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Title: NS5A inhibitors unmask differences in functional replicase complex half-life between different hepatitis C virus strains

Journal Article · · PLoS Pathogens
 [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [3];  [3]; ORCiD logo [4];  [4];  [1]; ORCiD logo [5];  [2]; ORCiD logo [1];  [6]
  1. Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC (United States). Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and Dept. of Medicine
  2. North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States). Dept. of Mathematics
  3. Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC (United States). Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
  4. National Inst. of Molecular Genetics (INGM), Milan (Italy)
  5. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Theoretical Biology and Biophysics
  6. Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)

We synthesized the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA by the replicase complex (RC), a macromolecular assembly composed of viral non-structural proteins and cellular co-factors. Inhibitors of the HCV NS5A protein block formation of new RCs but do not affect RNA synthesis by preformed RCs. Without new RC formation, existing RCs turn over and are eventually lost from the cell. We aimed to use NS5A inhibitors to estimate the half-life of the functional RC of HCV. We compared different cell culture-infectious strains of HCV that may be grouped based on their sensitivity to lipid peroxidation: robustly replicating, lipid peroxidation resistant (LPOR) viruses (e.g. JFH-1 or H77D) and more slowly replicating, lipid peroxidation sensitive (LPOS) viruses (e.g. H77S.3 and N.2). Furthermore, in luciferase assays, LPOS HCV strains declined under NS5A inhibitor therapy with much slower kinetics compared to LPOR HCV strains. This difference in rate of decline was not observed for inhibitors of the NS5B RNAdependent RNA polymerase suggesting that the difference was not simply a consequence of differences in RNA stability. In further analyses, we compared two isoclonal HCV variants: the LPOS H77S.3 and the LPOR H77D that differ only by 12 amino acids. Differences in rate of decline between H77S.3 and H77D following NS5A inhibitor addition were not due to amino acid sequences in NS5A but rather due to a combination of amino acid differences in the non-structural proteins that make up the HCV RC. The mathematical modeling of intracellular HCV RNA dynamics suggested that differences in RC stability (half-lives of 3.5 and 9.9 hours, for H77D and H77S.3, respectively) are responsible for the different kinetics of antiviral suppression between LPOS and LPOR viruses. In nascent RNA capture assays, the rate of RNA synthesis decline following NS5A inhibitor addition was significantly faster for H77D compared to H77S.3 indicating different half-lives of functional RCs.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396
OSTI ID:
1375872
Report Number(s):
LA-UR--17-20265
Journal Information:
PLoS Pathogens, Journal Name: PLoS Pathogens Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 13; ISSN 1553-7374
Publisher:
Public Library of ScienceCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Recruitment and Activation of a Lipid Kinase by Hepatitis C Virus NS5A Is Essential for Integrity of the Membranous Replication Compartment journal January 2011
Continuous de novo generation of spatially segregated hepatitis C virus replication organelles revealed by pulse-chase imaging journal January 2017
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Complete Replication of Hepatitis C Virus in Cell Culture journal July 2005
Protein Friction Limits Diffusive and Directed Movements of Kinesin Motors on Microtubules journal August 2009
Fast Hepatitis C Virus RNA Elimination and NS5A Redistribution by NS5A Inhibitors Studied by a Multiplex Assay Approach journal April 2015
The Cyclophilin Inhibitor SCY-635 Disrupts Hepatitis C Virus NS5A-Cyclophilin A Complexes journal May 2012
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Visualization of Double-Stranded RNA in Cells Supporting Hepatitis C Virus RNA Replication journal December 2007
Compensatory Mutations in E1, p7, NS2, and NS3 Enhance Yields of Cell Culture-Infectious Intergenotypic Chimeric Hepatitis C Virus journal November 2006
Protease Inhibitors Block Multiple Functions of the NS3/4A Protease-Helicase during the Hepatitis C Virus Life Cycle journal March 2015
Quantitative Analysis of the Hepatitis C Virus Replication Complex journal October 2005
Metabolism of Phosphatidylinositol 4-Kinase IIIα-Dependent PI4P Is Subverted by HCV and Is Targeted by a 4-Anilino Quinazoline with Antiviral Activity journal March 2012
Replication Vesicles are Load- and Choke-Points in the Hepatitis C Virus Lifecycle journal August 2013
Hepatitis C Virus-Induced Cytoplasmic Organelles Use the Nuclear Transport Machinery to Establish an Environment Conducive to Virus Replication journal October 2013
The Hepatitis C Virus-Induced Membranous Web and Associated Nuclear Transport Machinery Limit Access of Pattern Recognition Receptors to Viral Replication Sites journal February 2016
Development of a Destabilized Firefly Luciferase Enzyme for Measurement of Gene Expression journal September 2000
Recruitment and activation of a lipid kinase by hepatitis C virus NS5A is essential for integrity of the membranous replication compartment journal January 2011
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