title: Measles virus C protein facilitates transcription by the control of N protein-viral genomic RNA interaction in early phases of infection.
abstract: Measles virus (MV) C protein has been known a multifunctional protein involved in anti-IFN response, viral RNA synthesis, and so on. Recent studies have clarified that double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) is derived from viral genomic RNA (vRNA), and the amount of dsRNA was increased in an MV lacking C protein (MV(C-))-infected cells, suggesting that C protein blocks viral RNA synthesis. However, detailed roles of C protein in viral RNA synthesis remain unknown. Here, we have confirmed through time course experiments using Vero/hSLAM cells that as reported previously, the amount of mRNA is increased in MV(C-)-infected cells at 36 h post infection (hpi). In contrast, we found that the transcription level is lower in MV(C-)-infected cells than wild-type MV-infected cells in early phases of infection. Immunoprecipitation assays were performed to find an interactor(s) of C protein, revealed that C protein interacts with N protein in the absence of vRNA and P protein. RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assays showed that the interaction between N protein and vRNA was increased in MV(C-)-infected cells. These results suggest that in early phases of infection C protein facilitates viral transcription to control the formation of nascent nucleocapsid composed of N protein and vRNA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection Biology, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba 305-8575, Japan; Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba 305-8575, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishie
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba 305-8575, Japan. Electronic address: knagata@md.tsukuba.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Kyosuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nagata
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D016679:Genome, Viral; D008459:Measles virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: C584392:C protein, measles virus; D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins
keywords: C protein; Measles virus; N protein; Nucleocapsid; RNA synthesis