EV71 3C protease cleaves host anti-viral factor OAS3 and enhances virus replication

The global spread of enteroviruses (EVs) has become more frequent, severe and life-threatening. Intereron (IFN) I has been proved to control EVs by regulating IFN-stimulated genes (ISG) expression. 20-50-oligoadenylate synthetases 3 (OAS3) is an important ISG in the OAS/RNase L antiviral system. The relationship between OAS3 and EVs is still unclear. Here, we reveal that OAS3, superior to OAS1 and OAS2, significantly inhibited EV71 replication in vitro. However, EV71 utilized autologous 3C protease (3C^pro) to cleave intracellular OAS3 and enhance viral replication. Rupintrivir, a human rhinovirus 3C protease inhibitor, completely abolished the cleavage of EV71 3C^pro on OAS3. And the proteolytically deficient mutants H40G, E71A, and C147G of EV71 3C^pro also lost the ability of OAS3 cleavage. Mechanistically, the Q982-G983 motif in C-terminal of OAS3 was identified as a crucial 3C^pro cutting site. Further investigation indicated that OAS3 inhibited not only EV71 but also Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3), Coxsackievirus A16 (CA16), Enterovirus D68 (EVD68), and Coxsackievirus A6 (CA6) subtypes. Notably, unlike other four subtypes, CA16 3C^pro could not cleave OAS3. Two key amino acids variation Ile36 and Val86 in CA16 3C^pro might result in weak and delayed virus replication of CA16 because of failure of OAS and 3AB cleavage. Our works elucidate the broad anti-EVs function of OAS3, and illuminate a novel mechanism by which EV71 use 3C^pro to escape the antiviral effect of OAS3. These findings can be an important entry point for developing novel therapeutic strategies for multiple EVs infection.     

Crystal structure of human enterovirus 71 3C protease

Human enterovirus 71 (EV71) is the major pathogen that causes hand, foot and mouth disease that particularly affects young children. Growing hand, foot and mouth disease outbreaks were observed worldwide in recent years and caused devastating losses both economically and politically. However, vaccines or effective drugs are unavailable to date. The genome of EV71 consists of a positive sense, single-stranded RNA of ∼ 7400 bp, encoding a large precursor polyprotein that requires proteolytic processing to generate mature viral proteins. The proteolytic processing mainly depends on EV71 3C protease (3C^pro) that possesses both proteolysis and RNA binding activities, which enable the protease to perform multiple tasks in viral replication and pathogen-host interactions. The central roles played by EV71 3C^pro make it an appealing target for antiviral drug development. We determined the first crystal structure of EV71 3C^pro and analyzed its enzymatic activity. The crystal structure shows that EV71 3C^pro has a typical chymotrypsin-like fold that is common in picornaviral 3C^pro. Strikingly, we found an important surface loop, also denoted as β-ribbon, which adopts a novel open conformation in EV71 3C^pro. We identified two important residues located at the base of the β-ribbon, Gly123 and His133, which form hinges that govern the intrinsic flexibility of the ribbon. Structure-guided mutagenesis studies revealed that the hinge residues are important to EV71 3C^pro proteolytic activities. In summary, our work provides the first structural insight into EV71 3C^pro, including a mobile β-ribbon, which is relevant to the proteolytic mechanism. Our data also provides a framework for structure-guided inhibitor design against EV71 3C^pro.     

Autoprocessing: an essential step for expression and purification of enterovirus 71 3Cpro in Escherichia coli

A gene encoding the 3BC of human enterovirus 71 (EV71) was cloned and inserted into a derivative of plasmid pET-32a(+) driven by T7 promoter. The expressed 3C protease (3C^pro) autocatalytically cleaved itself from the recombinant protein Trx-3BC and the mature 3C^pro partitioned in the soluble fraction of bacterial lysate. The 13-amino-acid peptide substrates with the junction of 3B/3C were used to verify the proteolysis activity of the purified 3C^pro. The EV71 3C^pro had a K_m value of 63 μM (measured by a continuous fluorescence assay). The other solid-phase activity assay of the EV71 3C^pro was developed using HPLC to analyze the proteolytic products. The combination of two activity assays contributes to promote the identification of the specific inhibitors targeted to the EV71 3C^pro.     

