THE NON-STRUCTURAL ROLES OF DENGUE VIRUS STRUCTURAL CAPSID PROTEIN

Abstract

Dengue virus (DENV) is the most important mosquito-borne viral disease. This study unraveled the nuclear translocation mechanism of DENV capsid (C) protein and its non-structural roles in the nucleus. Site-directed mutagenesis studies found that second bipartite nuclear localization signal motif was the most essential domain for nuclear localization. It was shown for the first time that DENVC protein interacted with importin-a protein which served as a bridge for importin-ß protein to bring the whole complex into the nucleus. To identify possible roles of C protein in the nucleus, purified biotinylated full-length C protein was used to screen for novel interacting partners via ProtoArray® technology-based protein microarray. The list of potential interacting partners suggested that DENVC may be involved in cell cycle control, apoptosis, and hijacking host cell transcriptional and translational machinery to favor the virus replication. This study allows better understanding of the roles of nuclear phase during DENV infection.