Urbanowski, M. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2020

Functional Landscape of SARS-CoV-2 Cellular Restriction

A deficient interferon response to SARS-CoV-2 infection has been implicated as a determinant of severe COVID-19. To identify the molecular effectors that govern interferon control of SARS-CoV-2 infection, we conducted a large-scale gain-of-function analysis that evaluated the impact of human interferon stimulated genes (ISGs) on viral replication. A limited subset of ISGs were found to control viral infection, including endosomal factors that inhibited viral entry, nucleic acid binding proteins that suppressed viral RNA synthesis, and a highly enriched cluster of ER and Golgi-resident ISGs that inhibited viral translation and egress. These included the type II integral membrane protein BST2/tetherin, which was found to impede viral release, and is targeted for immune evasion by SARS-CoV-2 Orf7a protein. Overall, these data define the molecular basis of early innate immune control of viral infection, which will facilitate the understanding of host determinants that impact disease severity and offer potential therapeutic strategies for COVID-19.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2018

The integrated stress response mediates type I interferon driven necrosis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis granulomas

Necrosis in the tuberculous granuloma is a hallmark of tuberculosis that enables pathogen survival and transmission. Susceptibility to tuberculosis and several other intracellular bacteria is controlled by a mouse genetic locus, sst1, and mice carrying the sst1-suscepible (sst1S) genotype develop necrotic inflammatory lung lesions, similar to human TB granulomas. Our previous work established that increased disease severity in sst1S mice reflects dysfunctional macrophage effector or tolerance mechanisms, but the molecular mechanisms have remained unclear. Here we demonstrate that sst1S macrophages develop aberrant, biphasic responses to TNF characterized by super-induction of stress and type I interferon pathways after prolonged TNF stimulation with this late-stage response being initiated by oxidative stress and Myc activation and driven via a JNK - IFN{beta} - PKR circuit. This circuit leads to induction of the integrated stress response (ISR) mediated by eIF2 phosphorylation and the subsequent hyper-induction of ATF3 and ISR-target genes Chac1, Trib3, Ddit4. The administration of ISRIB, a small molecule inhibitor of the ISR, blocked the development of necrosis in lung granulomas of M. tuberculosis-infected sst1S mice and concomitantly reduced the bacterial burden revealing that induction of the ISR and the locked-in state of escalating stress driven by type I IFN pathway in sst1S macrophages plays a causal role in the development of necrosis. Our data support a generalizable paradigm in intracellular pathogen-host interactions wherein host susceptibility emerges within inflammatory tissue due to imbalanced macrophage responses to growth, differentiation, activation and stress stimuli. Successful pathogens such as M. tuberculosis may exploit this aberrant response in susceptible hosts to induce necrotic lesions that favor long-term pathogen survival and transmission. Interruption of the aberrant stress response with inhibitors such as ISRIB may offer novel therapeutic strategies.

immunology↗