以EV71 3Cpro为靶标的抗病毒药物筛选模型的建立及抗3Cpro化合物筛选

建立一种以EV71 3C蛋白酶为靶标的抗肠病毒药物筛选模型,并应用于小分子化合物库筛选具有抗EV71活性的化合物.从临床手足口病例标本中分离肠道病毒进行PCR鉴定及基因组测序.通过插入突变在黄色荧光YFP编码框合适位点处引入EV71 3C酶切位点,构建对3C蛋白酶敏感的报告质粒pc DNA3-m YFP,然后将其与表达3C的质粒共转293A细胞,在3C抑制剂Rupintrivir存在与否的情况下通过荧光显微镜和酶标仪检测Ex(500nm)/Em(535nm)荧光信号的变化,判断建模是否成功;利用建好的筛选模型在高通量药物筛选平台对小分子化合物库进行初筛和复筛;再利用空斑分析检测筛选出的活性化合物是否对临床分离的EV71毒株具有抑制作用.m YFP在293A细胞中表达良好,3C的表达使荧光信号下降80%,Rupintrivir的存在则几乎不影响荧光表达,说明以3C为靶位的筛选模型构建成功.经过高通量初筛和复筛从26 000多种小分子化合物中获得26种能够显著回复m YFP表达的活性化合物;空斑分析显示其中2种化合物具有较为明显的抑制EV71复制的活性.因此,我们所构建的3C-m YFP共表达系统是一种简便有效的、可用于高通量筛选抗EV71 3C~(pro)药物的筛选模型.     

Enterovirus 71 3C Protease Cleaves a Novel Target CstF-64 and Inhibits Cellular Polyadenylation

Identification of novel cellular proteins as substrates to viral proteases would provide a new insight into the mechanism of cell–virus interplay. Eight nuclear proteins as potential targets for enterovirus 71 (EV71) 3C protease (3C^pro) cleavages were identified by 2D electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF analysis. Of these proteins, CstF-64, which is a critical factor for 3′ pre-mRNA processing in a cell nucleus, was selected for further study. A time-course study to monitor the expression levels of CstF-64 in EV71-infected cells also revealed that the reduction of CstF-64 during virus infection was correlated with the production of viral 3C^pro. CstF-64 was cleaved in vitro by 3C^pro but neither by mutant 3C^pro (in which the catalytic site was inactivated) nor by another EV71 protease 2A^pro. Serial mutagenesis was performed in CstF-64, revealing that the 3C^pro cleavage sites are located at position 251 in the N-terminal P/G-rich domain and at multiple positions close to the C-terminus of CstF-64 (around position 500). An accumulation of unprocessed pre-mRNA and the depression of mature mRNA were observed in EV71-infected cells. An in vitro assay revealed the inhibition of the 3′-end pre-mRNA processing and polyadenylation in 3C^pro-treated nuclear extract, and this impairment was rescued by adding purified recombinant CstF-64 protein. In summing up the above results, we suggest that 3C^pro cleavage inactivates CstF-64 and impairs the host cell polyadenylation in vitro, as well as in virus-infected cells. This finding is, to our knowledge, the first to demonstrate that a picornavirus protein affects the polyadenylation of host mRNA.     

Mutations at KFRDI and VGK domains of enterovirus 71 3C protease affect its RNA binding and proteolytic activities

The 3C proteases (3C^pro) of enterovirus 71 (EV71) is a good molecular target for drug discovery. Notably, this protease was found to possess RNA-binding activity. The regions responsible for RNA binding were classified as KFRDI (positions 82–86) and VGK (positions 154–156) in 3C^pro by mutagenesis study. Although the RNA-binding regions are structurally distinct from the catalytic site of EV71 3C^pro, mutations in the RNA-binding regions influenced 3C^pro proteolytic activity. In contrast, mutations at the catalytic site had almost no influence on RNA binding ability. We identified certain mutations within 3C^pro which abrogated both the RNA-binding activity of the expressed, recombinant, protease and the ability to rescue virus from an infectious full-length clone of EV71 (pEV71). Interestingly, mutation at position 84 from Arg(R) to Lys(K) was found to retain good RNA binding and proteolytic activity for the recombinant 3C^pro; however, no virus could be rescued when pEV71 with the R84K mutation was introduced into the infectious copy. Together, these results may provide useful information for using 3C^pro as the molecular target to develop anti-EV71 agents.The second and the third authors contributed equally to this work.     

Unc93b Induces Apoptotic Cell Death and Is Cleaved by Host and Enteroviral Proteases

Unc93b is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident transmembrane protein that serves to bind and traffic toll-like receptors (TLRs) from the ER to their appropriate subcellular locations for ligand sensing. Because of its role in TLR trafficking, Unc93b is necessary for an effective innate immune response to coxsackievirus B3 (CVB), a positive-sense single stranded RNA virus belonging to the enterovirus family. Here, we show that Unc93b is cleaved by a CVB-encoded cysteine protease (3C^pro) during viral replication. Further, we define a role for Unc93b in the induction of apoptotic cell death and show that expression of wild-type Unc93b, but not a mutant incapable of binding TLRs or exiting the ER (H412R), induces apoptosis. Furthermore, we show that cellular caspases activated during apoptosis directly cleave Unc93b. Interestingly, we show that the 3C^pro- and caspase-mediated cleavage of Unc93b both occur within ten amino acids in the distal N-terminus of Unc93b. Mechanistically, neither caspase-mediated nor 3C^pro-mediated cleavage of Unc93b altered its trafficking function, inhibited its role in facilitating TLR3 or TLR8 signaling, or altered its apoptosis-inducing effects. Taken together, our studies show that Unc93b is targeted by both viral- and host cell-specific proteases and identify a function of Unc93b in the induction of apoptotic cell death.     

Crystal structures of enterovirus 71 3C protease complexed with rupintrivir reveal the roles of catalytically important residues

EV71 is the primary pathogenic cause of hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD), but an effective antiviral drug currently is unavailable. Rupintrivir, an inhibitor against human rhinovirus (HRV), has potent antiviral activities against EV71. We determined the high-resolution crystal structures of the EV71 3C(pro)/rupintrivir complex, showing that although rupintrivir interacts with EV71 3C(pro) similarly to HRV 3C(pro), the C terminus of the inhibitor cannot accommodate the leaving-group pockets of EV71 3C(pro). Our structures reveal that EV71 3C(pro) possesses a surface-recessive S2' pocket that is not present in HRV 3C(pro) that contributes to the additional substrate binding affinity. Combined with mutagenic studies, we demonstrated that catalytic Glu71 is irreplaceable for maintaining the overall architecture of the active site and, most importantly, the productive conformation of catalytic His40. We discovered the role of a previously uncharacterized residue, Arg39 of EV71 3C(pro), that can neutralize the negative charge of Glu71, which may subsequently assist deprotonation of His40 during proteolysis.     

Conformational Plasticity of the 2A Proteinase from Enterovirus 71

The 2A proteinase (2A^pro) is an enterovirally encoded cysteine protease that plays essential roles in both the processing of viral precursor polyprotein and the hijacking of host cell translation and other processes in the virus life cycle. Crystallographic studies of 2A^pro from enterovirus 71 (EV71) and its interaction with the substrate are reported here. EV71 2A^pro was comprised of an N-terminal domain of a four-stranded antiparallel β sheet and a C-terminal domain of a six-stranded antiparallel β barrel with a tightly bound zinc atom. Unlike in other 2A^pro structures, there is an open cleft across the surface of the protein in an open conformation. As demonstrated by the crystallographic studies and modeling of the complex structure, the open cleft could be fitted with the substrate. On comparison 2A^pro of EV71 to those of the human rhinovirus 2 and coxsackievirus B4, the open conformation could be closed with a hinge motion in the bII2 and cII β strands. This was supported by molecular dynamic simulation. The structural variation among different 2A^pro structures indicates a conformational flexibility in the substrate-binding cleft. The open structure provides an accessible framework for the design and development of therapeutics against the viral target.     

