Download MendeleyStructural insights into reptarenavirus cap-snatching machinery.
Rosenthal, M., Gogrefe, N., Vogel, D., Reguera, J., Rauschenberger, B., Cusack, S., Gunther, S., Reindl, S.(2017) PLoS Pathog 13: e1006400-e1006400
- PubMed: 28505175
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1006400
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:
5MUS, 5MUY, 5MUZ, 5MV0 - PubMed Abstract:
Cap-snatching was first discovered in influenza virus. Structures of the involved domains of the influenza virus polymerase, namely the endonuclease in the PA subunit and the cap-binding domain in the PB2 subunit, have been solved. Cap-snatching endonucleases have also been demonstrated at the very N-terminus of the L proteins of mammarena-, orthobunya-, and hantaviruses. However, a cap-binding domain has not been identified in an arena- or bunyavirus L protein so far. We solved the structure of the 326 C-terminal residues of the L protein of California Academy of Sciences virus (CASV), a reptarenavirus, by X-ray crystallography. The individual domains of this 37-kDa fragment (L-Cterm) as well as the domain arrangement are structurally similar to the cap-binding and adjacent domains of influenza virus polymerase PB2 subunit, despite the absence of sequence homology, suggesting a common evolutionary origin. This enabled identification of a region in CASV L-Cterm with similarity to a cap-binding site; however, the typical sandwich of two aromatic residues was missing. Consistent with this, cap-binding to CASV L-Cterm could not be detected biochemically. In addition, we solved the crystal structure of the corresponding endonuclease in the N-terminus of CASV L protein. It shows a typical endonuclease fold with an active site configuration that is essentially identical to that of known mammarenavirus endonuclease structures. In conclusion, we provide evidence for a presumably functional cap-snatching endonuclease in the N-terminus and a degenerate cap-binding domain in the C-terminus of a reptarenavirus L protein. Implications of these findings for the cap-snatching mechanism in arenaviruses are discussed.
Organizational Affiliation:
Department of Virology, Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany.
