Lant, S. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2025

Attenuation of the 2022 global outbreak monkeypox virus relative to its clade IIb ancestor

Monkeypox virus (MPXV) is a zoonotic virus endemic to Africa that has recently re-emerged, becoming the first orthopoxvirus with human-to-human transmission since smallpox eradication. The 2022 global epidemic of MPXV was caused by Clade IIb lineage B.1 virus that derives from the Clade IIb lineage A.1, which is endemic to West Africa1-3. Here we compared an early lineage B.1 virus with its closest earlier A.1 ancestor and show that despite only 46 nucleotide differences, lineage B.1 has attenuating phenotypic changes. Both B.1 and A.1 viruses replicated equivalently in cell culture, but B.1 had defects in long-range spread. MPXV B.1 also displayed defects in innate immune control, inducing higher IFN{beta}, innate immune signalling and MAPK gene expression, and a reduced capacity to suppress interleukin-1{beta}-mediated immune responses. Finally, MPXV B.1 had reduced virulence in a mouse model of MPXV infection relative to the ancestral A.1 endemic strain. Our work demonstrates biological differences between human circulating MPXV lineages that correlate with clinical observations documenting reduced in-host viral dissemination and disease severity for lineage B. Our data also reveal that the APOBEC3-like mutational footprint in MPXV is not only a signature of sustained human transmission but can also drive phenotypic changes.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2023

Type I IFN expression is inhibited during cell division by CDK4/6

Cells are equipped to defend themselves from invading pathogens through sensors such as cGAS, which upon binding DNA induces type I interferon (IFN) expression. Whilst IFNs are crucial for limiting viral infection and activating adaptive immunity, uncontrolled production causes excessive inflammation and autoimmunity. cGAS binds DNA of both pathogenic and cellular origin and its activity is therefore tightly regulated. This is particularly apparent during mitosis, where cGAS association with chromatin following nuclear membrane dissolution and phosphorylation by mitotic kinases negatively regulate enzymatic activity. Here we describe a novel mechanism by which DNA sensing and other innate immune pathways are regulated during cell division, dependent on cyclin dependent kinases (CDK) 4 and 6. Inhibition of CDK4/6 using chemical inhibitors, shRNA-mediated depletion, or overexpression of cellular CDK4/6 inhibitor p16INK4a, greatly enhanced DNA- or cGAMP-induced expression of cytokines and IFN-stimulated genes (ISG). Mechanistically, CDK4/6-dependent inhibition mapped downstream of cytoplasmic signalling events including STING and IRF3 phosphorylation, limiting innate immune induction at the level of IFN{beta} mRNA expression. This regulation was universal, occurring in primary and transformed cells of human and murine origin, and broad, as IFN{beta} expression was inhibited in a CDK4/6-dependent manner downstream of multiple pattern recognition receptors. Together these findings demonstrate that host innate responses are limited by multiple mechanisms during cell division, thus defining cellular replication as an innate immune privileged process that may be necessary to avoid aberrant self-recognition and autoimmunity.

immunology↗