Influenza viruses exploit sophisticated host cell machinery to replicate, causing both seasonal epidemics and unpredictable pandemics. Studying the host cellular factors interacting with conserved domains of viral proteins will help us to identify key host proteins for the virus infection. This will not only strengthen our understanding of the precise mechanisms of the virus life cycle, but also pave new avenues for anti-viral development. The cytoplasmic tail of M2 ion channel (M2/CT) is one of these highly conserved domains. It is fully accessible to the host cell machinery after fusion of the virus envelope with the endosomal membrane and during the trafficking, assembly, and budding processes. I hypothesized that recruitment of host cellular factors by M2/CT may regulate the M2-dependent stages of the virus life cycle. Through a large scale yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) screen with the M2/CT used as bait, the human annexin A6 was identified as a novel host cell interactant and this interaction was further confirmed by both GST pull-down assay on purified proteins and co-immunoprecipitation assay on virus infected cells. A functional characterization of this novel interaction demonstrated that depletion of annexin A6 could enhance the virus production, while its overexpression could reduce the virus propagation, which indicates that annexin A6 is a negative regulator of the virus infection. However, I found that the virus infection could not induce any changes of annexin A6 expression. Therefore, the annexin A6-mediated regulation may depend on the subcellular localization where the interaction with M2/CT occurs. To decipher which step of the virus replication is regulated, we dissected the virus life cycle and found that modulation of annexin A6 expression had no effect on the early stages of the virus life cycle or on viral RNA replication but impaired the release of progeny virus, as suggested by delayed or defective budding events observed at the plasma membrane of virus-infected and annexin A6-overexpressing cells during a transmission electron microscopy study. To further decipher the underlying molecular mechanisms, the contribution of annexin A6-mediated plasma membrane lipid rafts reorganization through cholesterol homeostasis modulation and cortical actin cytoskeleton remodeling was also investigated. In conclusion, here I have identified the human annexin A6 as a novel host cell interactant of M2/CT that negatively modulate the influenza virus infection by impairing the virus budding and release. This work further supports the idea that M2 is a multifunctional protein and is also consistent with the discovery by Rossman et al. that M2/CT mediates the virus budding process (Rossman et al., 2010). This study further emphasizes the importance of host cell interactants of M2/CT in this process. Regarding the biology of annexins, this study also adds a new member of this protein family in the list of regulators of influenza virus infection. / published_or_final_version / Public Health / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a major problem in our current society. There are over 35 million of the population that are currently living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and the number of HIV-infected patients are still rising every year in spite of our efforts to control it. Furthermore, within the AIDS affected population, opportunistic infection is a major cause of complications and is the number one cause of death. The HIV trans-activator (Tat) protein plays a major role in the AIDS pathogenesis. HIV-1 Tat is known to cause dysregulation of cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10 in AIDS patients. In this study we recognized a proto-oncogene, c-Myc, could regulate the cytokine dysregulation caused by HIV-1 Tat in primary blood monocyte derived macrophages (PBMac). By knocking down the expression of c-Myc with gene specific small-interfering RNA (siRNA), we demonstrated that c-Myc may be critical for the expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6. HIV-1 Tat was subsequently found to regulate the expression of c-Myc via the activation of dsRNA-activated protein kinase (PKR), ERK1/2 and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). Furthermore, c-Myc regulation of the pro-inflammatory cytokines was demonstrated to have a role in AIDS related opportunistic infections. HIV-1 Tat was shown to increase the intracellular growth of Mycobacteria avium complex (MAC) within PBMac. This increase in MAC growth was in turn found to be regulated by TNF-α expression controlled by c-Myc. HIV-1 Tat was also demonstrated to induce the expression of RIG-I, a common pattern recognition receptor of double stranded RNA viruses, in PBMac. RIG-I is known to activate the viral immune responses such as the type-I interferon (IFN) and pro-inflammatory cytokine pathways. This induction of RIG-I by HIV-1 Tat was found to be regulated by c-Myc, as well as through other signalling kinases such as p38 MAPK and PKR. Tat induction of RIG-I ultimately led to the induction of IFN-α2 and IFN-β through the expression and nuclear translocation of the interferon regulatory factor-7 (IRF-7). This alteration in type-I IFN expression regulated by HIV-1 Tat and RIG-I was also found to play a role against AIDS related opportunistic infections. HIV-1 Tat is known to increase the infectivity of Kaposi’s sarcoma-related herpesvirus (KSHV), a common opportunistic viral infection. We were able to demonstrate that this increase in KSHV infectivity was regulated by RIG-I and type-I IFN induced by HIV-1 Tat. Lastly, this study also demonstrated how HIV-1 Tat was able to manipulate the expression of IL-8 induced by KSHV in PBMac. HIV-1 Tat was able to mediate the production of IL-8 induced by KSHV by altering the phosphorylation of the p38 MAPK and the signal transducer and activator of transcription-1 (STAT-1). Taken together, the results of this study showed how c-Myc and RIG-I may be able to play critical roles in HIV-1 Tat induced cytokine dysregulation. Furthermore, the importance of these pathways is further demonstrated in their roles in regulating the immune responses against opportunistic infections in AIDS patients. / published_or_final_version / Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of St Andrews, June 2008. / Pagination differs from that of the electronic version in the Digital Research Repository.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 185-198). Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 185-198). Also available online.

