Both antiviral activity and intracellular localization of chicken Mx protein depend on a polymorphism at amino acid position 631

The Mx protein is known to inhibit the multiplication of several RNA viruses. In chickens, a polymorphism at amino acid position 631 (631 aa) of Mx protein has been suggested to be involved in the antiviral ability against vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and influenza virus, indicating that a Ser-to-Asn substitution at 631 aa is the source of this antiviral ability. However, how the substitution at 631 aa contributes to the antiviral activity remains to be clarified. In this study, we investigated differences in antiviral activity against VSV and intracellular localization between Ser and Asn types at 631 aa of the chicken Mx protein. The results showed that chicken Mx protein with an Asn at 631 aa inhibited VSV multiplication and Mx distribution in a granular-like pattern in the cytoplasm. However, Mx carrying the Ser type did not inhibit viral growth and homogenous spread throughout the cytoplasm. Furthermore, we found that replacing Ser with Asn at 631 aa provided Mx with antiviral activity against VSV, with Mx showing granular-like distribution in the cytoplasm. These results demonstrated that a single amino acid polymorphism at 631 aa of the chicken Mx protein altered both the antiviral activity and intracellular localization.     

Mx is dispensable for interferon-mediated resistance of chicken cells against influenza A virus

The type I interferon (IFN) system plays an important role in antiviral defense against influenza A viruses (FLUAV), which are natural chicken pathogens. Studies of mice identified the Mx1 protein as a key effector molecule of the IFN-induced antiviral state against FLUAV. Chicken Mx genes are highly polymorphic, and recent studies suggested that an Asn/Ser polymorphism at amino acid position 631 determines the antiviral activity of the chicken Mx protein. By employing chicken embryo fibroblasts with defined Mx-631 polymorphisms and retroviral vectors for the expression of Mx isoforms in chicken cells and embryonated eggs, we show here that neither the 631Asn nor the 631Ser variant of chicken Mx was able to confer antiviral protection against several lowly and highly pathogenic FLUAV strains. Using a short interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated knockdown approach, we noted that the antiviral effect of type I IFN in chicken cells was not dependent on Mx, suggesting that some other IFN-induced factors must contribute to the inhibition of FLUAV in chicken cells. Finally, we found that both isoforms of chicken Mx protein appear to lack GTPase activity, which might explain the observed lack of antiviral activity.     

Partial antiviral activities of the Asn631 chicken Mx against newcastle disease virus and vesicular stomatitis virus

Conflicting data existed for the antiviral potential of the chicken Mx protein and the importance of the Asn631 polymorphism in determination of the antiviral activity. In this study we modified the chicken Mx cDNA from the Ser631 to Asn631 genotype and transfected them into COS-I cells, chicken embryonic fibroblast (CEF) or NIH 3T3 cells. The Mx protein was mainly located at the cytoplasm. The transfected cell cultures were challenged with newcastle disease virus (NDV) or vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), cytopathic affect (CPE) inhibition assay showed that the times for development of visible and full CPE were significantly postponed by the Asn631 cDNA transfection at 48 h transfection, but not by the Ser631 cDNA transfection. Viral titration assay showed that the virus titers were significantly reduced before 72 h postinfection. CEF cells was incubated by the cell lysates extracted from the COS-I cells transfected with pcDNA-Mx/Asn631, could resist and delayed NDV infection. These data suggested the importance of the Asn631 polymorphism of the chicken Mx in determination of the antiviral activities against NDV and VSV at early stage of viral infection, which were relatively weak and not sufficient to inhibit the viral replication at late stage of viral infection.     

Population Research of Genetic Polymorphism at Amino Acid Position 631 in Chicken Mx Protein with Differential Antiviral Activity

A single amino acid substitution between Asn and Ser at position 631 in the chicken Mx protein has been reported to determine resistant and sensitive antiviral activity. In this study, we investigate whether various kinds of chicken breeds and jungle fowls carry the resistant or sensitive Mx allelic gene by using the mismatched PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) technique. In total, 271 samples from 36 strains of 17 chicken breeds and from 3 kinds of jungle fowls were examined. The rates of the resistant Mx gene and sensitive gene were 59.2% and 40.8%, respectively. Only a Red jungle fowl captured in Laos carried the resistant Mx gene, and the other three Red jungle fowls from Indonesia and Gray and Green jungle fowls all had the sensitive Mx gene. These results were confirmed by the determination of amino acid sequences in the GTPase effector domain of jungle fowls.     

