Zika virus (ZIKV), a member of the Flaviviridae family, is the most recent emerging arbovirus with pandemic potential. During infection, viruses trigger the host cell stress response, leading to changes in RNA translation and the assembly of large aggregates of stalled translation preinitiation complexes, termed stress granules (SGs). Several reports demonstrate that flaviviruses modulate the assembly of stress granules (SG). As an emerging pathogen, little is known however about how ZIKV modulates the host cell stress response. In this work, we investigate how ZIKV modulates SG assembly. We demonstrate that ZIKV negatively impacts SG assembly under oxidative stress conditions induced by sodium arsenite (Ars), a treatment that leads to the phosphorylation of eIF2α. By contrast, no measurable difference in SG assembly was observed between mock and ZIKV-infected cells treated with sodium selenite (Se) or Pateamine A (PatA), compounds that trigger eIF2α-independent SG assembly. Interestingly, ZIKV infection markedly impaired the phosphorylation of eIF2α triggered in Ars-treated infected cells, and the abrogation of SG assembly in ZIKV-infected cells is, at least in part, dependent on eIF2α dephosphorylation. These data demonstrate that ZIKV elicits mechanisms to counteract host anti-viral stress responses to promote a cellular environment propitious for viral replication.

BackgroundThe ability of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) to form a stable viral reservoir is the major obstacle to an HIV-1 cure and post-transcriptional events contribute to the maintenance of viral latency. RNA surveillance proteins such as UPF1, UPF2 and SMG6 affect RNA stability and metabolism. In our previous work, we demonstrated that UPF1 stabilises HIV-1 genomic RNA (vRNA) and enhances its translatability in the cytoplasm. Thus, in this work we evaluated the influence of RNA surveillance proteins on vRNA expression and, as a consequence, viral reactivation in cells of the lymphoid lineage.MethodsQuantitative fluorescence in situ hybridisation—flow cytometry (FISH-flow), si/shRNA-mediated depletions and Western blotting were used to characterise the roles of RNA surveillance proteins on HIV-1 reactivation in a latently infected model T cell line and primary CD4+ T cells.ResultsUPF1 was found to be a positive regulator of viral reactivation, with a depletion of UPF1 resulting in impaired vRNA expression and viral reactivation. UPF1 overexpression also modestly enhanced vRNA expression and its ATPase activity and N-terminal domain were necessary for this effect. UPF2 and SMG6 were found to negatively influence viral reactivation, both via an interaction with UPF1. UPF1 knockdown also resulted in reduced vRNA levels and viral gene expression in HIV-1-infected primary CD4+ T cells.ConclusionOverall, these data suggest that RNA surveillance proteins affect HIV-1 gene expression at a post-transcriptional level. An elucidation of the role of vRNA metabolism on the maintenance of HIV-1 persistence can lead to the development of novel curative strategies.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12977-018-0425-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The nucleocapsid (NC) is an N-terminal protein derived from the HIV-1 Gag precursor polyprotein, pr55 NC possesses key functions at several pivotal stages of viral replication. For example, an interaction between NC and the host double-stranded RNA-binding protein Staufen1 was shown to regulate several steps in the viral replication cycle, such as Gag multimerization and genomic RNA encapsidation. In this work, we observed that the overexpression of NC leads to the induction of stress granule (SG) assembly. NC-mediated SG assembly was unique as it was resistant to the SG blockade imposed by the HIV-1 capsid (CA), as shown in earlier work. NC also reduced host cell mRNA translation, as judged by a puromycylation assay of de novo synthesized proteins, and this was recapitulated in polysome profile analyses. Virus production was also found to be significantly reduced. Finally, Staufen1 expression completely rescued the blockade to NC-mediated SG assembly, global mRNA translation as well as virus production. NC expression also resulted in the phosphorylation of protein kinase R (PKR) and eIF2α, and this was inhibited with Staufen1 coexpression. This work sheds light on an unexpected function of NC in host cell translation. A comprehensive understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which a fine balance of the HIV-1 structural proteins NC and CA act in concert with host proteins such as Staufen1 to modulate the host stress response will aid in the development of new antiviral therapeutics.