Ancestral allele of DNA polymerase gamma modifies antiviral tolerance
Mitochondria are arising as critical modulators of antiviral tolerance by releasing mtDNA/mtRNA fragments to cytoplasm upon infection, activating virus sensors and type-I interferon response. The relevance of these mechanisms for mitochondrial diseases remains understudied. Here, we investigated mitochondrial recessive ataxia syndrome (MIRAS), caused by a common European founder mutation in DNA polymerase gamma (POLG1). The patients homozygous for the MIRAS variant p.W748S show exceptionally variable ages-of-onset and symptoms, indicating unknown modifying factors contributing to disease manifestation. We report that the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) replicase POLG1 has a role in antiviral defence mechanisms to double-stranded DNA and positive-strand RNA virus infections (HSV-1, TBEV, SARS-CoV-2) and its p.W748S variant dampens innate immune responses. Our patient and knock-in mouse data show that p.W748S compromises mtDNA replisome stability, causing mtDNA depletion, aggravated by virus infection. Low mtDNA and mtRNA release to cytoplasm and slow interferon response in MIRAS allow an early replicative advantage for viruses, leading to augmented pro-inflammatory response, subacute loss of GABAergic neurons, liver inflammation and necrosis. A population databank of ~300,000 Finns demonstrates enrichment of immunodeficient traits in p.W748S carriers. Our evidence suggests that POLG1 defects compromise antiviral tolerance, triggering epilepsy and liver disease. The finding has important implications to mitochondrial disease spectrum, including epilepsy, ataxia, and parkinsonism. Overall design: To investigate the in vivo response of MIRAS to viral infection, we generated a MIRAS-knock-in mouse model and subjected the mice to TBEV infection. These animals carry a homozygous knock-in mutation and the accompanying polymorphic variant homologous to the human ancestral MIRAS allele (p.W726S+E1121G in mice and p.W748S+E1143G in humans). We performed RNA sequencing on the mouse brain (cerebral cortex) isolated from the control (wildtype) and MIRAS mice at uninfected (baseline) condition and 4 days post TBEV infection (n=5 mice per condition). Comparative gene expression analysis of RNA-seq data for control vs MIRAS mouse cerebral cortex at baseline versus Day 4 after TBEV infection