Human cytomegalovirus hijacks the autophagic machinery and LC3 homologs in order to optimize cytoplasmic envelopment of mature infectious particles.

ABSTRACT: During its life cycle, Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) tightly modulates autophagy, a vesicular pathway allowing degradation and recycling of cellular components. To study the interplay between autophagy and the viral life cycle, we established various autophagy-deficient human fibroblastic cell lines. By knocking down the expression or activity of five autophagy-related proteins, we confirmed the proviral function that the autophagic machinery exerts on HCMV production. Using 3D reconstruction from confocal microscopy and electron microscopy, we demonstrated that lipidated LC3-positive vesicles accumulated at the viral assembly compartment (vAC). The vAC is a juxtanuclear ring-shaped structure containing several organelles and membranes, where assembly and final envelopment of HCMV particles

SUBMITTER: Taisne C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6418312 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature