Antiviral Activity and Adaptive Evolution of Avian Tetherins

0525557 - ÚMG 2021 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Krchlíková, Veronika - Fabryova, H. - Hron, Tomáš - Young, J.M. - Koslová, Anna - Hejnar, Jiří - Strebel, K. - Elleder, Daniel
Antiviral Activity and Adaptive Evolution of Avian Tetherins.
Journal of Virology. Roč. 94, č. 12 (2020), č. článku e00416-20. ISSN 0022-538X. E-ISSN 1098-5514
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA17-23675S; GA MŠMT(CZ) LM2018129
Institutional support: RVO:68378050
Keywords : avian retrovirus * chicken * restriction factor * tetherin
OECD category: Virology
Impact factor: 5.103, year: 2020
Method of publishing: Limited access
https://jvi.asm.org/content/94/12/e00416-20

Tetherin/BST-2 is an antiviral protein that blocks the release of enveloped viral particles by linking them to the membrane of producing cells. At first, BST-2 genes were described only in humans and other mammals. Recent work identified BST-2 orthologs in nonmammalian vertebrates, including birds. Here, we identify the BST-2 sequence in domestic chicken (Gallus gallus) for the first time and demonstrate its activity against avian sarcoma and leukosis virus (ASLV). We generated a BST-2 knockout in chicken cells and showed that BST-2 is a major determinant of an interferon-induced block of ASLV release. Ectopic expression of chicken BST-2 blocks the release of ASLV in chicken cells and of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in human cells. Using metabolic labeling and pulse-chase analysis of HIV-1 Gag proteins, we verified that chicken BST-2 blocks the virus at the release stage. Furthermore, we describe BST-2 orthologs in multiple avian species from 12 avian orders. Previously, some of these species were reported to lack BST-2, highlighting the difficulty of identifying sequences of this extremely variable gene. We analyzed BST-2 genes in the avian orders Galliformes and Passeriformes and showed that they evolve under positive selection. This indicates that avian BST-2 is involved in host-virus evolutionary arms races and suggests that BST-2 antagonists exist in some avian viruses. In summary, we show that chicken BST-2 has the potential to act as a restriction factor against ASLV. Characterizing the interaction of avian BST-2 with avian viruses is important in understanding innate antiviral defenses in birds.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0309688