Influenza virus can disseminate from the lungs to the heart in severe infections and can induce cardiac pathology, but this has been difficult to study due to a lack of small animal models. In humans, polymorphisms in the gene encoding the antiviral restriction factor IFN-induced transmembrane protein 3 (IFITM3) are associated with susceptibility to severe influenza, but whether IFITM3 deficiencies contribute to cardiac dysfunction during infection is unclear. We show that IFITM3 deficiency in a new knockout (KO) mouse model increases weight loss and mortality following influenza virus infections. We investigated this enhanced pathogenesis with the A/PR/8/34 (H1N1) (PR8) influenza virus strain, which is lethal in KO mice even at low doses, and observed increased replication of virus in the lungs, spleens, and hearts of KO mice compared with wild-type (WT) mice. Infected IFITM3 KO mice developed aberrant cardiac electrical activity, including decreased heart rate and irregular, arrhythmic RR (interbeat) intervals, whereas WT mice exhibited a mild decrease in heart rate without irregular RR intervals. Cardiac electrical dysfunction in PR8-infected KO mice was accompanied by increased activation of fibrotic pathways and fibrotic lesions in the heart. Infection with a sublethal dose of a less virulent influenza virus strain (A/WSN/33 [H1N1]) resulted in a milder cardiac electrical dysfunction in KO mice that subsided as the mice recovered. Our findings reveal an essential role for IFITM3 in limiting influenza virus replication and pathogenesis in heart tissue and establish IFITM3 KO mice as a powerful model for studying mild and severe influenza virus-induced cardiac dysfunction.

Interferon-induced transmembrane protein 3 (IFITM3) is a cellular endosome- and lysosome-localized protein that restricts numerous virus infections. IFITM3 is activated by palmitoylation, a lipid posttranslational modification. Palmitoylation of proteins is primarily mediated by zinc finger DHHC domain-containing palmitoyltransferases (ZDHHCs), but which members of this enzyme family can modify IFITM3 is not known. Here, we screened a library of human cell lines individually lacking ZDHHCs 1-24 and found that IFITM3 palmitoylation and its inhibition of influenza virus infection remained strong in the absence of any single ZDHHC, suggesting functional redundancy of these enzymes in the IFITM3-mediated antiviral response. In an overexpression screen with 23 mammalian ZDHHCs, we unexpectedly observed that more than half of the ZDHHCs were capable of increasing IFITM3 palmitoylation with ZDHHCs 3, 7, 15, and 20 having the greatest effect. Among these four enzymes, ZDHHC20 uniquely increased IFITM3 antiviral activity when both proteins were overexpressed. ZDHHC20 colocalized extensively with IFITM3 at lysosomes unlike ZDHHCs 3, 7, and 15, which showed a defined perinuclear localization pattern, suggesting that the location at which IFITM3 is palmitoylated may influence its activity. Unlike knock-out of individual ZDHHCs, siRNA-mediated knockdown of both ZDHHC3 and ZDHHC7 in ZDHHC20 knock-out cells decreased endogenous IFITM3 palmitoylation. Overall, our results demonstrate that multiple ZDHHCs can palmitoylate IFITM3 to ensure a robust antiviral response and that ZDHHC20 may serve as a particularly useful tool for understanding and enhancing IFITM3 activity.

Antiviral restriction factors are cellular proteins that inhibit the entry, replication, or spread of viruses. These proteins are critical components of the innate immune system and function to limit the severity and host range of virus infections. Here we review the current knowledge on the mechanisms of action of several restriction factors that affect multiple viruses at distinct stages of their life cycles. For example, APOBEC3G deaminates cytosines to hypermutate reverse transcribed viral DNA; IFITM3 alters membranes to inhibit virus membrane fusion; MXA/B oligomerize on viral protein complexes to inhibit virus replication; SAMHD1 decreases dNTP intracellular concentrations to prevent reverse transcription of retrovirus genomes; tetherin prevents release of budding virions from cells; Viperin catalyzes formation of a nucleoside analogue that inhibits viral RNA polymerases; and ZAP binds virus RNAs to target them for degradation. We also discuss countermeasures employed by specific viruses against these restriction factors, and mention secondary functions of several of these factors in modulating immune responses. These important examples highlight the diverse strategies cells have evolved to combat virus infections.

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Purpose: Activation of Toll-like receptors (TLR) 7 and 8 by engineered agonists has been shown to aid in combating viruses and tumors. Here, we wished to test the effect of TLR7/8 activation on monocyte Fcγ receptor (FcγR) function, as they are critical mediators of antibody therapy.Experimental Design: The effect of the TLR7/8 agonist R-848 on cytokine production and antibodydependent cellular cytotoxicity by human peripheral blood monocytes was tested. Affymetrix microarrays were done to examine genomewide transcriptional responses of monocytes to R-848 and Western blots were done to measure protein levels of FcγR. Murine bone marrow-derived macrophages from WT and knockout mice were examined to determine the downstream pathway involved with regulating FcγR expression. The efficacy of R-848 as an adjuvant for antibody therapy was tested using a CT26-HER2/neu solid tumor model.Results: Overnight incubation with R-848 increased FcγR-mediated cytokine production and antibodydependent cellular cytotoxicity in human peripheral blood monocytes. Expression of FcγRI, FcγRIIa, and the common γ-subunit was increased. Surprisingly, expression of the inhibitory FcγRIIb was almost completely abolished. In bone marrow-derived macrophage, this required TLR7 and MyD88, as R-848 did not increase expression of the γ-subunit in TLR7 −/− nor MyD88 Monocyte Fcγ receptors (FcγR) mediate clearance of IgG-immune complexes and IgG-coated tumor targets. Binding of IgG complexes to FcγR results in receptor clustering, which activates downstream events such as phagocytosis (1), release of reactive oxygen species (2), and cytokine production (3).The strength of FcγR response is largely determined by the ratio of activating (FcγRI, FcγRIIa, FcγRIII, and the γ-subunit) to inhibitory (FcγRIIb) receptors, as mice genetically deleted for FcγRIIb show markedly enhanced antibody-mediated tumor clearance in vivo (4). Conversely, mice lacking the common γ-subunit show very poor antibody-dependent cytotoxicity as mice do not express the γ-subunit-independent FcγRIIa (5). It has also been shown that Toll-like receptor (TLR) activation can enhance FcγR expression and function. For example, the TLR4 ligand lipopolysaccharide has been shown to increase FcγR-mediated phagocytosis (6) and tumor cell lysis (7). Unmethylated DNA (CpG oligonucleotides), which activates TLR9, has also proven effective, enhancing antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) against tumors (8).Agonists of TLR7 and TLR8 have come to light as an effective means of enhancing immune responses. The TLR7 agonist imiquimod has been shown in vivo to reduce the growth of MC-26 tumor cells (9), an effect abolished by blocking IFN-α. Both TLR7 and TLR7/8 agonists show antitumor (10) and antiviral (11) activities. Their major mode of action seems to be induction of cytokine production, leading to stronger proinflammatory responses (12).Here, we have studied the effects of the TLR7/8 agonist R-848 on human monocytes within the context of FcγR expression and function. Results sho...