title: A resourceful giant: APMV is able to interfere with the human type I interferon system.
abstract: Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus (APMV) is a giant, double-stranded virus of the Mimiviridae family that was discovered in 2003. Recent studies have shown that this virus is able to replicate in murine and human phagocytes and might be considered a putative human pathogen that causes pneumonia. However, there is little data regarding APMV and its host defense relationship. In the present study, we investigated how some components of the interferon (IFN) system are stimulated by APMV in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and how APMV replication is affected by IFN treatment. Our results demonstrated that APMV is able to replicate in human PBMCs, inducing type I Interferons (IFNs) but inhibiting interferon stimulated genes (ISG) induction by viroceptor and STAT-1 and STAT-2 dephosphorylation independent mechanisms. We also showed that APMV is resistant to the antiviral action of interferon-alpha2 (IFNA2) but is sensitive to the antiviral action of interferon-beta (IFNB1). Our results demonstrated the productive infection of professional phagocytes with APMV and showed that this virus is recognized by the immune system of vertebrates and inhibits it. It provides the first data regarding APMV and the IFN system interaction and raise new and relevant evolutional questions about the relationship between APMV and vertebrate hosts.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Laboratório de Vírus, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: lorena.farmacia@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Lorena C F
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Laboratório de Vírus, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: gabriel.magno@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Gabriel M F
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Laboratório de Vírus, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: danilobretas@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Danilo B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Laboratório de Vírus, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: fabiopiod@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Fábio P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Dornas
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Laboratório de Vírus, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: rafaelkcampos@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Rafael K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Campos
authors.affiliation: URMITE, CNRS UMR 6236 - IRD 3R198, Aix Marseille Universite, Marseille, France. Electronic address: bernard.lascola@univmed.fr.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: La Scola
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Laboratório de Vírus, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: peregrinopcp@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Paulo C P
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Laboratório de Vírus, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: kroone@icb.ufmg.br.
authors.forename: Erna G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Kroon
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Laboratório de Vírus, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: jonatas.abrahao@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jônatas S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Abrahão
mesh_terms: D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006801:Humans; D050835:Interferon Regulatory Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D007370:Interferon Type I / Q000276:immunology* / Q000494:pharmacology; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology*; D056686:Mimiviridae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D050791:STAT Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D050835:Interferon Regulatory Factors; D007370:Interferon Type I; D050791:STAT Transcription Factors
keywords: Interferon; Mimiviridae; PBMCs; Phagocytes