Fragment-wise design of inhibitors to 3C proteinase from enterovirus 71

BackgroundEnterovirus 71 (EV71) is a causative agent of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), which can spread its infection to central nervous and other systems with severe consequence. A key factor in the replication of EV71 is its 3C proteinase (3C^pro), a significant drug target. Peptidomimetics were employed as inhibitors of this enzyme for developing antivirals. However, the peptide bonds in these peptidomimetics are a source of low bioavailability due to their susceptibility to protease digestion. To produce non-peptidomimetic inhibitors by replacing these peptide bonds, it would be important to gain better understanding on the contribution of each component to the interaction and potency.MethodsA series of compounds of different lengths targeting 3C^pro and having an α,β-unsaturated ester as the warhead were synthesized and their interactions with the enzyme were evaluated by complex structure analyses and potency assays for a better understanding on the relationship between potency and evolution of interaction.ResultsThe P2 moiety of the compound would need to be oriented to interact in the S2 site in the substrate binding cleft and the P3–P4 moieties were required to generate sufficient potency. A hydrophobic terminal group will benefit the cellular uptake and improve the activity in vivo.Conclusions and general significanceThe data presented here provide a basis for designing a new generation of non-peptidomimetics to target EV71 3C^pro.     

Optimize the interactions at S4 with efficient inhibitors targeting 3C proteinase from enterovirus 71

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is the causative agent of hand, foot and mouth disease and can spread its infections to the central nervous and other systems with severe consequences. The replication of EV71 depends on its 3C proteinase (3C^pro), a significant drug target. By X‐ray crystallography and functional assays, the interactions between inhibitors and EV71 3C^pro were evaluated. It was shown that improved interactions at S4 for the substrate binding could significantly enhance the potency. A new series of potent inhibitors with high ligand efficiency was generated for developing antivirals to treat and control the EV71‐associated diseases. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Human Enterovirus Nonstructural Protein 2CATPase Functions as Both an RNA Helicase and ATP-Independent RNA Chaperone

RNA helicases and chaperones are the two major classes of RNA remodeling proteins, which function to remodel RNA structures and/or RNA-protein interactions, and are required for all aspects of RNA metabolism. Although some virus-encoded RNA helicases/chaperones have been predicted or identified, their RNA remodeling activities in vitro and functions in the viral life cycle remain largely elusive. Enteroviruses are a large group of positive-stranded RNA viruses in the Picornaviridae family, which includes numerous important human pathogens. Herein, we report that the nonstructural protein 2C^ATPase of enterovirus 71 (EV71), which is the major causative pathogen of hand-foot-and-mouth disease and has been regarded as the most important neurotropic enterovirus after poliovirus eradication, functions not only as an RNA helicase that 3′-to-5′ unwinds RNA helices in an adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-dependent manner, but also as an RNA chaperone that destabilizes helices bidirectionally and facilitates strand annealing and complex RNA structure formation independently of ATP. We also determined that the helicase activity is based on the EV71 2C^ATPase middle domain, whereas the C-terminus is indispensable for its RNA chaperoning activity. By promoting RNA template recycling, 2C^ATPase facilitated EV71 RNA synthesis in vitro; when 2C^ATPase helicase activity was impaired, EV71 RNA replication and virion production were mostly abolished in cells, indicating that 2C^ATPase-mediated RNA remodeling plays a critical role in the enteroviral life cycle. Furthermore, the RNA helicase and chaperoning activities of 2C^ATPase are also conserved in coxsackie A virus 16 (CAV16), another important enterovirus. Altogether, our findings are the first to demonstrate the RNA helicase and chaperoning activities associated with enterovirus 2C^ATPase, and our study provides both in vitro and cellular evidence for their potential roles during viral RNA replication. These findings increase our understanding of enteroviruses and the two types of RNA remodeling activities.     