The Cytoplasmic Location of Chicken Mx Is Not the Determining Factor for Its Lack of Antiviral Activity

Background

Chicken Mx belongs to the Mx family of interferon-induced dynamin-like GTPases, which in some species possess potent antiviral properties. Conflicting data exist for the antiviral capability of chicken Mx. Reports of anti-influenza activity of alleles encoding an Asn631 polymorphism have not been supported by subsequent studies. The normal cytoplasmic localisation of chicken Mx may influence its antiviral capacity. Here we report further studies to determine the antiviral potential of chicken Mx against Newcastle disease virus (NDV), an economically important cytoplasmic RNA virus of chickens, and Thogoto virus, an orthomyxovirus known to be exquisitely sensitive to the cytoplasmic MxA protein from humans. We also report the consequences of re-locating chicken Mx to the nucleus.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Chicken Mx was tested in virus infection assays using NDV. Neither the Asn631 nor Ser631 Mx alleles (when transfected into 293T cells) showed inhibition of virus-directed gene expression when the cells were subsequently infected with NDV. Human MxA however did show significant inhibition of NDV-directed gene expression. Chicken Mx failed to inhibit a Thogoto virus (THOV) minireplicon system in which the cytoplasmic human MxA protein showed potent and specific inhibition. Relocalisation of chicken Mx to the nucleus was achieved by inserting the Simian Virus 40 large T antigen nuclear localisation sequence (SV40 NLS) at the N-terminus of chicken Mx. Nuclear re-localised chicken Mx did not inhibit influenza (A/PR/8/34) gene expression during virus infection in cell culture or influenza polymerase activity in A/PR/8/34 or A/Turkey/50-92/91 minireplicon systems.

Conclusions/Significance

The chicken Mx protein (Asn631) lacks inhibitory effects against THOV and NDV, and is unable to suppress influenza replication when artificially re-localised to the cell nucleus. Thus, the natural cytoplasmic localisation of the chicken Mx protein does not account for its lack of antiviral activity.     

鸡Mx蛋白基因诱变修饰及抗病活性

[目的]进一步研究鸡Mx蛋白第631位氨基酸的变异与鸡群抗病性的相关性.[方法]本实验利用PCR突变技术将鸡Mx蛋白基因的全长cDNA第2032位的碱基由G突变为A(既631位氨基酸的改变),并将突变的Mx基因插入真核表达载体pcDNA3.0,重组表达载体转染COS-Ⅰ细胞后,进行RT-PCR与间接免疫荧光(IFA)鉴定.[结果]对鸡Mx蛋白基因的cDNA进行PCR诱变修饰正确,构建了能够正确表达鸡Mx蛋白的重组真核表达载体;诱变修饰重组Mx蛋白对抗新城疫病毒(NDV)感染分析结果显示,重组Mx蛋白具有较强的抗新城疫病毒生物活性.[结论]为下一步研究鸡Mx蛋白的抗病机理与制备抗病转基因鸡奠定了坚实的基础.     

Asparagine 631 variants of the chicken Mx protein do not inhibit influenza virus replication in primary chicken embryo fibroblasts or in vitro surrogate assays

