Rôle de la protéine M1 et des cofacteurs cellulaires associés à l’actine dans l’assemblage et la libération du virus de la Grippe A

Le virus de la grippe A (le H1N1) pdm09, généralement connu comme le virus de la grippe porcine, a causé la toute première pandémie du 21e siècle. Le virus de grippe est un virus enveloppé à ARN qui utilise la machinerie cellulaire de l’hôte pour s’assembler à la membrane plasmique de la cellule et être relargué à l’extérieur. Dans cette étude, nous nous sommes intéressés au rôle de la protéine virale de matrice M1 dans ce processus. M1 est la protéine la plus abondante et elle est extrêmement importante pour le virus de la grippe. Les 164 résidus de la protéine M1 situés en N-terminal comprennent deux domaines basiques qui sont : le triplet d’arginine (R76/77/78) sur l'hélice 5 et le signal de localisation nucléaire sur l'hélice 6. Ils sont très bien conservés parmi les sous types de la grippe. Premièrement, pour étudier l'interaction M1-membrane, nous avons développé et standardisé un système minimal regroupant M1+M2+NS1/NEP (±M) dans lequel nous pourrons aussi observer la production de VLPs incorporant M1. En utilisant ce système, nous avons créé des mutations dans le triplet d’arginine de M1 et avons regardé l'accrochage de M1 à la membrane ainsi que l'incorporation de M1 dans les VLPs. La conséquence de ces mutations est que la protéine M1 reste dans le cytosol et qu’il y a une réduction drastique du nombre de VLPs contenant M1 relargués. La mutation du triplet arginine par un triplet alanine inhibe complètement la production de VLPs. De plus, un virus mutant avec ce triplet d’alanine n’est plus capable de produire des virions infectieux. Ainsi nous avons mis en évidence l'importance du triplet arginine dans l'accrochage de M1 à la membrane et la production de virions. Par conséquent, pour étudier l’utilisation de l'actine et de ses cofacteurs par le virus, nous avons utilisé de petits ARN interférents pour inhiber l’expression de gènes dans un système minimal de production de VLPs. Nous avons observé une réduction de la production de VLPs contenant M1 en inhibant Rac1et une augmentation de la libération de VLPs contenant M1 en inhibant RhoA et Cdc42. En utilisant un virus IAV (H3N2)-nanoluciferase sur les cellules A549 pulmonaires, nous avons étudié l'effet de la déplétion des RhoGTPases et de leurs effecteurs sur la production virale. Nous avons observé qu'avec Rac1, l'inhibition de Wave2 et Arp3 réduit aussi le pouvoir infectieux du virus H3N2 au cours des étapes tardives de l'infection sans affecter la phase précoce de d'infection. Les protéines interagissant avec M1 ont été identifiées par LC-MS/MS et incluent la cofiline et l’annexine A2. La cofiline, déjà connue pour participer à la réorganisation de l’actine pendant la phase tardive de l’infection par le virus de la grippe, est aussi un effecteur activé par Rac1, Wave2, Pak1 et LIMK afin de former des lamellipodes. L’annexine A2 est aussi connue pour séquestrer la PS au niveau du feuillet interne de la membrane plasmique cellulaire. La reconnaissance de ces groupes de PS par la protéine virale M1 amorcera finalement le processus d’assemblage viral. Ainsi, nos résultats, en décrivant le mécanisme d'accrochage de M1 à la membrane, montrent aussi que Rac1, Wave2 et Arp3 sont probablement des facteurs pro-viraux de l’assemblage et de la libération des virus de la grippe A.The influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus, commonly known as swine flu, caused the very first pandemic of 21st century. Influenza virus, an enveloped RNA virus, uses the host cellular machinery for its assembly and release from the host cell plasma membrane. In this study, we were interested in the role of the viral M1 matrix protein in this process. M1 is the most abundant and vitally important protein present in influenza virus. The N-terminal 164 residues of M1 protein comprise of two basic domains which are the arginine triplet (R76/77/78) on helix 5 and the nuclear localization signal on helix 6, which are very well conserved among the influenza A virus subtypes. Firstly, to study M1-membrane interaction, we developed and standardized a minimal system consisting of M1+M2+NS1/NEP(±M) in which we could also observe production of VLPs incorporating M1. Using this system, we performed mutations in the M1 arginine triplet and looked at changes in M1 membrane attachment and M1 incorporation in VLP. As a result of these mutations, the M1 protein remained cytosolic and there was a drastic reduction in M1 containing VLP release. Mutating the entire arginine triplet to an alanine triplet inhibited VLP production completely. Also, a mutant virus with this alanine triplet failed completely to produce infectious virions. Thus we established the importance of the arginine triplet in M1 membrane attachment and virion production. Consequently, to study manipulation of actin and its cofactors by the virus, we used siRNA mediated gene silencing in the VLP producing minimal system. We observed a reduction in M1 containing VLP production upon inhibition of Rac1 and enhancement of M1 containing VLPs released upon inhibition of RhoA and Cdc42. By using an IAV (H3N2)-nanoluciferase virus on pulmonary A549 cells, we studied effect of depletion of RhoGTPases and their effectors on virus production. We observed that along with Rac1, inhibition of Wave2 and Arp3 also reduces the infectivity of H3N2 virus at the late phase of infection without any effect on the early phase of infection. The proteins interacting with M1 were identified by LC-MS/MS and included cofilin and annexin A2. Cofilin, already known to take part in the actin reorganization during the late phase of influenza A virus infection, is also one of the downstream effector linked to Rac1, Wave2, Pak1 and LIMK, for lamellipodia formation. Annexin A2 is also known to sequester PS at the inner leaflet of the cell plasma membrane. The viral protein M1 is able to recognize these clusters of PS, which ultimately initiates the viral assembly process. Thus, our results, while defining the mechanism of M1 membrane attachment, also indicate the possible involvement of Rac1, Wave2 and Arp3 as pro-viral factors in IAV assembly and release