Adaptation of Enterovirus 71 to Adult Interferon Deficient Mice

Non-polio enteroviruses, including enterovirus 71 (EV71), have caused severe and fatal cases of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in the Asia-Pacific region. The development of a vaccine or antiviral against these pathogens has been hampered by the lack of a reliable small animal model. In this study, a mouse adapted EV71 strain was produced by conducting serial passages through A129 (α/β interferon (IFN) receptor deficient) and AG129 (α/β, γ IFN receptor deficient) mice. A B2 sub genotype of EV71 was inoculated intraperitoneally (i.p.) into neonatal AG129 mice and brain-harvested virus was subsequently passaged through 12 and 15 day-old A129 mice. When tested in 10 week-old AG129 mice, this adapted strain produced 100% lethality with clinical signs including limb paralysis, eye irritation, loss of balance, and death. This virus caused only 17% mortality in same age A129 mice, confirming that in the absence of a functional IFN response, adult AG129 mice are susceptible to infection by adapted EV71 isolates. Subsequent studies in adult AG129 and young A129 mice with the adapted EV71 virus examined the efficacy of an inactivated EV71 candidate vaccine and determined the role of humoral immunity in protection. Passive transfer of rabbit immune sera raised against the EV71 vaccine provided protection in a dose dependent manner in 15 day-old A129 mice. Intramuscular injections (i.m.) in five week-old AG129 mice with the alum adjuvanted vaccine also provided protection against the mouse adapted homologous strain. No clinical signs of disease or mortality were observed in vaccinated animals, which received a prime-and-boost, whereas 71% of control animals were euthanized after exhibiting systemic clinical signs (P<0.05). The development of this animal model will facilitate studies on EV71 pathogenesis, antiviral testing, the evaluation of immunogenicity and efficacy of vaccine candidates, and has the potential to establish correlates of protection studies.     

The Coxsackievirus B 3Cpro Protease Cleaves MAVS and TRIF to Attenuate Host Type I Interferon and Apoptotic Signaling

The host innate immune response to viral infections often involves the activation of parallel pattern recognition receptor (PRR) pathways that converge on the induction of type I interferons (IFNs). Several viruses have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to attenuate antiviral host signaling by directly interfering with the activation and/or downstream signaling events associated with PRR signal propagation. Here we show that the 3C^pro cysteine protease of coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) cleaves the innate immune adaptor molecules mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein (MAVS) and Toll/IL-1 receptor domain-containing adaptor inducing interferon-beta (TRIF) as a mechanism to escape host immunity. We found that MAVS and TRIF were cleaved in CVB3-infected cells in culture. CVB3-induced cleavage of MAVS and TRIF required the cysteine protease activity of 3C^pro, occurred at specific sites and within specialized domains of each molecule, and inhibited both the type I IFN and apoptotic signaling downstream of these adaptors. 3C^pro-mediated MAVS cleavage occurred within its proline-rich region, led to its relocalization from the mitochondrial membrane, and ablated its downstream signaling. We further show that 3C^pro cleaves both the N- and C-terminal domains of TRIF and localizes with TRIF to signalosome complexes within the cytoplasm. Taken together, these data show that CVB3 has evolved a mechanism to suppress host antiviral signal propagation by directly cleaving two key adaptor molecules associated with innate immune recognition.     

siRNA Targeting the 2Apro Genomic Region Prevents Enterovirus 71 Replication In Vitro

