Evasion of antiviral innate immunity by Theiler's virus L* protein through direct inhibition of RNase L.

ABSTRACT: Theiler's virus is a neurotropic picornavirus responsible for chronic infections of the central nervous system. The establishment of a persistent infection and the subsequent demyelinating disease triggered by the virus depend on the expression of L*, a viral accessory protein encoded by an alternative open reading frame of the virus. We discovered that L* potently inhibits the interferon-inducible OAS/RNase L pathway. The antagonism of RNase L by L* was particularly prominent in macrophages where baseline oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS) and RNase L expression levels are elevated, but was detectable in fibroblasts after IFN pretreatment. L* mutations significantly affected Theiler's virus replication in primary macrophages derived from wild-type but not from RNase L-deficient mice. L* coun

SUBMITTER: Sorgeloos F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3694852 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature