The role of stearate attachment to the hemagglutinin-esterase-fusion glycoprotein HEF of influenza C virus.

The only spike of influenza C virus, the hemagglutinin-esterase-fusion glycoprotein (HEF) combines receptor binding, receptor hydrolysis and membrane fusion activities. Like other hemagglutinating glycoproteins of influenza viruses HEF is S-acylated, but only with stearic acid at a single cysteine located at the cytosol-facing end of the transmembrane region. Previous studies established the essential role of S-acylation of hemagglutinin for replication of influenza A and B virus by affecting budding and/or membrane fusion, but the function of acylation of HEF was hitherto not investigated. Using reverse genetics we rescued a virus containing non-stearoylated HEF, which was stable during serial passage and showed no competitive fitness defect, but the growth rate of the mutant virus was reduced by one log. Deacylation of HEF does neither affect the kinetics of its plasma membrane transport nor the protein composition of virus particles. Cryo-electron microscopy showed that the shape of viral particles and the hexagonal array of spikes typical for influenza C virus were not influenced by this mutation indicating that virus budding was not disturbed. However, the extent and kinetics of haemolysis were reduced in mutant virus at 37°C, but not at 33°C, the optimal temperature for virus growth, suggesting that non-acylated HEF has a defect in membrane fusion under suboptimal conditions.

The influenza C virus CM2 protein can alter intracellular pH, and its transmembrane domain can substitute for that of the influenza A virus M2 protein and support infectious virus production.

The influenza C virus CM2 protein and a chimeric influenza A virus M2 protein (MCM) containing the CM2 transmembrane domain were assessed for their ability to functionally replace the M2 protein. While all three proteins could alter cytosolic pH to various degrees when expressed from cDNA, only M2 and MCM could at least partially restore infectious virus production to M2-deficient influenza A viruses. The data suggest that while the CM2 ion channel activity is similar to that of M2, sequences in the extracellular and/or cytoplasmic domains play important roles in infectious virus production.

Detecting in-solution conformational changes in viral fusogens using tryptophan-induced fluorescence quenching.

Dynamic monitoring of protein conformational changes is necessary to fully understand many biological processes. For example, viral entry and membrane fusion require rearrangement of its viral glycoprotein. We present a step-by-step protocol for site-specific bimane labeling of the influenza-C fusogen to map proximity and conformational movements using tryptophan-induced fluorescence quenching. This protocol is adaptable for other proteins and for protein-protein interaction detection. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Serrão et al., 2021.

S acylation of the hemagglutinin of influenza viruses: mass spectrometry reveals site-specific attachment of stearic acid to a transmembrane cysteine.

S acylation of cysteines located in the transmembrane and/or cytoplasmic region of influenza virus hemagglutinins (HA) contributes to the membrane fusion and assembly of virions. Our results from using mass spectrometry (MS) show that influenza B virus HA possessing two cytoplasmic cysteines contains palmitate, whereas HA-esterase-fusion glycoprotein of influenza C virus having one transmembrane cysteine is stearoylated. HAs of influenza A virus having one transmembrane and two cytoplasmic cysteines contain both palmitate and stearate. MS analysis of recombinant viruses with deletions of individual cysteines, as well as tandem-MS sequencing, revealed the surprising result that stearate is exclusively attached to the cysteine positioned in the transmembrane region of HA.

Studies on the specificity and sensitivity of the influenza C virus binding assay for 9-O-acetylated sialic acids and its application to human melanomas.

The sensitivity and specificity of two influenza C virus assays, solid-phase and overlay assays, were investigated using naturally occurring 9-O-acetylated GD(3), rat serum glycoproteins containing 60% of N-acetyl-9-O-acetylneuraminic acid, and synthetically O-acetylated sialylated compounds. The sensitivity of the solid-phase assay was higher for glycoproteins containing N-acetyl-9-O-acetylneuraminic acid than for gangliosides, and also differed for various 9-O-acetylated gangliosides. The overlay assay was less sensitive for all glycoconjugates tested. For virus recognition the presentation of the sialic acid within the molecule and the structure of the sialic acid are essential. Investigation of gangliosides from human melanomas and normal skin with the influenza C virus assay showed an increase of O-acetylation of sialic acids in most tumour samples and the occurrence of several O-acetylated gangliosides.

Synthesis and inhibitory activity of sialic acid derivatives targeted at viral sialate-O-acetylesterases.

A series of sialosides modified at the 4- and 9-hydroxy group were synthesised and tested for inhibition of the viral haemagglutinin-esterase activity from various Orthomyxoviruses and Coronaviruses. While no inhibition of the sialate-4-O-acetylesterases from mouse hepatitis virus strain S or sialodacryoadenitis virus was found, a 9-O-methyl derivative displayed inhibitory activity against recombinant sialate-9-O-acetylesterase from influenza C virus.

Evidence that the CM2 protein of influenza C virus can modify the pH of the exocytic pathway of transfected cells.

The 115 residue CM2 protein of influenza C virus is a structural homologue of the M2 protein of influenza A virus. Expression of the CM2 protein in Xenopus oocytes showed that it can form a voltage-activated ion channel permeable to Cl-. To investigate whether the CM2 protein has pH modulating activity comparable to that of the M2 protein, CM2 was co-expressed with a pH-sensitive haemagglutinin (HA) from influenza A virus. The results indicate that, like the M2 protein, the CM2 protein has a capacity to reduce the acidity of the exocytic pathway and reduce conversion of the pH-sensitive HA to its low pH conformation during transport to the cell surface. By contrast, the NB protein of influenza B virus has no detectable activity. Although, the pH modulating activity of the CM2 protein was substantially less than that of the M2 protein, these observations provide support for a role in virus uncoating analogous to that of M2.

Use of influenza C virus glycoprotein HEF for generation of vesicular stomatitis virus pseudotypes.

Influenza C virus contains two envelope glycoproteins: CM2, a putative ion channel protein; and HEF, a unique multifunctional protein that performs receptor-binding, receptor-destroying and fusion activities. Here, it is demonstrated that expression of HEF is sufficient to pseudotype replication-incompetent vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) that lacks the VSV glycoprotein (G) gene. The pseudotyped virus showed characteristic features of influenza C virus with respect to proteolytic activation, receptor usage and cell tropism. Chimeric glycoproteins composed of HEF ectodomain and VSV-G C-terminal domains were efficiently incorporated into VSV particles and showed receptor-binding and receptor-destroying activities but, unlike authentic HEF, did not mediate efficient infection, probably because of impaired fusion activity. HEF-pseudotyped VSV efficiently infected polarized Madin-Darby canine kidney cells via the apical plasma membrane, whereas entry of VSV-G-complemented virus was restricted to the basolateral membrane. These findings suggest that pseudotyping of viral vectors with HEF might be useful for efficient apical gene transfer into polarized epithelial cells and for targeting cells that express 9-O-acetylated sialic acids.

Structure of the influenza C virus CM2 protein transmembrane domain obtained by site-specific infrared dichroism and global molecular dynamics searching.

The 115-residue protein CM2 from Influenza C virus has been recently characterized as a tetrameric integral membrane glycoprotein. Infrared spectroscopy and site-directed infrared dichroism were utilized here to determine its transmembrane structure. The transmembrane domain of CM2 is alpha-helical, and the helices are tilted by beta = (14.6 +/- 3.0) degrees from the membrane normal. The rotational pitch angle about the helix axis omega for the 1-(13)C-labeled residues Gly(59) and Leu(66) is omega = (218 +/- 17) degrees, where omega is defined as zero for a residue pointing in the direction of the helix tilt. A detailed structure was obtained from a global molecular dynamics search utilizing the orientational data as an energy refinement term. The structure consists of a left-handed coiled-coil with a helix crossing angle of Omega = 16 degrees. The putative transmembrane pore is occluded by the residue Met(65). In addition hydrogen/deuterium exchange experiments show that the core is not accessible to water.

Identification of an amino acid residue on influenza C virus M1 protein responsible for formation of the cord-like structures of the virus.

Influenza C virus-like particles (VLPs) have been generated from cloned cDNAs. A cDNA of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene in antisense orientation was flanked by the 5' and 3' non-coding regions of RNA segment 5 of the influenza C virus. The cDNA cassette was inserted between an RNA polymerase I promoter and terminator of the Pol I vector. This plasmid DNA was transfected into 293T cells together with plasmids encoding virus proteins of C/Ann Arbor/1/50 or C/Yamagata/1/88. Transfer of the supernatants of the transfected 293T cells to HMV-II cells resulted in GFP expression in the HMV-II cells. The quantification of the GFP-positive HMV-II cells indicated the presence of approximately 10(6) VLPs (ml supernatant)(-1). Cords 50-300 microm in length were observed on transfected 293T cells, although the cords were not observed when the plasmid for M1 protein of C/Ann Arbor/1/50 was replaced with that of C/Taylor/1233/47. A series of transfection experiments with plasmids encoding M1 mutants of C/Ann Arbor/1/50 or C/Taylor/1233/47 showed that an amino acid at residue 24 of the M1 protein is responsible for cord formation. This finding provides direct evidence for a previous hypothesis that M1 protein is involved in the formation of cord-like structures protruding from the C/Yamagata/1/88-infected cells. Evidence was obtained by electron microscopy that transfected cells bearing cords produced filamentous VLPs, suggesting the potential role of the M1 protein in determining the filamentous/spherical morphology of influenza C virus.

Cloning and sequencing of influenza C/Yamagata/1/88 virus NS gene.

It was previously shown that the shortest RNA of influenza C/California/78 virus contains 934 nucleotides and codes for two nonstructural proteins of 286 amino acids (NS 1) and 121 amino acids (NS 2). In this report, we determined the nucleotide sequence of the NS gene of the recently isolated influenza C/Yamagata/1/88 strain by using cloned cDNA derived from the viral RNA. Compared with the NS gene of C/California/78, one nucleotide insertion has occurred in the NS gene of C/Yamagata/1/88. This caused frame shifts of both the NS 1 and NS 2 reading frames, directing the synthesis of the NS 1 and NS 2 proteins consisting of 246 and 182 amino acids, respectively.

Phylogenetic analysis of influenza C virus nonstructural (NS) protein genes and identification of the NS2 protein.

The nucleotide sequences of RNA segment 7 (nonstructural protein gene; NS) were compared among 34 influenza C virus strains isolated between 1947 and 1992. The results showed that all the NS genes analysed had the potential to encode NS1 and NS2 proteins of 246 and 182 amino acids, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequence of the previously unidentified NS2 was fairly well conserved, although it was more divergent than the NS1 protein sequence. Moreover, immunoprecipitation experiments with rabbit immune serum against a glutathione S-transferase fusion protein containing the C-terminal region of the 182 amino acid NS2 protein revealed synthesis of a protein with an apparent molecular mass of approximately 22 kDa in infected cells. A phylogenetic analysis showed that the 34 NS genes were split into two distinct groups, A and B. Comparison of the phylogenetic positions of the individual isolates in the NS gene tree with those in the haemagglutinin-esterase (HE) gene tree suggested that most of the influenza C viruses currently circulating in Japan, irrespective of their HE gene lineage, had acquired group B NS genes through reassortment events that presumably occurred either in the 1970s or in the early 1980s.

Mapping the energy surface of transmembrane helix-helix interactions.

Transmembrane helices are no longer believed to be just hydrophobic segments that exist solely to anchor proteins to a lipid bilayer, but rather they appear to have the capacity to specify function and structure. Specific interactions take place between hydrophobic segments within the lipid bilayer whereby subtle mutations that normally would be considered innocuous can result in dramatic structural differences. That such specificity takes place within the lipid bilayer implies that it may be possible to identify the most favorable interaction surface of transmembrane alpha-helices based on computational methods alone, as shown in this study. Herein, an attempt is made to map the energy surface of several transmembrane helix-helix interactions for several homo-oligomerizing proteins, where experimental data regarding their structure exist (glycophorin A, phospholamban, Influenza virus A M2, Influenza virus C CM2, and HIV vpu). It is shown that due to symmetry constraints in homo-oligomers the computational problem can be simplified. The results obtained are mostly consistent with known structural data and may additionally provide a view of possible alternate and intermediate configurations.

Identification of influenza C virus phosphoproteins.

The HMV-II cells infected with influenza C virus were labeled with inorganic [32P]phosphate to identify phosphorylated proteins. Analysis by radioimmunoprecipitation with antiviral serum or monoclonal antibodies revealed that three major structural proteins of the virus, hemagglutinin-esterase (HE), nucleoprotein (NP), and matrix protein (M1) are all phosphorylated in both infected cells and virions. It was also observed that, in the presence of trypsin (10 micrograms/ml), the unphosphorylated form of the HE glycoprotein was cleaved efficiently whereas the phosphorylated form was not, raising the possibility that phosphorylation of HE may influence its susceptibility to degradation by proteolytic enzymes.

Structure of the haemagglutinin-esterase-fusion glycoprotein of influenza C virus.

The spike glycoproteins of the lipid-enveloped orthomyxoviruses and paramyxoviruses have three functions: to recognize the receptor on the cell surface, to mediate viral fusion with the cell membrane, and to destroy the receptor. In influenza C virus, a single glycoprotein, the haemagglutinin-esterase-fusion (HEF) protein, possesses all three functions. In influenza A and B, the first two activities are mediated by haemagglutinin and the third by a second glycoprotein, neuraminidase. Here we report the crystal structure of the HEF envelope glycoprotein of influenza C virus. We have identified the receptor-binding site and the receptor-destroying enzyme (9-O-acetylesterase) sites, by using receptor analogues. The receptor-binding domain is structurally similar to the sialic acid-binding domain of influenza A haemagglutinin, but binds 9-O-acetylsialic acid. The esterase domain has a structure similar to the esterase from Streptomyces scabies and a brain acetylhydrolase. The receptor domain is inserted into a surface loop of the esterase domain and the esterase domain is inserted into a surface loop of the stem. The stem domain is similar to that of influenza A haemagglutinin, except that the triple-stranded, alpha-helical bundle diverges at both of its ends, and the amino terminus of HEF2, the fusion peptide, is partially exposed. The segregation of HEF's three functions into structurally distinct domains suggests that the entire stem region, including sequences at the amino and carboxy termini of HEF1 which precede the post-translational cleavage site between HEF1 and HEF2, forms an independent fusion domain which is probably derived from an ancestral membrane fusion protein.

Disassembly of influenza C viruses, distinct from that of influenza A and B viruses requires neutral-alkaline pH.

Influenza C (Flu C) viruses comprise an internal ribonucleoprotein (RNP) and an outer lipoprotein envelope with surface spike glycoproteins and the M1 protein matrix. The lipoprotein envelope and spike glycoproteins are solubilized by nonionic detergent in a pH-independent manner. In contrast, disassembly of the M1 protein matrix appears to depend on pH. Treatment of Flu C viruses with nonionic detergent in neutral or alkaline medium (pH 9.0-7.4) results in disintegration of the virion M1 matrix and leads to a significant release of RNP free of the M1 protein. In acidic medium (pH 6.0-5.0), the M1 matrix is not removed and the viral core-like complex of RNP along with the M1 matrix cover is released. Since Flu A and B viruses were characterized by acid-dependent disassembly of the virion M1 matrix, Flu C viruses seem to resemble the paramyxoviruses, which also show a neutral-alkaline pH dependence on matrix disintegration. These observations suggest that uncoating mechanisms of influenza C viruses and paramyxoviruses in target cells may be similar.

Cytoplasmic tail length influences fatty acid selection for acylation of viral glycoproteins.

We report remarkable differences in the fatty acid content of thioester-type acylated glycoproteins of enveloped viruses from mammalian cells. The E2 glycoprotein of Semliki Forest virus contains mainly palmitic acid like most other palmitoylated proteins analysed so far. However, the other glycoprotein (E1) of the same virus, as well as the HEF (haemagglutinin esterase fusion) glycoprotein of influenza C virus, are unique in this respect because they are acylated primarily with stearic acid. Comparative radiolabelling of uninfected cells with different fatty acids suggests that stearate may also be the prevailing fatty acid in some cellular acylproteins. To look for further differences between palmitoylated and stearoylated glycoproteins we characterized stearoylation in more detail. We identified the acylation site of HEF as a cysteine residue located at the boundary between the transmembrane region and the cytoplasmic tail. The attachment of stearate to HEF and E1 occurs post-translationally in a pre-Golgi compartment. Thus, stearoylated and palmitoylated proteins cannot be discriminated on the basis of the fatty acid linkage site or the intracellular compartment, where acylation occurs. However, stearoylated acylproteins contain a very short, positively charged cytoplasmic tail, whereas in palmitoylated proteins this molecular region is longer. Replacing the short cytoplasmic tail of stearoylated HEF with the long influenza A virus haemagglutinin (HA) tail in an HEF-HA chimera, and subsequent vaccinia T7 expression in CV-1 cells, yielded proteins with largely palmitic acid bound. The reverse chimera, HA-HEF with a short cytoplasmic tail was not fatty acylated at all during expression, indicating that conformational or topological constraints control fatty acid transfer.