Sareoua, L. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2025

Genomic and functional adaptations in guanylate-binding protein 5 (GBP5) highlight specificities of bat antiviral innate immunity

Bats are asymptomatic reservoirs of several zoonotic viruses. This may result from long-term coevolution between viruses and bats, that have led to host adaptations contributing to an effective balance between strong antiviral responses with innate immune tolerance. To better understand these virus-host interactions, we combined comparative transcriptomics, phylogenomics and functional assays to characterize the evolution of bat innate immune antiviral factors. First, we stimulated the type I interferon immune pathway in Myotis yumanensis primary cells and identified guanylate-binding protein 5 (GBP5) as the most differentially expressed interferon-stimulated gene (ISG). Phylogenomic analyses showed that bat GBP5 has been under strong episodic positive selection, with numerous rapidly evolving sites and species-specific gene duplications, suggesting past evolutionary arms races. Functional tests on GBP5 orthologs from ten bat species covering the >60 million years of Chiroptera evolution revealed species- and virus-specific restrictions against RNA viruses (retrovirus HIV, and rhabdoviruses European bat lyssavirus and VSV), which are typical signatures of adaptations to past viral epidemics. Interestingly, we also observed a lineage-specific loss of the GBP5 prenylation motif in the common ancestor of Pipistrellus and Eptesicus bats, associated with different GBP5 subcellular localization and loss of antiviral functions. Resurrection of the ancestral prenylation motif in Eptesicus fuscus GBP5 rescued its subcellular localization, but not the complete antiviral activities, suggesting that additional determinants are necessary for the antiviral restriction. Altogether, our results highlight adaptations that contribute to bat specific immunity and provide insights into the functional evolution of antiviral effector GBP5. Key FindingsO_LIGBP5 is the most differentially expressed gene upon type I interferon stimulation of Myotis yumanensis primary cells. C_LIO_LIBat GBP5 has evolved under strong episodic genomic and genetic diversification, including early stop codon leading to protein truncation and loss of prenylation motif. C_LIO_LIGBP5 diversification in bats impacts their subcellular localization and antiviral functions. C_LIO_LIBat GBP5s exhibit species- and virus-specificity in their ability to inhibit infectivity of viral particles, bearing glycoproteins from retroviral HIV, vesicular stomatitis virus and European bat lyssavirus-1. C_LIO_LIResurrection of the ancestral prenylation motif in a bat GBP5 rescues its subcellular localization but not its full antiviral activity C_LI

immunology↗

bioRxiv2023

HTLV-1 Rex hijacks UPF1 in a CRM1 dependent manner, leading to NMD inhibition and revealing unexpected proviral roles of UPF1

The hijacking of CRM1 export is an important step of the retroviral replication cycle. Here, we investigated the consequences of this hijacking for the host. During HTLV-1 infection, we identified that this hijacking by the viral protein Rex favours the association between CRM1 and the RNA helicase UPF1, leading to a decreased affinity of UPF1 for cellular RNA and its nuclear retention. As a consequence, we found that the nonsense mediated mRNA decay (NMD), known to have an antiviral function, was inhibited. Corroborating these results, we described a similar process with Rev, the functional homolog of Rex from HIV-1. Unexpectedly, we also found that, for HTLV-1, this process is coupled with the specific loading of UPF1 onto vRNA, independently of NMD. In this latter context, UPF1 positively regulates several steps of the viral replication cycle, from the nuclear export of vRNA to the production of mature viral particles. O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=112 SRC="FIGDIR/small/545693v2_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (26K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1e91e61org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1c9951borg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@15c6021org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1ab35ff_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG O_FLOATNOGraphical abstractC_FLOATNO During retroviral replication, the nuclear export unspliced vRNA is conducted via the hijacking of the exportin CRM1 by the viral protein Rex. In parallel, the RNA helicase UPF1 is naturally exported in a CRM1 dependent manner. In the cytoplasm it drives NMD, whose substrates include vRNA. Here we demonstrated that HTLV-1 Rex dependent hijacking of CRM1 is associated with the nuclear accumulation of UPF1 and the stabilization of the interaction between CRM1 and UPF1 (1). In this complex, UPF1 shows a decreased affinity for cellular RNA associated to NMD inhibition (2). We also observed that UPF1 is selectively loaded onto vRNA and stimulates vRNA export (3). In this context, UPF1 is driven in the viral particles (without NMD cofactors) where it plays critical role in virion assembly, maturation (4) and ultimately viral infection (5). Created in BioRender. PROCHASSON, L. (2025) https://BioRender.com/urj0cvo". C_FIG

molecular biology↗