Process Development for Newcastle Disease Virus-Vectored Vaccines in Serum-Free Vero Cell Suspension Cultures

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic drew global attention to infectious diseases, attracting numerous resources for development of pandemic preparedness plans and vaccine platforms—technologies with robust manufacturing processes that can quickly be pivoted to target emerging diseases. Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) has been studied as a viral vector for human and veterinary vaccines, but its production relies heavily on embryonated chicken eggs, with very few studies producing NDV in cell culture. Here, NDV is produced in suspension Vero cells, and analytical assays (TCID50 and ddPCR) are developed to quantify infectious and total viral titer. NDV-GFP and NDV-FLS (SARS-CoV-2 full-length spike protein) constructs were adapted to replicate in Vero and HEK293 suspension cultures using serum-free media, while fine-tuning parameters such as MOI, temperature, and trypsin concentration. Shake flask productions with Vero cells resulted in infectious titers of 1.07 × 108 TCID50/mL for NDV-GFP and 1.33 × 108 TCID50/mL for NDV-FLS. Production in 1 L batch bioreactors also resulted in high titers in culture supernatants, reaching 2.37 × 108 TCID50/mL for NDV-GFP and 3.16 × 107 TCID50/mL for NDV-FLS. This shows effective NDV production in cell culture, building the basis for a scalable vectored-vaccine manufacturing process that can be applied to different targets

Process Development for Newcastle Disease Virus-Vectored Vaccines in Serum-Free Vero Cell Suspension Cultures

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic drew global attention to infectious diseases, attracting numerous resources for development of pandemic preparedness plans and vaccine platforms—technologies with robust manufacturing processes that can quickly be pivoted to target emerging diseases. Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) has been studied as a viral vector for human and veterinary vaccines, but its production relies heavily on embryonated chicken eggs, with very few studies producing NDV in cell culture. Here, NDV is produced in suspension Vero cells, and analytical assays (TCID50 and ddPCR) are developed to quantify infectious and total viral titer. NDV-GFP and NDV-FLS (SARS-CoV-2 full-length spike protein) constructs were adapted to replicate in Vero and HEK293 suspension cultures using serum-free media, while fine-tuning parameters such as MOI, temperature, and trypsin concentration. Shake flask productions with Vero cells resulted in infectious titers of 1.07 × 108 TCID50/mL for NDV-GFP and 1.33 × 108 TCID50/mL for NDV-FLS. Production in 1 L batch bioreactors also resulted in high titers in culture supernatants, reaching 2.37 × 108 TCID50/mL for NDV-GFP and 3.16 × 107 TCID50/mL for NDV-FLS. This shows effective NDV production in cell culture, building the basis for a scalable vectored-vaccine manufacturing process that can be applied to different targets

