The Mre11-Rad50-Nbs1 (MRN) complex plays a key role in the DNA damage response, presenting challenges for DNA viruses and retroviruses. To inactivate this complex, adenovirus (Ad) makes use of the E1B-55K and E4-open reading frame 6 (ORF6) proteins for ubiquitin (Ub)-mediated, proteasome-dependent degradation of MRN and the E4-ORF3 protein for relocalization and sequestration of MRN within infected-cell nuclei. Here, we report that Mre11 is modified by the Ub-related modifier SUMO-2 and Nbs1 is modified by both SUMO-1 and SUMO-2. We found that Mre11 and Nbs1 are sumoylated during Ad5 infection and that the E4-ORF3 protein is necessary and sufficient to induce SUMO conjugation. Relocalization of Mre11 and Nbs1 into E4-ORF3 nuclear tracks is required for this modification to occur. E4-ORF3-mediated SUMO-1 conjugation to Nbs1 and SUMO-2 conjugation to Mre11 and Nbs1 are transient during wild-type Ad type 5 (Ad5) infection. In contrast, SUMO-1 conjugation to Nbs1 is stable in cells infected with E1B-55K or E4-ORF6 mutant viruses, suggesting that Ad regulates paralog-specific desumoylation of Nbs1. Inhibition of viral DNA replication blocks deconjugation of SUMO-2 from Mre11 and Nbs1, indicating that a late-phase process is involved in Mre11 and Nbs1 desumoylation. Our results provide direct evidence of Mre11 and Nbs1 sumoylation induced by the Ad5 E4-ORF3 protein and an important example showing that modification of a single substrate by both SUMO-1 and SUMO-2 is regulated through distinct mechanisms. Our findings suggest how E4-ORF3-mediated relocalization of the MRN complex influences the cellular DNA damage response.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is cytopathic to neurons and persistently infects brain microvascular endothelial cells (hBMECs), that normally restrict viral access to neurons. Despite replicating in the cytoplasm, ZIKV and Dengue virus (DENV) polymerases, NS5 proteins, are predominantly trafficked to the nucleus. We found that a SUMO interaction motif in ZIKV and DENV NS5 proteins directs nuclear localization. Dissimilarly, ZIKV NS5 formed discrete punctate nuclear bodies (NBs), while DENV NS5 was uniformly dispersed in the nucleoplasm. However, mutating one DENV NS5 SUMO site (K546R) localized the NS5 mutant to discrete NBs, and NBs formed by the ZIKV NS5 SUMO mutant (K252R) were restructured and in discrete protein complexes. In hBMECs, NBs formed by STAT2 and promyelocytic leukemia (PML) protein are present constitutively and enhance innate immunity. During infection or NS5 expression we found that ZIKV NS5 evicts PML from STAT2 NBs, forming NS5/STAT2 NBs that dramatically reduce PML expression in hBMECs and inhibit the transcription of IFN stimulated genes (ISG). Expressing the ZIKV NS5 SUMO site mutant (K252R) resulted in NS5/STAT2/PML NBs that failed to degrade PML, reduce STAT2 expression or inhibit ISG induction. Additionally, the K252 SUMOylation site and NS5 nuclear localization were required for ZIKV NS5 to regulate hBMEC cell cycle transcriptional responses. Our data reveals NS5 SUMO motifs as novel NB coordinating factors that distinguish flavivirus NS5 proteins. These findings establish SUMOylation of ZIKV NS5 as critical in the regulation of antiviral ISG and cell cycle responses that permit ZIKV to persistently infect hBMECs. Importance ZIKV is a unique neurovirulent flavivirus that persistently infects human brain microvascular endothelial cells (hBMECs), the primary barrier that restricts viral access to neuronal compartments. Here we demonstrate that flavivirus specific SIM and SUMO sites determine the assembly of NS5 proteins into discrete nuclear bodies (NBs). We found that NS5 SIM sites are required for NS5 nuclear localization, and that SUMO sites regulate NS5 NB complex constituents, assembly and function. We reveal that ZIKV NS5 SUMO sites direct NS5 binding to STAT2, disrupt the formation of antiviral PML-STAT2 NBs and direct PML degradation. ZIKV NS5 SUMO sites also transcriptionally regulate cell cycle and ISG responses that permit ZIKV to persistently infect hBMECs. Our findings demonstrate the function of SUMO sites in ZIKV NS5 NB formation and their importance in regulating nuclear responses that permit ZIKV to persistently infect hBMECs and thereby gain access to neurons.