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is the most important etiological agent of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) in young children, which is associated with severe neurological complications and has caused significant mortalities in recent HFMD outbreaks in Asia. However, there is no effective antiviral therapy against EV71. In this study, RNA interference (RNAi) was used as an antiviral strategy to inhibit EV71 replication. Three small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) targeting the 2A^pro region of the EV71 genome were designed and synthesized. All the siRNAs were transfected individually into rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) cells, which were then infected with strain EV71-2006-52-9. The cytopathic effects (CPEs) in the infected RD cells, cell viability, viral titer, and viral RNA and protein expression were examined to evaluate the specific viral inhibition by the siRNAs. The results of cytopathogenicity and MTT tests indicated that the RD cells transfected with the three siRNAs showed slight CPEs and significantly high viability. The 50% tissue culture infective dose (TCID₅₀) values demonstrated that the viral titer of the groups treated with three siRNAs were lower than those of the control groups. qRT–PCR and western blotting revealed that the levels of viral RNA and protein in the RD cells treated with the three siRNAs were lower than those in the controls. When RD cells transfected with siRNAs were also infected with strain EV71-2008-43-16, the expression of the VP1 protein was significantly inhibited. The levels of interferon α (IFN-α) and IFN-β did not differ significantly in any group. These results suggest that siRNAs targeting the 2A^pro region of the EV71 genome exerted antiviral effects in vitro.     

Enterovirus 71 Protease 2Apro Targets MAVS to Inhibit Anti-Viral Type I Interferon Responses

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is the major causative pathogen of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD). Its pathogenicity is not fully understood, but innate immune evasion is likely a key factor. Strategies to circumvent the initiation and effector phases of anti-viral innate immunity are well known; less well known is whether EV71 evades the signal transduction phase regulated by a sophisticated interplay of cellular and viral proteins. Here, we show that EV71 inhibits anti-viral type I interferon (IFN) responses by targeting the mitochondrial anti-viral signaling (MAVS) protein—a unique adaptor molecule activated upon retinoic acid induced gene-I (RIG-I) and melanoma differentiation associated gene (MDA-5) viral recognition receptor signaling—upstream of type I interferon production. MAVS was cleaved and released from mitochondria during EV71 infection. An in vitro cleavage assay demonstrated that the viral 2A protease (2A^pro), but not the mutant 2A^pro (2A^pro-110) containing an inactivated catalytic site, cleaved MAVS. The Protease-Glo assay revealed that MAVS was cleaved at 3 residues between the proline-rich and transmembrane domains, and the resulting fragmentation effectively inactivated downstream signaling. In addition to MAVS cleavage, we found that EV71 infection also induced morphologic and functional changes to the mitochondria. The EV71 structural protein VP1 was detected on purified mitochondria, suggesting not only a novel role for mitochondria in the EV71 replication cycle but also an explanation of how EV71-derived 2A^pro could approach MAVS. Taken together, our findings reveal a novel strategy employed by EV71 to escape host anti-viral innate immunity that complements the known EV71-mediated immune-evasion mechanisms.     

Recombinant Adeno-Vaccine Expressing Enterovirus 71-Like Particles against Hand,Foot, and Mouth Disease

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) and coxsackieviruses (CV) are the major causative agents of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD). There is not currently a vaccine available against HFMD, even though a newly developed formalin-inactivated EV71 (FI-EV71) vaccine has been tested in clinical trial and has shown efficacy against EV71. We have designed and genetically engineered a recombinant adenovirus Ad-EVVLP with the EV71 P1 and 3CD genes inserted into the E1/E3-deleted adenoviral genome. Ad-EVVLP were produced in HEK-293A cells. In addition to Ad-EVVLP particles, virus-like particles (VLPs) formed from the physical association of EV71 capsid proteins, VP0, VP1, and VP3 expressed from P1 gene products. They were digested by 3CD protease and confirmed to be produced by Ad-EVVLP-producing cells, as determined using transmission electron microscopy and western blotting. Mouse immunogenicity studies showed that Ad-EVVLP-immunized antisera neutralized the EV71 B4 and C2 genotypes. Activation of VLP-specific CD4⁺ and CD8⁺/IFN-γ T cells associated with Th1/Th2-balanced IFN-ɣ, IL-17, IL-4, and IL-13 was induced; in contrast, FI-EV71 induced only Th2-mediated neutralizing antibody against EV71 and low VLP-specific CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cell responses. The antiviral immunity against EV71 was clearly demonstrated in mice vaccinated with Ad-EVVLP in a hSCARB2 transgenic (hSCARB2-Tg) mouse challenge model. Ad-EVVLP-vaccinated mice were 100% protected and demonstrated reduced viral load in both the CNS and muscle tissues. Ad-EVVLP successfully induced anti-CVA16 immunities. Although antisera had no neutralizing activity against CVA16, the 3C-specific CD4⁺ and CD8⁺/IFN-γ T cells were identified, which could mediate protection against CVA16 challenge. FI-EV71 did not induce 3C-mediated immunity and had no efficacy against the CVA16 challenge. These results suggest that Ad-EVVLP can enhance neutralizing antibody and protective cellular immune responses to prevent EV71 infection and cellular immune responses against CV infection.     

