BFRF1 protein is involved in EBV-mediated autophagy manipulation

• Published in: Microbes and infection Vol. 22; no. 10; pp. 585 - 591
• Main Authors: Gonnella, Roberta, Dimarco, Marzia, Farina, Giuseppina A., Santarelli, Roberta, Valia, Sandro, Faggioni, Alberto, Angeloni, Antonio, Cirone, Mara, Farina, Antonella
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: France Elsevier Masson SAS 01.11.2020
• Subjects: Autophagy; BFRF1; EBV lytic cycle; HEK293 Cells; Herpesvirus 4, Human - physiology; Humans; Lamin B1; Lamin Type B - metabolism; LC3; Membrane Proteins - metabolism; Microtubule-Associated Proteins - metabolism; Nuclear egress; Nuclear Envelope - metabolism; Protein Binding; rab GTP-Binding Proteins - metabolism; rab7 GTP-Binding Proteins; Viral Proteins - metabolism; Virus Release; EBV lytic cycle; Lamin B1; BFRF1; Nuclear egress; Autophagy; LC3
• ISSN: 1286-4579; 1769-714X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.micinf.2020.08.002

Viral egress and autophagy are two mechanisms that seem to be strictly connected in Herpesviruses’s biology. Several data suggest that the autophagic machinery facilitates the egress of viral capsids and thus the production of new infectious particles. In the Herpesvirus family, viral nuclear egress is controlled and organized by a well conserved group of proteins named Nuclear Egress Complex (NEC). In the case of EBV, NEC is composed by BFRF1 and BFLF2 proteins, although the alterations of the nuclear host cell architecture are mainly driven by BFRF1, a multifunctional viral protein anchored to the inner nuclear membrane of the host cell. BFRF1 shares a peculiar distribution with several nuclear components and with them it strictly interacts. In this study, we investigated the possible role of BFRF1 in manipulating autophagy, pathway that possibly originates from nucleus, regulating the interplay between autophagy and viral egress.