 09/23/2023] [Indexed: 10/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of infantile bronchiolitis in the developed world and of childhood deaths in resource-poor settings. The elderly and the immunosuppressed are also affected. It is a major unmet target for vaccines and antiviral drugs. RSV assembles and buds from the host cell plasma membrane by forming infectious viral particles which are mostly filamentous. A key interaction during RSV assembly is the interaction of the matrix (M) protein with cell plasma membrane lipids forming a layer at assembly sites. Although the structure of RSV M protein dimer is known, it is unclear how the viral M proteins interact with cell membrane lipids, and with which one, to promote viral assembly. Here, we demonstrate that M proteins are able to cluster at the plasma membrane by selectively binding with phosphatidylserine (PS). Our in vitro studies suggest that M binds PS lipid as a dimer and upon M oligomerization, PS clustering is observed. In contrast, the presence of other negatively charged lipids like PI(4, 5)P2 does not enhance M binding beyond control zwitterionic lipids, while cholesterol negatively affects M interaction with membrane lipids. Moreover, we show that the initial binding of the RSV M protein with PS lipids is independent of the cytoplasmic tail of the fusion (F) glycoprotein (FCT). Here, we highlight that M binding on membranes occurs directly through PS lipids, this interaction is electrostatic in nature, and M oligomerization generates PS clusters.
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