title: Wolbachia interferes with the intracellular distribution of Argonaute 1 in the dengue vector Aedes aegypti by manipulating the host microRNAs.
abstract: Argonaute proteins (AGOs) are vital components of the RNA-induced silencing complex in gene silencing. AGOs are indispensable for microRNA (miRNA) biogenesis as well as function, and are intracellularly localized to both the cytoplasm and the nucleus. Cytoplasmic AGO-miRNA complexes are mainly involved in cleavage or translational repression of target mRNAs while the nuclear ones are engaged in transcriptional gene silencing, methylation, chromatin remodeling, and splicing. In insects, AGO1 and AGO2 are involved in RNA interference and miRNA pathways but the components involved in their trafficking between the nucleus and the cytoplasm are not known. In this study, we found that importin β-4 facilitates AGO1 distribution to the nucleus, which is regulated by aae-miR-981 miRNA. The results also revealed association of prohibitin with AGO1 that may play an important role in its stability. Importantly, we found that AGO1 distribution to the nucleus is blocked by Wolbachia, an endosymbiotic bacterium introduced into the Dengue vector, Aedes aegypti. Our results provide basic mechanisms on intracellular trafficking of AGO1 in insects and how this may be altered by Wolbachia, which may affect trafficking of miRNAs to the nucleus leading to alteration in epigenetic effects.
authors.affiliation: Australian Infectious Disease Research Centre; School of Biological Sciences; The University of Queensland; Brisbane, QLD Australia.
authors.forename: Mazhar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences; Monash University; Clayton, Victoria Australia; Institute of Molecular Biosciences; The University of Queensland; Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Scott L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: O'Neill
authors.affiliation: Australian Infectious Disease Research Centre; School of Biological Sciences; The University of Queensland; Brisbane, QLD Australia.
authors.forename: Sassan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Asgari
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology*; D000818:Animals; D060565:Argonaute Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D002460:Cell Line; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000502:physiology*; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D055550:Protein Stability; D020577:Wolbachia / Q000502:physiology*; D028961:beta Karyopherins / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D060565:Argonaute Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins; D035683:MicroRNAs; D028961:beta Karyopherins
keywords: Aedes aegypti; Argonaute; Wolbachia; importin; prohibitin