Year-end Sale % OFF 
Abstract
The actin cytoskeleton has been implicated in playing an important role assembly and budding of several RNA virus families including retroviruses and paramyxoviruses. In this report, we sought to determine whether actin is incorporated into Ebola VLPs, and thus may play a role in assembly and/or budding of Ebola virus. Our results indicated that actin and Ebola virus VP40 strongly co-localized in transfected cells as determined by confocal microscopy. In addition, actin was packaged into budding VP40 VLPs as determined by a functional budding assay and protease protection assay. Co-expression of a membrane-anchored form of Ebola virus GP enhanced the release of both VP40 and actin in VLPs. Lastly, disruption of the actin cytoskeleton with latrunculin-A suggests that actin may play a functional role in budding of VP40/GP VLPs. These data suggest that VP40 may interact with cellular actin, and that actin may play a role in assembly and/or budding of Ebola VLPs.
Highlights
Ebola virus VP40 is known to bud from cells as a virus-like particle (VLP) independent of additional virus proteins [1,2,3,4]
Release of cellular actin was enhanced in VP40 VLPs containing fulllength GP, or GP∆M
Coexpression of secreted GP (sGP) did not enhance release of either VP40 or actin. Both VP40 and actin were enhanced 5–6 fold in VLPs when GP or GP∆M were coexpressed along with VP40 compared to that when VP40 was expressed alone. These results suggest that actin can be packaged in budding VP40 VLPs, and that co-expression of a membrane-anchored form of GP enhances release of both VP40 and actin
Summary
Ebola virus VP40 is known to bud from cells as a virus-like particle (VLP) independent of additional virus proteins [1,2,3,4]. The most efficient release of VP40 VLPs requires both host proteins (e.g. tsg101 and vps4), as well as additional virus proteins (e.g. glycoprotein [GP] and nucleoprotein [NP]) [5,6,7]. Cytoskeletal proteins have been implicated in assembly and budding of various RNA-containing viruses [8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22]. We sought to determine whether cellular actin may be important for Ebola virus VP40 VLP budding
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
