Animal viruses are broadly categorized structurally by the presence or absence of an envelope composed of a lipid-bilayer membrane1, attributes that profoundly affect stability, transmission, and immune recognition. Among those lacking an envelope, the Picornaviridae are a large and diverse family of positive-strand RNA viruses that includes hepatitis A virus (HAV), an ancient human pathogen that remains a common cause of enterically-transmitted hepatitis2–4. HAV infects in a stealth-like manner and replicates efficiently in the liver5. Virus-specific antibodies appear only after 3–4 weeks of infection, and typically herald its resolution3,4. Although unexplained mechanistically, both anti-HAV antibody and inactivated whole-virus vaccines prevent disease when administered as late as 2 weeks after exposure6, when virus replication is well established in the liver5. Here, we show that HAV released from cells is cloaked in host-derived membranes, thereby protecting the virion from antibody-mediated neutralization. These enveloped viruses (“eHAV”) resemble exosomes7, small vesicles that are increasingly recognized to play important roles in intercellular communications. They are fully infectious, sensitive to chloroform extraction, and circulate in the blood of infected humans. Their biogenesis is dependent upon host proteins associated with endosomal-sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT)8, VPS4B and ALIX. While the hijacking of membranes by HAV facilitates escape from neutralizing antibodies and likely promotes virus spread within the liver, anti-capsid antibodies restrict replication following infection with eHAV, suggesting a possible explanation for post-exposure prophylaxis. Membrane hijacking by HAV blurs the classic distinction between “enveloped” and “nonenveloped” viruses, and has broad implications for mechanisms of viral egress from infected cells as well as host immune responses.

The hepatitis E virus (HEV) sheds into feces as nonenveloped virions but circulates in the blood in a membrane-associated, quasi-enveloped form (eHEV). Since the eHEV virions lack viral proteins on the surface, we investigated the entry mechanism for eHEV. We found that compared to nonenveloped HEV virions, eHEV attachment to the cell was much less efficient, requiring a longer inoculation time to reach its maximal infectivity. A survey of cellular internalization pathways identified clathrin-mediated endocytosis as the main route for eHEV entry. Unlike nonenveloped HEV virions, eHEV entry requires Rab5 and Rab7, small GTPases involved in endosomal trafficking, and blocking endosomal acidification abrogated eHEV infectivity. However, low pH alone was not sufficient for eHEV uncoating, suggesting that additional steps are required for entry. Supporting this concept, eHEV infectivity was substantially reduced in cells depleted of Niemann-Pick disease type C1, a lysosomal protein required for cholesterol extraction from lipid, or in cells treated with an inhibitor of lysosomal acid lipase. These data support a model in which the quasi-envelope is degraded within the lysosome prior to virus uncoating, a potentially novel mechanism for virus entry. IMPORTANCEThe recent discovery of quasi-enveloped viruses has shifted the paradigm of virus-host interactions. The impact of quasi-envelopment in the virus life cycle and pathogenesis is largely unknown. HEV is a highly relevant model to study these questions. HEV circulates as quasi-enveloped virions in the blood that are hidden from neutralizing antibodies. eHEV particles most likely are responsible for the cell-to-cell spread of the virus. Given the increasing concerns about persistent HEV infection and its potential for transmission via the blood supply, understanding how eHEV infects cells is important for understanding its pathogenesis and developing therapies. Our data provide evidence that eHEV uses a potentially novel mechanism for cellular entry. Several steps critical to eHEV entry were identified and may provide a basis for developing treatments for hepatitis E. Because quasienveloped viruses resemble exosomes, these data also may provide insights into the exosome-mediated intercellular communications.

The enterically transmitted hepatitis E virus (HEV) adopts a unique strategy to exit cells by cloaking its capsid (encoded by the viral ORF2 gene) and circulating in the blood as "quasi-enveloped" particles. However, recent evidence suggests that the majority of the ORF2 protein present in the patient serum and supernatants of HEV-infected cell culture exists in a free form and is not associated with virus particles. The origin and biological functions of this secreted form of ORF2 (ORF2) are unknown. Here we show that production of ORF2 results from translation initiated at the previously presumed AUG start codon for the capsid protein, whereas translation of the actual capsid protein (ORF2) is initiated at a previously unrecognized internal AUG codon (15 codons downstream of the first AUG). The addition of 15 amino acids to the N terminus of the capsid protein creates a signal sequence that drives ORF2 secretion via the secretory pathway. Unlike ORF2, ORF2 is glycosylated and exists as a dimer. Nonetheless, ORF2 exhibits substantial antigenic overlap with the capsid, but the epitopes predicted to bind the putative cell receptor are lost. Consistent with this, ORF2 does not block HEV cell entry but inhibits antibody-mediated neutralization. These results reveal a previously unrecognized aspect in HEV biology and shed new light on the immune evasion mechanisms and pathogenesis of this virus.

