Tight Junctions, the Key Factor in Virus-Related Disease.

Tight junctions (TJs) are highly specialized membrane structural domains that hold cells together and form a continuous intercellular barrier in epithelial cells. TJs regulate paracellular permeability and participate in various cellular signaling pathways. As physical barriers, TJs can block viral entry into host cells; however, viruses use a variety of strategies to circumvent this barrier to facilitate their infection. This paper summarizes how viruses evade various barriers during infection by regulating the expression of TJs to facilitate their own entry into the organism causing infection, which will help to develop drugs targeting TJs to contain virus-related disease.

The role of 14-3-3 proteins in cell signalling pathways and virus infection.

14-3-3 proteins are highly conserved in species ranging from yeast to mammals and regulate numerous signalling pathways via direct interactions with proteins carrying phosphorylated 14-3-3-binding motifs. Recent studies have shown that 14-3-3 proteins can also play a role in viral infections. This review summarizes the biological functions of 14-3-3 proteins in protein trafficking, cell-cycle control, apoptosis, autophagy and other cell signal transduction pathways, as well as the associated mechanisms. Recent findings regarding the role of 14-3-3 proteins in viral infection and innate immunity are also reviewed.

Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus Structural Protein GP3 Regulates Claudin 4 To Facilitate the Early Stages of Infection.

Claudins (CLDN) are a family of proteins that represent the most important components of tight junctions, where they establish the paracellular barrier that controls the flow of molecules in the intercellular space between epithelial cells. Several types of viruses make full use of CLDN to facilitate entry into cells. Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is one of the most important pathogens in the swine industry. In this study, we found that CLDN4 functions as an anti-PRRSV factor by blocking its absorption during the early stages of infection. The small extracellular loop (ECL2) of CLDN4 restricted the viral particles outside cells by binding to GP3. A novel function of GP3-mediated regulation of CLDN4 transcription was suggested. CLDN4 can be decreased through downregulating the level of CLDN4 transcription by ubiquitinating the transcription factor, SP1. The mechanism by which highly pathogenic PRRSV infects the epithelium was proposed. Importantly, ECL2 was found to block PRRSV absorption and infection and neutralize the virus. A more in-depth understanding of PRRSV infection is described, and novel therapeutic antiviral strategies are discussed.IMPORTANCE In the present study, the role of CLDN4 in PRRSV infection was studied. The results showed that CLDN4 blocked absorption into cells and restricted extracellular viral particles via the interaction between the CLDN4 small extracellular loop, ECL2, and the viral surface protein GP3. GP3 was found to downregulate CLDN4 through ubiquitination of the transcription factor SP1 to facilitate viral entry. The mechanism by which highly pathogenic PRRSV infects the epithelium is suggested. A novel function of GP3 in regulating gene transcription was discovered. Moreover, ECL2 could block PRRSV absorption and infection, as well as neutralizing the virus in the supernatant, which may lead to the development of novel therapeutic antiviral strategies.

The tail domain of PRRSV NSP2 plays a key role in aggrephagy by interacting with 14-3-3ε.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) caused by PRRS virus (PRRSV) is one of the most severe swine diseases that affects almost all swine-breeding countries. Nonstructural protein 2 (NSP2) is one of the most important viral proteins in the PRRSV life cycle. Our previous study showed that PRRSV NSP2 could induce the formation of aggresomes. In this study we explored the effects of aggresome formation on cells and found that NSP2 could induce autophagy, which depended on aggresome formation to activate aggrephagy. The transmembrane and tail domains of NSP2 contributed to aggrephagy and the cellular protein 14-3-3ε played an important role in NSP2-induced autophagy by binding the tail domain of NSP2. These findings provide information on the function of the C-terminal domain of NSP2, which will help uncover the function of NSP2 during PRRSV infection.