The cellular endosomal sorting complex required for transport pathway is not involved in avian metapneumovirus budding in a virus-like-particle expression system.
Avian metapneumovirus (AMPV) is a paramyxovirus that principally causes respiratory disease and egg production drops in turkeys and chickens. Together with its closely related human metapneumovirus (HMPV), they comprise the genus Metapneumovirus in the family Paramyxoviridae. Little is currently known about the mechanisms involved in the budding of metapneumovirus. By using AMPV as a model system, we showed that the matrix (M) protein by itself was insufficient to form virus-like-particles (VLPs). The incorporation of M into VLPs was shown to occur only when both the viral nucleoprotein (N) and the fusion (F) proteins were co-expressed. Furthermore, we provided evidence indicating that two YSKL and YAGL segments encoded within the M protein were not a functional late domain, and the endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) machinery was not involved in metapneumovirus budding, consistent with a recent observation that human respiratory syncytial virus, closely related to HMPV, uses an ESCRT-independent budding mechanism. Taken together, these results suggest that metapneumovirus budding is independent of the ESCRT pathway and the minimal budding machinery described here will aid our future understanding of metapneumovirus assembly and egress.
Center for Infectious Disease Research and Vaccinology, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA.|Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA.|Department of Biology and Microbiology, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA.
Yuejin
Y
Weng
Center for Infectious Disease Research and Vaccinology, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA.|Department of Biology and Microbiology, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA.
Wuxun
W
Lu
Center for Infectious Disease Research and Vaccinology, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA.|Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA.|Department of Biology and Microbiology, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA.
Aaron
A
Harmon
Center for Infectious Disease Research and Vaccinology, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA.|Department of Biology and Microbiology, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA.
Xiaoxiao
X
Xiang
Center for Infectious Disease Research and Vaccinology, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA.|Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA.
Qiji
Q
Deng
Institute of Poultry Science, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan 250023, PR China.
Minxun
M
Song
Center for Infectious Disease Research and Vaccinology, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA.|Department of Biology and Microbiology, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA.
Dan
D
Wang
Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, Agricultural Research Services, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Athens, GA 30605, USA.
Qingzhong
Q
Yu
Center for Infectious Disease Research and Vaccinology, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA.|Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA.|Department of Biology and Microbiology, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA.
Feng
F
Li
D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D056827:Endosomal Sorting Complexes Required for Transport / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D029121:Metapneumovirus / Q000502:physiology*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D022701:Virosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D019065:Virus Assembly; D057074:Virus Release
D056827:Endosomal Sorting Complexes Required for Transport; D014764:Viral Proteins; D022701:Virosomes