The proteins encoded by foot-and-mouth disease virus are expressed in the form of a polyprotein, which is processed by virus-encoded proteases to yield the mature viral proteins. The focus of this thesis is the 18 amino acid 2A region of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV), which is (together with the first proline residue of 2B) capable of mediating a primary cleavage at its own carboxy-terminus, between the structural and replicative viral proteins. It was proposed that the 2A region performed this event via a novel proteolytic mechanism. Vectors encoding the FMDV 2A region, in frame, between two foreign gene sequences were constructed to allow the 2A region to be investigated in isolation from the rest of the virus proteins using in vitro translation systems. Detailed quantitative densitometric analyses of the translation products were carried out, which suggested non-stoichiometric expression of the two cleavage products. Single and multiple site-directed mutations were made to the 2A sequence and the activities of the resultant 2A regions determined to establish the identity of functional amino acid residues. The effect of the surrounding foreign protein sequence and the inclusion of progressively longer wild-type sequences prior to 2A was also examined. The carboxy-termini of cardiovirus 2A regions show significant sequence similarity to the FMDV 2A region and are known to mediate a similar primary cleavage. The cleavage activities of the carboxy-termini of cardiovirus 2A regions were compared to that of the FMDV 2A region and found to equally capable of mediating cleavage. The activity of FMDV 2A region was tested in prokaryotes and was found to be inactive. These studies indicated that the 2A cleavage was not a proteolytic cleavage, but more likely a translational effect. A new model for 2A-mediated activity is presented.

The phosphorylation of the Fujinami sarcoma virus transforming protein (FSV P140gag-fps) is complex, reversible and affects its tyrosine specific protein kinase activity and transforming function. The sites of phosphorylation within FSV P140gag-fps have been localized to various regions of the protein using partial proteolysis. The two major phosphotyrosine residues and a major phosphoserine residue are located in the C-terminal portion of the fps region, which contains the kinase active domain. A comparative tryptic phosphopeptide analysis of the gag-fps proteins of three FSV variants shows that the phosphotyrosine containing peptides have similar mobilities. To determine whether tyrosine phosphorylation affects protein function and to evaluate the substrate specificity of the protein kinase intrinsic to FSV P130gag-fps oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis was used to change tyrosine-1073, the major site of P130gag-fps phosphorylation. Tyrosine-1073 was mutated to a phenylalanine and a glycine, amino acids that cannot be phosphorylated, and to the other commonly phosphorylated hydroxyamino acids, serine and threonine. Neither serine nor threonine were phosphorylated when substituted for tyrosine-1073 indicating a strict specificity for and oncogenic capacities. These data indicate that tyrosine phosphorylation stimulates the biochemical and biological activities of FSV P130gag-fps and suggest that tyrosine phosphorylation modulates protein function. Mutations within the putative ATP-binding site of P130gag-fps at lysine-950 destroy both its kinase and transforming activities, supporting the idea that the tyrosine kinase activity intrinsic to P130gag-fps is essential for its transforming function. The mutant protein was also shown to be phosphorylated at a second tyrosine site, which has been previously identified in wild-type P130gag-fps as a site exclusively phosphorylated in vivo. Phosphorylation of secondary tyrosine residues within a mutant protein devoid of intrinsic tyrosine protein kinase activity suggests that the FSV P130gag-fps may be a target for phosphorylation by cellular tyrosine specific protein kinases. / Science, Faculty of / Microbiology and Immunology, Department of / Graduate

published_or_final_version / abstract / Microbiology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.