<p>Most enveloped viruses rely on furin for maturation of their surface glycoprotein. In contrast, mammarenaviruses process their glycoprotein precursor (GPC) using host site-1 protease (S1P), yet the biological implications of this unique reliance on S1P remain unclear. Here, we characterized a furin-dependent recombinant form (rCl13-RRRR) of the persistent clone 13 variant of LCMV (rCl13). Although rCl13-RRRR exhibited fitness comparable to rCl13 in cultured cells, it was highly attenuated in vivo and failed to establish persistence in immunocompetent mice. Clearance of rCl13-RRRR required interferon and CD8<sup>+</sup> T cells, and immunization with rCl13-RRRR conferred protective immunity against a subsequent lethal LCMV challenge. Our results demonstrate that S1P-mediated processing of GPC is a key determinant of mammarenavirus fitness and immune evasion in vivo and highlight S1P as a promising and druggable target for host-directed antiviral strategies against human pathogenic mammarenaviruses.</p>

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Site-1 protease mediated GPC processing is required for persistence of LCMV Clone 13

  • Ruifeng Zhou,
  • Haydar Witwit,
  • Tingting Ai,
  • Maheeka Bimal,
  • Rachel Y. Sattler,
  • Kristi L. Marquardt,
  • Beatrice Cubitt,
  • Arthur S. Kim,
  • John R. Teijaro,
  • Juan Carlos de la Torre

摘要

Most enveloped viruses rely on furin for maturation of their surface glycoprotein. In contrast, mammarenaviruses process their glycoprotein precursor (GPC) using host site-1 protease (S1P), yet the biological implications of this unique reliance on S1P remain unclear. Here, we characterized a furin-dependent recombinant form (rCl13-RRRR) of the persistent clone 13 variant of LCMV (rCl13). Although rCl13-RRRR exhibited fitness comparable to rCl13 in cultured cells, it was highly attenuated in vivo and failed to establish persistence in immunocompetent mice. Clearance of rCl13-RRRR required interferon and CD8+ T cells, and immunization with rCl13-RRRR conferred protective immunity against a subsequent lethal LCMV challenge. Our results demonstrate that S1P-mediated processing of GPC is a key determinant of mammarenavirus fitness and immune evasion in vivo and highlight S1P as a promising and druggable target for host-directed antiviral strategies against human pathogenic mammarenaviruses.