title: RhoA is activated during respiratory syncytial virus infection.
abstract: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an important human pathogen that can cause severe and life-threatening respiratory infections in infants and immunocompromised adults. We have recently shown the RSV F glycoprotein, which mediates viral fusion and entry, interacts with the cellular protein RhoA in two-hybrid and in vitro binding assays. Whether this interaction occurs in living cells remains an open question. However, because RhoA signaling is associated with many cellular functions relevant to RSV pathogenesis such as actin cytoskeleton organization, expression of proinflammatory cytokines, and smooth muscle contraction, we asked whether RhoA activation occurred during RSV infection of HEp-2 cells. We found that the amount of isoprenylated and membrane-bound RhoA in RSV-infected cultures was increased. Further evidence of RhoA activation was demonstrated by downstream signaling activity mediated by RhoA. There was an increase in p130(cas) phosphorylation during RSV infection, which was prevented by Y-27632, a specific inhibitor of Rho kinase, or lovastatin, an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor that reduces the synthesis of groups needed for isoprenylation. In addition, RSV infection of HEp-2 cells resulted in an increase in the formation of actin stress fibers. Pretreatment of HEp-2 cells with Clostridium botulinum C3 exotoxin, an enzyme that specifically ADP-ribosylates and inactivates RhoA, prevented RSV-induced stress fiber formation. These observations indicate that RhoA and subsequent downstream signaling events are activated during RSV infection, which has implications for RSV pathogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee 37232, USA.
authors.forename: T L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Gower
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Peeples
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Graham
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D050719:Crk-Associated Substrate Protein; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D010766:Phosphorylation; D017368:Protein Prenylation; D011506:Proteins; D018357:Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000821:virology*; D012136:Respiratory Syncytial Viruses / Q000502:physiology*; D050717:Retinoblastoma-Like Protein p130; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D014779:Virus Replication; D020742:rhoA GTP-Binding Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; C493841:BCAR1 protein, human; D050719:Crk-Associated Substrate Protein; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D011506:Proteins; D050717:Retinoblastoma-Like Protein p130; D020742:rhoA GTP-Binding Protein