title: RNASEK is required for internalization of diverse acid-dependent viruses.
abstract: Viruses must gain entry into cells to establish infection. In general, viruses enter either at the plasma membrane or from intracellular endosomal compartments. Viruses that use endosomal pathways are dependent on the cellular factors that control this process; however, these genes have proven to be essential for endogenous cargo uptake, and thus are of limited value for therapeutic intervention. The identification of genes that are selectively required for viral uptake would make appealing drug targets, as their inhibition would block an early step in the life cycle of diverse viruses. At this time, we lack pan-antiviral therapeutics, in part because of our lack of knowledge of such cellular factors. RNAi screening has begun to reveal previously unknown genes that play roles in viral infection. We identified dRNASEK in two genome-wide RNAi screens performed in Drosophila cells against West Nile and Rift Valley Fever viruses. Here we found that ribonuclease kappa (RNASEK) is essential for the infection of human cells by divergent and unrelated positive- and negative-strand-enveloped viruses from the Flaviviridae, Togaviridae, Bunyaviridae, and Orthomyxoviridae families that all enter cells from endosomal compartments. In contrast, RNASEK was dispensable for viruses, including parainfluenza virus 5 and Coxsackie B virus, that enter at the plasma membrane. RNASEK is dispensable for attachment but is required for uptake of these acid-dependent viruses. Furthermore, this requirement appears specific, as general endocytic uptake of transferrin is unaffected in RNASEK-depleted cells. Therefore, RNASEK is a potential host cell Achilles' heel for viral infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104;
authors.forename: Brent A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Hackett
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104;
authors.forename: Ari
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yasunaga
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104;
authors.forename: Debasis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Panda
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104;
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Tartell
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104;
authors.forename: Kaycie C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Hopkins
authors.affiliation: Vaccine Center, Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
authors.forename: Scott E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Hensley
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104; cherrys@mail.med.upenn.edu.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cherry
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004330:Drosophila; D004705:Endocytosis; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008561:Membrane Fusion; D012260:Ribonucleases / Q000378:metabolism*; D012296:Rift Valley fever virus / Q000502:physiology; D014902:West Nile virus / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D012260:Ribonucleases
keywords: arbovirus; clathrin-mediated endocytosis; endocytosis; entry; macropinocytosis