Characterization of Enteroviruses from Non-Human Primates in Cameroon Revealed Virus Types Widespread in Humans along with Candidate New Types and Species

Enteroviruses (EVs) infecting African Non-Human Primates (NHP) are still poorly documented. This study was designed to characterize the genetic diversity of EVs among captive and wild NHP in Cameroon and to compare this diversity with that found in humans. Stool specimens were collected in April 2008 in NHP housed in sanctuaries in Yaounde and neighborhoods. Moreover, stool specimens collected from wild NHP from June 2006 to October 2008 in the southern rain forest of Cameroon were considered. RNAs purified directly from stool samples were screened for EVs using a sensitive RT-nested PCR targeting the VP1 capsid coding gene whose nucleotide sequence was used for molecular typing. Captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) were primarily infected by EV types already reported in humans in Cameroon and elsewhere: Coxsackievirus A13 and A24, Echovirus 15 and 29, and EV-B82. Moreover EV-A119, a novel virus type recently described in humans in central and west Africa, was also found in a captive Chimpanzee. EV-A76, which is a widespread virus in humans, was identified in wild chimpanzees, thus suggesting its adaptation and parallel circulation in human and NHP populations in Cameroon. Interestingly, some EVs harbored by wild NHP were genetically distinct from all existing types and were thus assigned as new types. One chimpanzee-derived virus was tentatively assigned as EV-J121 in the EV-J species. In addition, two EVs from wild monkeys provisionally registered as EV-122 and EV-123 were found to belong to a candidate new species. Overall, this study indicates that the genetic diversity of EVs among NHP is more important than previously known and could be the source of future new emerging human viral diseases.     

Maturation Mechanism of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Coronavirus 3C-like Proteinase

The 3C-like proteinase (3CL^pro) of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus plays a vital role in virus maturation and is proposed to be a key target for drug design against SARS. Various in vitro studies revealed that only the dimer of the matured 3CL^pro is active. However, as the internally encoded 3CL^pro gets matured from the replicase polyprotein by autolytic cleavage at both the N-terminal and the C-terminal flanking sites, it is unclear whether the polyprotein also needs to dimerize first for its autocleavage reaction. We constructed a large protein containing the cyan fluorescent protein (C), the N-terminal flanking substrate peptide of SARS 3CL^pro (XX), SARS 3CL^pro (3CLP), and the yellow fluorescent protein (Y) to study the autoprocessing of 3CL^pro using fluorescence resonance energy transfer. In contrast to the matured 3CL^pro, the polyprotein, as well as the one-step digested product, 3CLP-Y-His, were shown to be monomeric in gel filtration and analytic ultracentrifuge analysis. However, dimers can still be induced and detected when incubating these large proteins with a substrate analog compound in both chemical cross-linking experiments and analytic ultracentrifuge analysis. We also measured enzyme activity under different enzyme concentrations and found a clear tendency of substrate-induced dimer formation. Based on these discoveries, we conclude that substrate-induced dimerization is essential for the activity of SARS-3CL^pro in the polyprotein, and a modified model for the 3CL^pro maturation process was proposed. As many viral proteases undergo a similar maturation process, this model might be generally applicable.