Membrane chromatography-based downstream processing for cell-culture produced influenza vaccines

New influenza strains are constantly emerging, causing seasonal epidemics and raising concerns to the risk of a new global pandemic. Since vaccination is an effective method to prevent the spread of the disease and reduce its severity, the development of robust bioprocesses for producing pandemic influenza vaccines is exceptionally important. Herein, a membrane chromatography-based downstream processing platform with a demonstrated industrial application potential was established. Cell culture-derived influenza virus H1N1/A/PR/8/34 was harvested from benchtop bioreactor cultures. For the clarification of the cell culture broth, a depth filtration was selected as an alternative to centrifugation. After inactivation, an anion exchange chromatography membrane was used for viral capture and further processing. Additionally, two pandemic influenza virus strains, the H7N9 subtype of the A/Anhui/1/2013 and H3N2/A/Hong Kong/8/64, were successfully processed through similar downstream process steps establishing optimized process parameters. Overall, 41.3–62.5% viral recovery was achieved, with the removal of 86.3–96.5% host cell DNA and 95.5–99.7% of proteins. The proposed membrane chromatography purification is a scalable and generic method for the processing of different influenza strains and is a promising alternative to the current industrial purification of influenza vaccines based on ultracentrifugation methodologies

Involvement of an Arginine Triplet in M1 Matrix Protein Interaction with Membranes and in M1 Recruitment into Virus-Like Particles of the Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 Virus

International audienceThe influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus caused the first influenza pandemic of the 21st century. In this study, we wanted to decipher the role of conserved basic residues of the viral M1 matrix protein in virus assembly and release. M1 plays many roles in the influenza virus replication cycle. Specifically, it participates in viral particle assembly, can associate with the viral ribonucleoprotein complexes and can bind to the cell plasma membrane and/or the cytoplasmic tail of viral transmembrane proteins. M1 contains an N-terminal domain of 164 amino acids with two basic domains: the nuclear localization signal on helix 6 and an arginine triplet (R76/77/78) on helix 5. To investigate the role of these two M1 basic domains in influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus molecular assembly, we analyzed M1 attachment to membranes, virus-like particle (VLP) production and virus infectivity. In vitro, M1 binding to large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs), which contain negatively charged lipids, decreased significantly when the M1 R76/77/78 motif was mutated. In cells, M1 alone was mainly observed in the nucleus (47%) and in the cytosol (42%). Conversely, when co-expressed with the viral proteins NS1/NEP and M2, M1 was relocated to the cell membranes (55%), as shown by subcellular fractionation experiments. This minimal system allowed the production of M1 containing-VLPs. However, M1 with mutations in the arginine triplet accumulated in intracellular clusters and its incorporation in VLPs was strongly diminished. M2 over-expression was essential for M1 membrane localization and VLP production, whereas the viral trans-membrane proteins HA and NA seemed dispensable. These results suggest that the M1 arginine triplet participates in M1 interaction with membranes. This R76/77/78 motif is essential for M1 incorporation in virus particles and the importance of this motif was confirmed by reverse genetic demonstrating that its mutation is lethal for the virus. These results highlight the molecular mechanism of M1-membrane interaction during the formation of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus particles which is essential for infectivity

Spatially Addressable Multiplex Biodetection by Calibrated Micro/Nanostructured Surfaces

A challenge of any biosensing technology is the detection of very low concentrations of analytes. The fluorescence interference contrast (FLIC) technique improves the fluorescence-based sensitivity by selectively amplifying, or suppressing, the emission of a fluorophore-labeled biomolecule immobilized on a transparent layer placed on top of a mirror basal surface. The standing wave of the reflected emission light means that the height of the transparent layer operates as a surface-embedded optical filter for the fluorescence signal. FLIC extreme sensitivity to wavelength is also its main problem: small, e.g., 10 nm range, variations of the vertical position of the fluorophore can translate in unwanted suppression of the detection signal. Herein, we introduce the concept of quasi-circular lenticular microstructured domes operating as continuous-mode optical filters, generating fluorescent concentric rings, with diameters determined by the wavelengths of the fluorescence light, in turn modulated by FLIC. The critical component of the lenticular structures was the shallow sloping side wall, which allowed the simultaneous separation of fluorescent patterns for virtually any fluorophore wavelength. Purposefully designed microstructures with either stepwise or continuous-slope dome geometries were fabricated to modulate the intensity and the lateral position of a fluorescence signal. The simulation of FLIC effects induced by the lenticular microstructures was confirmed by the measurement of the fluorescence profile for three fluorescent dyes, as well as high-resolution fluorescence scanning using stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy. The high sensitivity of the spatially addressable FLIC technology was further validated on a diagnostically important target, i.e., the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-Cov2 via the detection of RBD:anti-S1-antibody

Infectivity of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 strains carrying M1 WT or M1 R76/77/78A.

<p>A plasmid reverse genetic approach was used to rescue pH1N1 (A/pdm09) carrying M1 WT or M1 R76/77/78A. (A) The viral titers of the rescued viruses were evaluated by plaque assay in MDCK cells. Whereas the wild type virus was rescued (10⁻⁵ dilution), (B) the mutant virus could not be rescued (“neat” virus, no dilution). (C) Virus titers are presented.</p

Cellular localization of M1 and its basic mutants using immunofluorescence confocal microscopy.

<p>Immunofluorescence confocal microscopy imaging of HEK 293T cells transfected with pcDNA-M1 (WT or R76/77/78A), pcDNA-M2-mCherry and pHW2000-NS1/NEP, as indicated (A, B, C and D). M1 was detected using a primary anti-M1 antibody and a secondary antibody coupled to Alexa488 (in green), M2-mCherry is shown in red. Transmission images are in grey. Scale bars, 10 <i>μ</i>m. (E) Analysis of M1 WT and M1 R76/77/78A localization at the plasma membrane using the PH-PLCdelta-GFP membrane markers. (a) and (b) Immunofluorescence confocal microscopy z-stack images of HEK 293T cells transfected with pcDNA-M1 (WT in (a) and R76/77/78A in (b)), pcDNA-M2, pHW2000-NS1/NEP and M + PH-PLCd-GFP. M1 was detected using a primary anti-M1 antibody coupled to an Alex555 secondary antibody (in red). GFP is in green. Transmission is in grey. Scale bar, 10<i>μ</i>m. (c) Co-localization quantification of the M1 signal with PH-PLCd-GFP (Mander’s overlap coefficients).</p

VLP production in the presence of different influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 viral proteins and M1 mutants.

<p>Cell supernatants were centrifuged on a sucrose cushion and VLPs were resuspended in TNE buffer. M1 (intracellular and in VLPs) was detected by western blotting using an anti-M1 antibody. M1 release was calculated using the following formula: % of M1 released = M1 in VLPs / (M1 in VLPs + intracellular M1) and the results are the mean ± standard deviation (error bars) of three independent experiments. Significant differences between condition 2 (M1+M2) in 6A and condition 1 (M1 WT+M2+NS1/NEP+M) in 6B and the other conditions were calculated by using the Student’s t test: *, p = 0.2, ** p ≤0.05. (A) Minimal partners required for the production of M1-containing VLPs. (B) M1-containing VLP production upon expression of M1 WT or mutants. The M2 CT mutant M2-mut2 was used as control. (C) Electron microscopy analysis of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 VLP production in HEK 293T cells. Cells were transfected with pcDNA empty vector (Mock) or pCDNA3-M1 (WT or mutants), +/- pcDNA-M2, pHW2000-NS and pHW2000-M (M* bearing the indicated M1 mutations), as indicated: Mock (a), M1 WT alone (b), M1+M2+NS1/NEP+M (c and e), M1R76/77/78A+M2+NS1/NEP+M* (d) and M1 K101/102A+M2+NS1/NEP+M* (f). Scale bars: 0.5 <i>μ</i>m, except for the left panel in b and the right panel in c where the scale bars represent 0.2 <i>μ</i>m. These experiments were done three times independently using new batches of transfected cells.</p

The N-terminal M1 viral protein and its basic mutants.

<p>Schematic representation of the N-terminal domain of the influenza A M1 protein obtained using the I-TASSER software (<a href="http://zhanglab.ccmb.med.umich.edu/I-TASSER/" target="_blank">http://zhanglab.ccmb.med.umich.edu/I-TASSER/</a>, [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0165421#pone.0165421.ref045" target="_blank">45</a>]<i>)</i>. Helix 5 and helix 6 are shown to indicate the position of the two N-terminal basic R76/77/78 (Arginine triplet) and K101/102 (NLS) motifs of M1. The respective M1 mutants obtained by directed-site mutagenesis are shown.</p