Whether chicken Mx inhibits influenza virus replication is an important question with regard to strategies aimed at enhancing influenza resistance in domestic flocks. The Asn631 polymorphism of the chicken Mx protein found in the Shamo (SHK) chicken line was previously reported to be crucial for the antiviral activity of this highly polymorphic chicken gene. Our aims were to determine whether cells from commercial chicken lines containing Asn631 alleles were resistant to influenza virus infection and to investigate the effects that other polymorphisms might have on Mx function. Unexpectedly, we found that the Asn631 genotype had no impact on multicycle replication of influenza virus (A/WSN/33 [H1N1]) in primary chicken embryo fibroblast lines. Furthermore, expression of the Shamo (SHK) chicken Mx protein in transfected 293T cells did not inhibit viral gene expression (A/PR/8/34 [H1N1], A/Duck/England/62 [H4N6], and A/Duck/Singapore/97 [H5N3]). Lastly, in minireplicon systems (A/PR/8/34 and A/Turkey/England/50-92/91 [H5N1]), which were highly sensitive to inhibition by the murine Mx1 and human MxA proteins, respectively, Shamo chicken Mx also proved ineffective in the context of avian as well as mammalian cell backgrounds. Our findings demonstrate that Asn631 chicken Mx alleles do not inhibit influenza virus replication of the five strains tested here and efforts to increase the frequency of Asn631 alleles in commercial chicken populations are not warranted. Nevertheless, chicken Mx variants with anti-influenza activity might still exist. The flow cytometry and minireplicon assays described herein could be used as efficient functional screens to identify such active chicken Mx alleles.     

Bovine and water buffalo <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mx2</Emphasis> genes: polymorphism and antiviral activity

Millennia-long selective pressure of single-strand RNA viruses on the bovine Mx locus has increased the advantages of using the bovine Mx protein to evaluate the ultimate significance of the antiviral role of Mx proteins. The conclusions of research based only on the bovine Mx1 protein showed the need for comprehensive studies that demonstrate the role of all isoforms, individually or together, especially in the presence of a second isoform, the bovine Mx2 gene. This study provides information about bovine and water buffalo Mx2 genes, as well as their allelic polymorphism and basic antiviral potential. Observation of an Mx2 cDNA sequence (2,381 bp) obtained from 15 animals from 11 breeds using primers based on a previous sequence (NCBI accession no. AF335147) revealed several nucleotide substitutions, with eight different alleles and two amino acid exchanges: Gly to Ser at position 302 and Ile to Val at position 354, though the latter was found only in the NCBI database. A water buffalo Mx2 cDNA sequence was identified for the first time, revealing 46 nucleotide substitutions with 12 amino acid variations, in addition to a 9-bp insertion in the 5′ untranslated region UTR, compared with the bovine Mx2 cDNA. Transfected 3T3 cells expressing bovine Mx2 mRNAs coding Gly or Ser at position 302, water buffalo Mx2 mRNA, positive control bovine Mx1 mRNA-expressing cells, and negative control parental 3T3 were subjected to infection with recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (VSVΔG*-G), as were empty pCI-neo vector-transfected cells. The positive control and all cells expressing Mx2 mRNAs displayed significantly higher levels of antiviral activity against VSVΔG*-G (P < 0.01) than did the negative controls.     

The amino acid sequence of satyr tragopan lysozyme and its activity

The amino acid sequence of satyr tragopan lysozyme and its activity was analyzed. Carboxymethylated lysozyme was digested with trypsin and the resulting peptides were sequenced. The established amino acid sequence had three amino acid substitutions at positions 103 (Asn to Ser), 106 (Ser to Asn), and 121 (His to Gln) comparing with Temminck's tragopan lysozyme and five amino acid substitutions at positions 3 (Phe to Tyr), 15 (His to Leu), 41 (Gln to His), 101 (Asp to Gly) and 103 (Asn to Ser) with chicken lysozyme. The time course analysis using N-acetylglucosamine pentamer as a substrate showed a decrease of binding free energy change, 1.1 kcal/mol at subsite A and 0.2 kcal/mol at subsite B, between satyr tragopan and chicken lysozymes. This was assumed to be responsible for the amino acid substitutions at subsite A-B at position 101 (Asp to Gly), however another substitution at position 103 (Asn to Ser) considered not to affect the change of the substrate binding affinity by the observation of identical time course of satyr tragopan lysozyme with turkey and Temminck's tragopan lysozymes that carried the identical amino acids with chicken lysozyme at this position. These results indicate that the observed decrease of binding free energy change at subsites A-B of satyr tragopan lysozyme was responsible for the amino acid substitution at position 101 (Asp to Gly).     