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is an hepatotropic human picornavirus that is associated only with acute infection. Its pathogenesis is not well understood because there are few studies in animal models using modern methodologies. We characterized HAV infections in three chimpanzees, quantifying viral RNA by quantitative RT-PCR and examining critical aspects of the innate immune response including intrahepatic IFN-stimulated gene expression. We compared these infection profiles with similar studies of chimpanzees infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), an hepatotropic flavivirus that frequently causes persistent infection. Surprisingly, HAV-infected animals exhibited very limited induction of type I IFN-stimulated genes in the liver compared with chimpanzees with acute resolving HCV infection, despite similar levels of viremia and 100-fold greater quantities of viral RNA in the liver. Minimal IFN-stimulated gene 15 and IFIT1 responses peaked 1-2 wk after HAV challenge and then subsided despite continuing high hepatic viral RNA. An acute inflammatory response at 3-4 wk correlated with the appearance of virus-specific antibodies and apoptosis and proliferation of hepatocytes. Despite this, HAV RNA persisted in the liver for months, remaining present long after clearance from serum and feces and revealing dramatic differences in the kinetics of clearance in the three compartments. Viral RNA was detected in the liver for significantly longer (35 to >48 wk) than HCV RNA in animals with acute resolving HCV infection (10-20 wk). Collectively, these findings indicate that HAV is far stealthier than HCV early in the course of acute resolving infection. HAV infections represent a distinctly different paradigm in virus-host interactions within the liver.innate immunity | viral persistence | immune evasion H epatitis A virus (HAV) is a small, hepatotropic positivestrand RNA virus. Although it is classified among the Picornaviridae, it differs in several important respects from most other human picornaviral pathogens in having a very slow and nonlytic replication cycle (reviewed in ref. 1). Several primatederived cell lines are permissive for infection by HAV, and in the absence of extensive adaptation of the virus to cell culture, these infections are typically noncytopathic. Despite this, HAV causes only acute disease in humans and has never been documented to establish long-term persistent infection within the liver (1-3). However, relatively little is known about the pathogenesis of HAV infections and how the virus is cleared from the liver as there has been little impetus for research on hepatitis A since the development of effective inactivated vaccines almost 2 decades ago.The absence of long-term persistent HAV infection is well documented by disappearance of the virus from isolated human populations over time (4, 5) and differs dramatically from the outcome of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections, which persist for life in the majority of persons (6). HCV is the cause of considerable human morbidity and mortality. Like HAV, it...

Internal N 6 -methyladenosine (m 6 A) modification is one of the most common and abundant modifications of RNA. However, the biological role(s) of viral RNA m 6 A remains elusive. Using human metapneumovirus (hMPV) as a model, we demonstrate that m 6 A serves as a molecular marker for innate immune discrimination of self from nonself RNAs. We show that hMPV RNAs are m 6 A methylated and that viral m 6 A methylation promotes hMPV replication and gene expression. Inactivating m 6 A addition sites with synonymous mutations or demethylase resulted in m 6 A deficient recombinant hMPVs and virion RNAs that induced significantly higher expression of type I interferon (IFN) which was dependent on the cytoplasmic RNA sensor RIG-I, not MDA5. Mechanistically, m 6 A-deficient virion RNA induces higher expression of RIG-I, binds more efficiently to RIG-I, and facilitates the conformational change of RIG-I, leading to enhanced IFN expression. Furthermore, m 6 A-deficient rhMPVs triggered higher IFN in vivo and were significantly attenuated in cotton rats yet retained high immunogenicity. Collectively, our results highlight that (i) virus acquires m 6 A in their RNAs as a means of mimicking cellular RNA to avoid detection by innate immunity; and (ii) viral RNA m 6 A can serve as a target to attenuate hMPV for vaccine purposes.

Although hepatotropic viruses are important causes of human disease, the intrahepatic immune response to hepatitis viruses is poorly understood due to a lack of tractable small animal models. Here we describe a murine model of hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection that recapitulates critical features of type A hepatitis in humans. We demonstrate that the capacity of HAV to evade MAVS-mediated type I interferon responses defines its host species range. HAV-induced liver injury was associated with interferon-independent intrinsic hepatocellular apoptosis and hepatic inflammation that unexpectedly results from MAVS and IRF3/7 signaling. This murine model thus reveals a previously undefined link between innate immune responses to virus infection and acute liver injury, providing a new paradigm for viral pathogenesis in the liver.

The VP35 protein of Ebola virus is a viral antagonist of interferon. It acts to block virus or double-stranded RNA-mediated activation of interferon regulatory factor 3, a transcription factor that facilitates the expression of interferon and interferon-stimulated genes. In this report, we show that the VP35 protein is also able to inhibit the antiviral response induced by alpha interferon. This depends on the VP35 function that interferes with the pathway regulated by double-stranded RNA-dependent protein kinase PKR. When expressed in a heterologous system, the VP35 protein enhanced viral polypeptide synthesis and growth in Vero cells pretreated with alpha/beta interferon, displaying an interferon-resistant phenotype. In correlation, phosphorylation of PKR and eIF-2␣ was suppressed in cells expressing the VP35 protein. This activity of the VP35 protein was required for efficient viral replication in PKR ؉/؉ but not PKR ؊/؊ mouse embryo fibroblasts. Furthermore, VP35 appears to be a RNA binding protein. Notably, a deletion of amino acids 1 to 200, but not R312A substitution in the RNA binding motif, abolished the ability of the VP35 protein to confer viral resistance to interferon. However, the R312A substitution rendered the VP35 protein unable to inhibit the induction of the beta interferon promoter mediated by virus infection. Together, these results show that the VP35 protein targets multiple pathways of the interferon system.

No abstract