The adenovirus (Ad) early region 4 (E4)-ORF3 protein regulates diverse cellular processes to optimize the host environment for the establishment of Ad replication. E4-ORF3 self-assembles into multimers to form a nuclear scaffold in infected cells and creates distinct binding interfaces for different cellular target proteins. Previous studies have shown that the Ad5 E4-ORF3 protein induces sumoylation of multiple cellular proteins and subsequent proteasomal degradation of some of them, but the detailed mechanism of E4-ORF3 function remained unknown. Here, we investigate the role of E4-ORF3 in the sumoylation process by using transcription intermediary factor (TIF)-1γ as a substrate. Remarkably, we discovered that purified E4-ORF3 protein stimulates TIF-1γ sumoylation in vitro, demonstrating that E4-ORF3 acts as a small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) E3 ligase. Furthermore, E4-ORF3 significantly increases poly-SUMO3 chain formation in vitro in the absence of substrate, showing that E4-ORF3 has SUMO E4 elongase activity. An E4-ORF3 mutant, which is defective in protein multimerization, exhibited severely decreased activity, demonstrating that E4-ORF3 self-assembly is required for these activities. Using a SUMO3 mutant, K11R, we found that E4-ORF3 facilitates the initial acceptor SUMO3 conjugation to TIF-1γ as well as poly-SUMO chain elongation. The E4-ORF3 protein displays no SUMO-targeted ubiquitin ligase activity in our assay system. These studies reveal the mechanism by which E4-ORF3 targets specific cellular proteins for sumoylation and proteasomal degradation and provide significant insight into how a small viral protein can play a role as a SUMO E3 ligase and E4-like SUMO elongase to impact a variety of cellular responses.A denoviruses (Ads) are ubiquitous pathogens that infect a wide range of vertebrates. Ad infection is generally associated with mild disease, but Ads have been increasingly recognized as significant pathogens in infants, the elderly, and immunocompromised patients (1). Ads have evolved diverse mechanisms to counteract host antiviral responses during infection (2). Successful Ad replication relies on functions provided by early region 4 (E4). The highly conserved E4-ORF3 protein assembles into a multimeric nuclear network, referred to as tracks (3), in infected cells (4, 5). The Ad5 E4-ORF3 protein recruits numerous cellular proteins into nuclear tracks including promylocytic leukemia (PML) nuclear body components (3), the Mre11-Rad50-Nbs1 (MRN) complex (6, 7), small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) proteins (8), transcription intermediary factor (TIF)-1α (9), TIF-1γ (10), and TFII-I (11). This event causes sequestration of the target proteins inhibiting their antiviral functions. Relocalization of TIF-1γ and TFII-I by Ad5 E4-ORF3 results in their proteasomal degradation (12, 13). We previously showed that Ad5 E4-ORF3 mediates sumoylation of multiple cellular proteins (8,11,13) and suggested that E4-ORF3-induced sumoylation triggers ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation of some substrates....

Viruses interact with and regulate many host metabolic pathways in order to advance the viral life cycle and counteract intrinsic and extrinsic antiviral responses. The human adenovirus (Ad) early protein E4-ORF3 forms a unique scaffold throughout the nuclei of infected cells and inhibits multiple antiviral defenses, including a DNA damage response (DDR) and an interferon response. We previously reported that the Ad5 E4-ORF3 protein induces sumoylation of Mre11 and Nbs1, which are essential for the DDR, and their relocalization into E4-ORF3-induced nuclear inclusions is required for this modification to occur. In this study, we sought to analyze a global change in ubiquitin-like (Ubl) modifications, with particular focus on SUMO3, by the Ad5 E4-ORF3 protein and to identify new substrates with these modifications. By a comparative proteome-wide approach utilizing immunoprecipitation/mass spectrometry, we found that Ubl modifications of 166 statistically significant lysine sites in 51 proteins are affected by E4-ORF3, and the proteome of modifications spans a diverse range of cellular functions. Ubl modifications of 92% of these identified sites were increased by E4-ORF3. We further analyzed SUMO3 conjugation of several identified proteins. Our findings demonstrated a role for the Ad5 E4-ORF3 protein as a regulator of Ubl modifications and revealed new SUMO3 substrates induced by E4-ORF3. (1, 2). Therefore, Ad has evolved several mechanisms to inhibit the cellular DDR early after infection. The incoming viral genome is coated with a basic viral core protein that may block recognition of the viral DNA by the cellular DDR machinery at the earliest stages of infection (3). Once Ad early protein synthesis ensues, two distinct mechanisms are employed to inhibit the DDR (1, 2). The Ad5 E1B-55K and E4-ORF6 proteins form an E3 ubiquitin (Ub) ligase complex with cellular proteins cullin 5 (CUL5), Rbx1, and elongins B and C (4, 5). Together, this complex leads to ubiquitin-mediated, proteasome-dependent degradation of cellular sensors of DNA damage, including Mre11, Rad50, and Nbs1 (the MRN complex) (6). Inhibition of cellular sensors of DNA damage blocks downstream signaling events and inhibits both DNA damage repair and cell cycle checkpoint signaling. The Ad5 E4-ORF3 protein sequesters MRN proteins into nuclear inclusions, termed nuclear tracks (7), within infected cell nuclei to inhibit MRN activity (6, 8). E4-ORF3 recruits numerous nuclear proteins into these structures, including promyelocytic leukemia (PML) and other PML-nuclear body (PML-NB)-associ- IMPORTANCE The adenovirus E4-ORF3 protein induces dynamic structural changes in the nuclei of infected cells and counteracts host antiviral responses. One of the mechanisms that accounts for this process is the relocalization and sequestration of cellular proteins into an E4-ORF3 nuclear scaffold, but little is known about how this

Viruses alter host cell processes to optimize their replication cycle. Human adenoviruses (Ad) encode proteins that promote viral macromolecular synthesis and counteract innate and adaptive responses to infection. The focus of this review is on how Ad evades innate cellular responses to infection, including an interferon (IFN) response and a DNA damage response (DDR). Ad blocks the IFN response by inhibiting cytoplasmic signaling pathways and the activation of IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs), as well as the functions of ISG products, such as PML. Ad also inhibits DDR sensors, for instance, the Mre11-Rad50-Nbs1 complex, and DDR effectors like DNA ligase IV. These innate cellular responses impact many different viruses, and studies on Ad have provided broad insight into these areas.