The primary structure of chicken muscle acylphosphatase isozyme Ch1

The amino acid sequence of chicken muscle acylphosphatase isozyme Ch1 was determined. The protein consists of 102 amino acid residues, does not contain histidine, and the NH2-terminus is acetylated: Ac-Ser-Ala-Leu-Thr-Lys-Ala-Ser-Gly-Ser- Leu-Lys-Ser-Val-Asp-Tyr-Glu-Val-Phe-Gly-Arg-Val-Gln-Gly-Val-Cys-Phe-Arg- Met- Tyr-Thr-Glu-Glu-Glu-Ala-Arg-Lys-Leu-Gly-Val-Val-Gly-Trp-Val-Lys-Asn- Thr- Ser-Gln-Gly-Thr-Val-Thr-Gly-Gln-Val-Gln-Gly-Pro-Glu-Asp-Lys-Val-Asn-Ala- Met- Lys-Ser-Trp-Leu-Ser-Lys-Val-Gly-Ser-Pro-Ser-Ser-Arg-Ile-Asp-Arg-Thr-Lys- Phe-Ser- Asn-Glu-Lys-Glu-Ile-Ser-Lys-Leu-Asp-Phe-Ser-Gly-Phe-Ser-Thr-Arg-Tyr-OH. This sequence differs in 44% of the total positions from the other isozyme (Ch2) of chicken muscle acylphosphatase (Ohba et al., the accompanying paper). The sequence of Ch1 has three substitutions from that of turkey muscle acylphosphatase; these are Ser from Ala at position 9, Ser from Arg at 47, and Lys from Asn at 83. The sequence has about 80% homology with those mammalian muscle acylphosphatases.     

Genetic Variation within the Mx Gene of Commercially Selected Chicken Lines Reveals Multiple Haplotypes,Recombination and a Protein under Selection Pressure

The Mx protein is one of the best-characterized interferon-stimulated antiviral mediators. Mx homologs have been identified in most vertebrates examined; however, their location within the cell, their level of activity, and the viruses they inhibit vary widely. Recent studies have demonstrated multiple Mx alleles in chickens and some reports have suggested a specific variant (S631N) within exon 14 confers antiviral activity. In the current study, the complete genome of nine elite egg-layer type lines were sequenced and multiple variants of the Mx gene identified. Within the coding region and upstream putative promoter region 36 SNP variants were identified, producing a total of 12 unique haplotypes. Each elite line contained from one to four haplotypes, with many of these haplotypes being found in only one line. Observation of changes in haplotype frequency over generations, as well as recombination, suggested some unknown selection pressure on the Mx gene. Trait association analysis with either individual SNP or haplotypes showed a significant effect of Mx haplotype on several egg production related traits, and on mortality following Marek''s disease virus challenge in some lines. Examination of the location of the various SNP within the protein suggests synonymous SNP tend to be found within structural or enzymatic regions of the protein, while non-synonymous SNP are located in less well defined regions. The putative resistance variant N631 was found in five of the 12 haplotypes with an overall frequency of 47% across the nine lines. Two Mx recombinants were identified within the elite populations, indicating that novel variation can arise and be maintained within intensively selected lines. Collectively, these results suggest the conflicting reports in the literature describing the impact of the different SNP on chicken Mx function may be due to the varying context of haplotypes present in the populations studied.     

A single nucleotide polymorphism of porcine MX2 gene provides antiviral activity against vesicular stomatitis virus

The objective was to determine if single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in porcine MX2 gene affect its antiviral potential. MX proteins are known to suppress the multiplication of several viruses, including influenza virus and vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). In domestic animals possessing highly polymorphic genome, our previous research indicated that a specific SNP in chicken Mx gene was responsible for its antiviral function. However, there still has been no information about SNPs in porcine MX2 gene. In this study, we first conducted polymorphism analysis in 17 pigs of MX2 gene derived from seven breeds. Consequently, a total of 30 SNPs, of which 11 were deduced to cause amino acid variations, were detected, suggesting that the porcine MX2 is very polymorphic. Next, we classified MX2 into eight alleles (A1–A8) and subsequently carried out infectious experiments with recombinant VSVΔG*-G to each allele. In A1–A5 and A8, position 514 amino acid (514 aa) of MX2 was glycine (Gly), which did not inhibit VSV multiplication, whereas in A6 and A7, 514 aa was arginine (Arg), which exhibited the antiviral ability against VSV. These results demonstrate that a SNP at 514 aa (Gly-Arg) of porcine MX2 plays a pivotal role in the antiviral activity as well as that at 631 aa of chicken Mx.     

