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Insulin-mediated endothelin signaling is antiviral during West Nile virus infection.

ABSTRACT: West Nile virus (WNV) is the most prevalent mosquito-borne virus in the United States with approximately 2,000 cases each year. There are currently no approved human vaccines and a lack of prophylactic and therapeutic treatments. Understanding host responses to infection may reveal potential intervention targets to reduce virus replication and disease progression. The use of Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism to understand innate immunity and host antiviral responses is well established. Previous studies revealed that insulin-mediated signaling regulates WNV infection in invertebrates by regulating canonical antiviral pathways. Because insulin signaling is well-conserved across insect and mammalian species, we sought to determine if results using D. melanogaster can be extrapolated for the analysis of orthologous pathways in humans. Here, we identify insulin-mediated endothelin signaling using the D. melanogaster model and evaluate an orthologous pathway in human cells during WNV infection. We demonstrate that endothelin signaling reduces WNV replication through the activation of canonical antiviral signaling. Taken together, our findings show that endothelin-mediated antiviral immunity is broadly conserved across species and reduces replication of viruses that can cause severe human disease.

Importance

Arboviruses, particularly those transmitted by mosquitoes, pose a significant threat to humans and are an increasing concern because of climate change, human activity, and expanding vector-competent populations. West Nile virus is of significant concern as the most frequent mosquito-borne disease transmitted annually within the continental United States. Here, we identify a previously uncharacterized signaling pathway that impacts West Nile virus infection, namely endothelin signaling. Additionally, we demonstrate that we can successfully translate results obtained from D. melanogaster into the more relevant human system. Our results add to the growing field of insulin-mediated antiviral immunity and identifies potential biomarkers or intervention targets to better address West Nile virus infection and severe disease.

SUBMITTER: Trammell CE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9882177 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Insulin-mediated endothelin signaling is antiviral during West Nile virus infection.

Trammell Chasity E CE Rowe Evelyn H EH Jones Brianne J BJ Char Aditya B AB Fawcett Stephen S Ahlers Laura R H LRH Goodman Alan G AG

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 20230118

West Nile virus (WNV) is the most prevalent mosquito-borne virus in the United States with approximately 2,000 cases each year. There are currently no approved human vaccines and a lack of prophylactic and therapeutic treatments. Understanding host responses to infection may reveal potential intervention targets to reduce virus replication and disease progression. The use of <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> as a model organism to understand innate immunity and host antiviral responses is well esta ...[more]

PMID: 36712090

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Project description:Several members of the tripartite motif (TRIM) family of E3 ubiquitin ligases regulate immune pathways, including the antiviral type I interferon (IFN-I) system. Previously, we demonstrated that TRIM6 is involved in IFN-I induction and signaling. In the absence of TRIM6, optimal IFN-I signaling is reduced, allowing increased replication of interferon-sensitive viruses. Despite having evolved numerous mechanisms to restrict the vertebrate host's IFN-I response, West Nile virus (WNV) replication is sensitive to pretreatment with IFN-I. However, the regulators and products of the IFN-I pathway that are important in regulating WNV replication are incompletely defined. Consistent with WNV's sensitivity to IFN-I, we found that in TRIM6 knockout (TRIM6-KO) A549 cells, WNV replication is significantly increased and IFN-I induction and signaling are impaired compared to wild-type (wt) cells. IFN-β pretreatment was more effective in protecting against subsequent WNV infection in wt cells than TRIM6-KO, indicating that TRIM6 contributes to the establishment of an IFN-induced antiviral response against WNV. Using next-generation sequencing, we identified VAMP8 as a potential factor involved in this TRIM6-mediated antiviral response. VAMP8 knockdown resulted in reduced JAK1 and STAT1 phosphorylation and impaired induction of several interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) following WNV infection or IFN-β treatment. Furthermore, VAMP8-mediated STAT1 phosphorylation required the presence of TRIM6. Therefore, the VAMP8 protein is a novel regulator of IFN-I signaling, and its expression and function are dependent on TRIM6 activity. Overall, these results provide evidence that TRIM6 contributes to the antiviral response against WNV and identify VAMP8 as a novel regulator of the IFN-I system.IMPORTANCE WNV is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that poses a threat to human health across large discontinuous areas throughout the world. Infection with WNV results in febrile illness, which can progress to severe neurological disease. Currently, there are no approved treatment options to control WNV infection. Understanding the cellular immune responses that regulate viral replication is important in diversifying the resources available to control WNV. Here, we show that the elimination of TRIM6 in human cells results in an increase in WNV replication and alters the expression and function of other components of the IFN-I pathway through VAMP8. Dissecting the interactions between WNV and host defenses both informs basic molecular virology and promotes the development of host- and virus-targeted antiviral strategies.

Project description:Purpose: Several members of the tripartite motif (TRIM) family of E3 ubiquitin ligases regulate immune pathways including the antiviral type I interferon (IFN-I) system. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the mechanism of IFN-I regulation upon West Nile virus infection using TRIM6 knockout (TRIM6-KO) human airway epithelial cells (A549). Methods: RNAs were extracted from wild-type (WT) and TRIM6KO A549 cells infected with WNV or mock-treated. RNA quality was assessed by visualization of 18S and 28S RNA bands using an Agilent BioAnalyzer 2100 (Agilent Technologies, CA); the electropherograms were used to calculate the 28S/18S ratio and the RNA Integrity Number. Poly-A+ RNA was enriched from total RNA (1 μg) using oligo dT-attached magnetic beads. First and second strand synthesis, adapter ligation, and amplification of the library were performed using the Illumina TruSeq RNA Sample Preparation kit as recommended by the manufacturer (Illumina, Inc). Library quality was evaluated using an Agilent DNA-1000 chip on an Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer. Quantification of library DNA templates was performed using qPCR and a known-size reference standard. Cluster formation of the library DNA templates was performed using the TruSeq PE Cluster Kit v3 (Illumina) and the Illumina cBot workstation using conditions recommended by the manufacturer. Paired end 50 base sequencing by synthesis was performed using TruSeq SBS kit v3 (Illumina) on an Illumina HiSeq 1500 using protocols defined by the manufacturer. The alignment of NGS sequence reads was performed using the Spliced Transcript Alignment to a Reference (STAR) program, version 2.5.1b, using default parameters. We used the human hg38 assembly as a reference with the UCSC gene annotation file. The –quantMode GeneCounts option of STAR provided read counts per gene, which were input into the DESeq2 (version 1.12.1) differential expression analysis program to determine expression levels and differentially expressed genes. Processed data are presented as reads per kilobase transcript per million (RPKM). Results: Using next generation sequencing, we identified VAMP8 as a factor involved in this TRIM6-mediated antiviral response. In support, VAMP8 knockdown resulted in reduced Jak1 and STAT1 phosphorylation and impaired induction of several ISGs following WNV infection or IFNβ treatment. Conclusions: Our results provide evidence that TRIM6 contributes to the antiviral response against WNV and identified VAMP8 as a novel regulator of the IFN-I system

Dataset Information

Insulin-mediated endothelin signaling is antiviral during West Nile virus infection.

Importance

Publications

Insulin-mediated endothelin signaling is antiviral during West Nile virus infection.

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