The retinoic acid-inducible gene-I (RIG-I)-like receptors (RLRs), including RIG-I and melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5), sense cytoplasmic viral RNA and initiate innate antiviral responses. How RIG-I and MDA5 are differentially regulated remains enigmatic. In this study, we identified the guanylate-binding protein (GBP) and zinc-finger FYVE domain-containing protein ZFYVE1 as a negative regulator of MDA5-but not RIG-I-mediated innate antiviral responses. ZFYVE1-deficiency promoted MDA5-but not RIG-I-mediated transcription of downstream antiviral genes. Comparing to wild-type mice, Zfyve1 -/mice were significantly protected from lethality induced by encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) that is sensed by MDA5, whereas Zfyve1 -/and Zfyve1 +/+ mice were comparable to death induced by vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) that is sensed by RIG-I. Mechanistically, ZFYVE1 interacted with MDA5 but not RIG-I. ZFYVE1 bound to viral RNA and decreased the ligand binding and oligomerization of MDA5. These findings suggest that ZFYVE1 acts as a specific negative regulator of MDA5-mediated innate immune responses by inhibiting its ligand binding and oligomerization.
Author summaryRIG-I and MDA5 are the main cytosolic sensors for invaded viral RNA. How these sensors are differentially regulated is largely unknown. In this study, we identified ZFYVE1 as a specific regulator of MDA5-but not RIG-I-mediated antiviral responses. ZFYVE1deficiency promotes antiviral immune responses and renders the mice less susceptible to EMCV-induced death. ZFYVE1 interacts with MDA5 and viral dsRNA, and inhibits the ligand binding and oligomerization of MDA5. Our study reveals a negative regulatory mechanism for keeping MDA5 inactive in un-infected cells, which contributes to our understanding on how innate antiviral responses are delicately regulated to avoid immune damage. ) to H. B.S, Q.Y., and C.L. The funders had no role in study patterns (PAMPs) are sensed by pathogen recognition receptors (PRRs). The PRRs then trigger a series of signaling events, leading to the induction of type I interferons (IFNs), proinflammatory cytokines and other downstream antiviral effector proteins. These effectors act to inhibit viral replication, clear the infected cells and facilitate adaptive immune responses [1].During viral infection, viral nucleic acids act as important PAMPs. It has been demonstrated that the membrane-associated Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) recognizes extracellular and endosomal viral RNA, whereas the cytosolic viral RNA is detected by retinoic acid-inducible gene-I (RIG-I) like receptors (RLRs), including RIG-I and melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5) [2]. Upon binding to their ligands, RIG-I and MDA5 undergo conformational changes and recruit PP1α/γ for their dephosphorylation, which is followed by their K63-linked polyubiquitination by several E3 ubiquitin ligases [3][4][5][6][7]. The RLRs then form longer filaments on viral RNA and then interact with the mitochondrial adaptor protein VISA (also called MAVS, IPS-1, and...