Stunting induced by cucumber mosaic cucumovirus-infected Nicotiana glutinosa is determined by a single amino acid residue in the coat protein

R-CMV, a subgroup II strain of cucumber mosaic cucumovirus (CMV) induces a very strong stunting response in Nicotiana glutinosa plants, while Trk7-CMV causes green mosaic in this host. The genetic determinant of this phenotype was mapped to a 534-nucleotide region at the 3' end of RNA3 with biologically active, full-length cDNA clones of R-CMV and Trk7-CMV and RNA3 chimeras of the two strains. Within this region, R-CMV differs from Trk7-CMV by a single amino acid at position 193 in the coat protein. Changing the codon for Lys at this position to Asn or Ser, by site-directed mutagenesis, also changed the phenotype of the viruses from green mosaic to induction of stunting. Profound differences in both the spread and the accumulation of the viruses causing stunting and green mosaic were observed, although these did not correlate with the host specificity of stunting. Since expression of R-CMV coat protein with the PVX vector did not cause stunting, the data suggest that the presence of other CMV components is necessary for the induction of this symptom.     

GC constituents and relative codon expressed amino acid composition in cyanobacterial phycobiliproteins

The genomic as well as structural relationship of phycobiliproteins (PBPs) in different cyanobacterial species are determined by nucleotides as well as amino acid composition. The genomic GC constituents influence the amino acid variability and codon usage of particular subunit of PBPs. We have analyzed 11 cyanobacterial species to explore the variation of amino acids and causal relationship between GC constituents and codon usage. The study at the first, second and third levels of GC content showed relatively more amino acid variability on the levels of G3 + C3 position in comparison to the first and second positions. The amino acid encoded GC rich level including G rich and C rich or both correlate the codon variability and amino acid availability. The fluctuation in amino acids such as Arg, Ala, His, Asp, Gly, Leu and Glu in α and β subunits was observed at G1C1 position; however, fluctuation in other amino acids such as Ser, Thr, Cys and Trp was observed at G2C2 position. The coding selection pressure of amino acids such as Ala, Thr, Tyr, Asp, Gly, Ile, Leu, Asn, and Ser in α and β subunits of PBPs was more elaborated at G3C3 position. In this study, we observed that each subunit of PBPs is codon specific for particular amino acid. These results suggest that genomic constraint linked with GC constituents selects the codon for particular amino acids and furthermore, the codon level study may be a novel approach to explore many problems associated with genomics and proteomics of cyanobacteria.     

Amino acid residue penultimate to the amino-terminal gly residue strongly affects two cotranslational protein modifications, N-myristoylation and N-acetylation

To examine the amino-terminal sequence requirements for cotranslational protein N-myristoylation, a series of site-directed mutagenesis of N-terminal region were performed using tumor necrosis factor as a nonmyristoylated model protein. Subsequently, the susceptibility of these mutants to protein N-myristoylation was evaluated by metabolic labeling in an in vitro translation system or in transfected cells. It was found that the amino acid residue at position 3 in an N-myristoylation consensus motif, Met-Gly-X-X-X-Ser-X-X-X, strongly affected the susceptibility of the protein to two different cotranslational protein modifications, N-myristoylation and N-acetylation; 10 amino acids (Ala, Ser, Cys, Thr, Val, Asn, Leu, Ile, Gln, and His) with a radius of gyration smaller than 1.80 A directed N-myristoylation, two negatively charged residues (Asp and Glu) directed N-acetylation, and two amino acids (Gly and Met) directed heterogeneous modification with both N-myristoylation and N-acetylation. The amino acid requirements at this position for the two modifications were dramatically changed when Ser at position 6 in the consensus motif was replaced with Ala. Thus, the amino acid residue penultimate to the N-terminal Gly residue strongly affected two cotranslational protein modifications, N-myristoylation and N-acetylation, and the amino acid requirements at this position for these two modifications were significantly affected by downstream residues.     

