Prokaryotic viperins produce diverse antiviral molecules.

ABSTRACT: Viperin is an interferon-induced cellular protein that is conserved in animals¹. It has previously been shown to inhibit the replication of multiple viruses by producing the ribonucleotide 3'-deoxy-3',4'-didehydro (ddh)-cytidine triphosphate (ddhCTP), which acts as a chain terminator for viral RNA polymerase². Here we show that eukaryotic viperin originated from a clade of bacterial and archaeal proteins that protect against phage infection. Prokaryotic viperins produce a set of modified ribonucleotides that include ddhCTP, ddh-guanosine triphosphate (ddhGTP) and ddh-uridine triphosphate (ddhUTP). We further show that prokaryotic viperins protect against T7 phage infection by inhibiting viral polymerase-dependent transcription, suggesting that it has an antiviral mech

SUBMITTER: Bernheim A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7610908 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature