Scavengers as Prospective Sentinels of Viral Diversity: the Snowy Sheathbill Virome as a Potential Tool for Monitoring Virus Circulation, Lessons from Two Antarctic Expeditions.

Antarctica is a unique environment due to its extreme meteorological and geological conditions. In addition to this, its relative isolation from human influences has kept it undisturbed. This renders our limited understanding of its fauna and its associated microbial and viral communities a relevant knowledge gap to fill. This includes members of the order Charadriiformes such as snowy sheathbills. They are opportunistic predator/scavenger birds distributed on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands that are in frequent contact with other bird and mammal species. This makes them an interesting species for surveillance studies due to their high potential for the acquisition and transport of viruses. In this study, we performed whole-virome and targeted viral surveillance for coronaviruses, paramyxoviruses, and influenza viruses in snowy sheathbills from two locations, the Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetland. Our results suggest the potential role of this species as a sentinel for this region. We highlight the discovery of two human viruses, a member of the genus Sapovirus GII and a gammaherpesvirus, and a virus previously described in marine mammals. Here, we provide insight into a complex ecological picture. These data highlight the surveillance opportunities provided by Antarctic scavenger birds. IMPORTANCE This article describes whole-virome and targeted viral surveillance for coronaviruses, paramyxoviruses, and influenza viruses in snowy sheathbills from the Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetland. Our results suggest an important role of this species as a sentinel for this region. This species' RNA virome showcased a diversity of viruses likely tied to its interactions with assorted Antarctic fauna. We highlight the discovery of two viruses of likely human origin, one with an intestinal impact and another with oncogenic potential. Analysis of this data set detected a variety of viruses tied to various sources (from crustaceans to nonhuman mammals), depicting a complex viral landscape for this scavenger species.

Epitranscriptomic regulation of HIV-1 full-length RNA packaging.

During retroviral replication, the full-length RNA serves both as mRNA and genomic RNA. However, the mechanisms by which the HIV-1 Gag protein selects the two RNA molecules that will be packaged into nascent virions remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that deposition of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) regulates full-length RNA packaging. While m6A deposition by METTL3/METTL14 onto the full-length RNA was associated with increased Gag synthesis and reduced packaging, FTO-mediated demethylation promoted the incorporation of the full-length RNA into viral particles. Interestingly, HIV-1 Gag associates with the RNA demethylase FTO in the nucleus and contributes to full-length RNA demethylation. We further identified two highly conserved adenosines within the 5'-UTR that have a crucial functional role in m6A methylation and packaging of the full-length RNA. Together, our data propose a novel epitranscriptomic mechanism allowing the selection of the HIV-1 full-length RNA molecules that will be used as viral genomes.

CBP80/20-dependent translation initiation factor (CTIF) inhibits HIV-1 Gag synthesis by targeting the function of the viral protein Rev.

Translation initiation of the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) full-length RNA has been shown to occur through cap-dependent and IRES-driven mechanisms. Previous studies suggested that the nuclear cap-binding complex (CBC) rather than eIF4E drives cap-dependent translation of the full-length RNA and we have recently reported that the CBC subunit CBP80 supports the function of the viral protein Rev during nuclear export and translation of this viral transcript. Ribosome recruitment during CBC-dependent translation of cellular mRNAs relies on the activity CBP80/20 translation initiation factor (CTIF), which bridges CBP80 and the 40S ribosomal subunit through interactions with eIF3g. Here, we report that CTIF inhibits HIV-1 and HIV-2 Gag synthesis from the full-length RNA. Our results indicate that CTIF associates with HIV-1 Rev through its N-terminal domain and is recruited onto the full-length RNA ribonucleoprotein complex in order to interfere with Gag synthesis. We also demonstrate that CTIF induces the cytoplasmic accumulation of Rev impeding the association of the viral protein with CBP80. We finally show that Rev interferes with the association of CTIF with CBP80 indicating that CTIF and Rev compete for the CBC subunit.

A Rev-CBP80-eIF4AI complex drives Gag synthesis from the HIV-1 unspliced mRNA.

Gag synthesis from the full-length unspliced mRNA is critical for the production of the viral progeny during human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) replication. While most spliced mRNAs follow the canonical gene expression pathway in which the recruitment of the nuclear cap-binding complex (CBC) and the exon junction complex (EJC) largely stimulates the rates of nuclear export and translation, the unspliced mRNA relies on the viral protein Rev to reach the cytoplasm and recruit the host translational machinery. Here, we confirm that Rev ensures high levels of Gag synthesis by driving nuclear export and translation of the unspliced mRNA. These functions of Rev are supported by the CBC subunit CBP80, which binds Rev and the unspliced mRNA in the nucleus and the cytoplasm. We also demonstrate that Rev interacts with the DEAD-box RNA helicase eIF4AI, which translocates to the nucleus and cooperates with the viral protein to promote Gag synthesis. Finally, we show that the Rev/RRE axis is important for the assembly of a CBP80-eIF4AI complex onto the unspliced mRNA. Together, our results provide further evidence towards the understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which Rev drives Gag synthesis from the unspliced mRNA during HIV-1 replication.

Similarities between the Binding Sites of SB-206553 at Serotonin Type 2 and Alpha7 Acetylcholine Nicotinic Receptors: Rationale for Its Polypharmacological Profile.

Evidence from systems biology indicates that promiscuous drugs, i.e. those that act simultaneously at various protein targets, are clinically better in terms of efficacy, than those that act in a more selective fashion. This has generated a new trend in drug development called polypharmacology. However, the rational design of promiscuous compounds is a difficult task, particularly when the drugs are aimed to act at receptors with diverse structure, function and endogenous ligand. In the present work, using docking and molecular dynamics methodologies, we established the most probable binding sites of SB-206553, a drug originally described as a competitive antagonist of serotonin type 2B/2C metabotropic receptors (5-HT2B/2CRs) and more recently as a positive allosteric modulator of the ionotropic α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR). To this end, we employed the crystal structures of the 5-HT2BR and acetylcholine binding protein as templates to build homology models of the 5-HT2CR and α7 nAChR, respectively. Then, using a statistical algorithm, the similarity between these binding sites was determined. Our analysis showed that the most plausible binding sites for SB-206553 at 5-HT2Rs and α7 nAChR are remarkably similar, both in size and chemical nature of the amino acid residues lining these pockets, thus providing a rationale to explain its affinity towards both receptor types. Finally, using a computational tool for multiple binding site alignment, we determined a consensus binding site, which should be useful for the rational design of novel compounds acting simultaneously at these two types of highly different protein targets.