Opossum insulin, glucagon and pancreatic polypeptide: Amino acid sequences

Pancreatic hormones have been purified from the opossum, a New World marsupial. Opossum insulin contains a Leu substitution at the N-terminus of the B-chain in place of the Phe that is generally present in mammalian insulins. In addition, there are two other amino acid substitutions in the opossum insulin A-chain (positions 8 and 18) compared to pig insulin. Opossum glucagon is identical to chicken glucagon with both differing from the usual mammalian glucagon by Ser in place of Asn at its penultimate C-terminal position. Opossum PP differs from the porcine peptide in only 3 sites (position 3, 19 and 30).     

The critical role of asparagine 502 in post-translational alteration of protein 4.1.

1. Protein 4.1 in most mammalian red cells exhibits a post-translational conversion of 4.1b to 4.1a, except for feline protein 4.1, which lacks this alteration. 2. Our previous study provided evidence that protein 4.1b in human red cells is converted to 4.1a by deamidation of a specific asparagine (Asn) residue at position 502, suggesting that the post-translational change of 4.1b to 4.1a depends on the primary structure of the protein at the site of deamidation. 3. To confirm this hypothesis, proteolytic fragments corresponding to the deamidation site of human protein 4.1 were purified from canine and feline erythrocyte protein 4.1 and analyzed for their amino acid sequences. 4. Two proteolytic peptides, D7 and D9 derived from canine protein 4.1, both corresponding to the human sequence Thr492-...-Asn (or Asp)502-...-Lys505 showed the same sequence, Thr-Gln-Thr-...-Lys, except that the 11th residue equivalent to the 502nd amino acid was Asn in D7 while it was Asp in D9, indicating that deamidation occurs at the same position in canine protein 4.1 as in humans. 5. However, substitution of Ser for Asn at this position was observed in feline protein 4.1. 6. These results demonstrate that Asn502 has a critical role in post-translational conversion of 4.1b to 4.1a in mammalian red blood cells.     

Switch in antiviral specificity of a GTPase upon translocation from the cytoplasm to the nucleus.

The Mx2 protein of rats is a cytoplasmic GTPase that protects cells against vesicular stomatitis virus but not against influenza virus. Since vesicular stomatitis virus replicates in the cytoplasm and influenza virus replicates in the nucleus, it was possible that the antiviral specificity of rat Mx2 protein was determined solely by the protein's subcellular localization. Here, we found that, indeed, rat Mx2 protein lost its anti-vesicular stomatitis virus activity and gained anti-influenza virus activity when it was directed to the nucleus by way of a foreign nuclear-transport signal appended to its amino terminus. These data show that rat Mx2 protein possesses an antiviral activity that is revealed only when the protein is shuttled to the nucleus.     

Purifying selection and positive selection on the myxovirus resistance gene in mammals and chickens

The myxovirus resistance gene (Mx) expresses antiviral activity in many species, e.g. mouse, human and chicken. It is not clear if the antiviral activity of Mx has evolved in these species to inhibit a set of species-specific pathogens, nor what factors drive Mx evolution in different animal lineages. Therefore, it is important to determine the evolutionary pattern of Mx and positively selected sites which affect the antiviral activity of the Mx gene in mammals and birds. We used sequence comparisons among species to detect positively selected sites by conducting phylogenetic analysis. The two-ratio model was significantly better than the one-ratio model in four species (mouse, rat, chicken and duck, p<0.05). Although selection pressure varied among different lineages, Mx had strong purifying selection in mammals and positive selection in chicken and duck lineages. Relative rate test revealed that Mx evolved faster in chickens than in ducks (Tajima's relative rate test, chi(2)=7.17, p<0.01). In the further analysis using a branch-site model A test, 8 sites were positively selected in the chicken lineage while no positive selection signals were observed for any site in the other lineages. The branch-site model A test had a omega value of 4.374 for the chicken lineage (2Deltal=14.20, d.f.=1, p<0.001). Comparisons of all currently available Mx mRNA sequences showed that these predicted positively selected sites had been fixed in the chicken lineage, suggesting that the chicken Mx gene evolved within the species to resist newly challenging environments. There is an increased selection constraint leading to mammals, while positive selection has acted on the chicken Mx.