Uukuniemi virus infection causes a pervasive remodelling of the RNA-binding proteome in tick cells

Cellular RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) are pivotal for the viral lifecycle, mediating key host-virus interactions that promote or repress virus infection. While these interactions have been largely studied in the vertebrate host, no comprehensive analyses of protein-RNA interactions occurring in cells of arbovirus vectors, in particular ticks, have been performed to date. Here we systematically identified the responses of the RNA-binding proteome (RBPome) to infection with a prototype bunyavirus (Uukuniemi virus; UUKV) in tick cells and discovered changes in RNA-binding activity for 283 proteins. In an orthogonal approach, we analysed the composition of the viral ribonucleoprotein by immunoprecipitation of UUKV nucleocapsid protein (N) in infected cells. We found many tick RBPs that are regulated by UUKV infection and associate with viral nucleocapsid protein complexes, and we confirmed experimentally that they impact UUKV infection. This includes the tick homolog of topoisomerase 3B (TOP3B), a protein able to manipulate the topology of RNA, which particularly affected viral particle production. Our data thus reveals the first protein-RNA interaction map for infected tick cells.

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Publication Details

Journal
PLoS Pathogens
Published
2025-08-04
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1013393
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Viral Infections and Vectors
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.40

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article

Uukuniemi virus infection causes a pervasive remodelling of the RNA-binding proteome in tick cells

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1 citations
PLoS Pathogens
Viral Infections and Vectors
1.40
article

Uukuniemi virus infection causes a pervasive remodelling of the RNA-binding proteome in tick cells

Wael Kamel, Alain Kohl, Yana Demyanenko, Marko Noerenberg, Andrew T. Clarke, Zaydah R. de Laurent, Kelsey Davies, Lesley Bell‐Sakyi, Alfredo Castelló, Shabaz Mohammed, Benjamin Brennan, Douglas J. Lamont, Alexandra Wilson, Rozeena Arif
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Cellular RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) are pivotal for the viral lifecycle, mediating key host-virus interactions that promote or repress virus infection. While these interactions have been largely studied in the vertebrate host, no comprehensive analyses of protein-RNA interactions occurring in cells of arbovirus vectors, in particular ticks, have been performed to date. Here we systematically identified the responses of the RNA-binding proteome (RBPome) to infection with a prototype bunyavirus (Uukuniemi virus; UUKV) in tick cells and discovered changes in RNA-binding activity for 283 proteins. In an orthogonal approach, we analysed the composition of the viral ribonucleoprotein by immunoprecipitation of UUKV nucleocapsid protein (N) in infected cells. We found many tick RBPs that are regulated by UUKV infection and associate with viral nucleocapsid protein complexes, and we confirmed experimentally that they impact UUKV infection. This includes the tick homolog of topoisomerase 3B (TOP3B), a protein able to manipulate the topology of RNA, which particularly affected viral particle production. Our data thus reveals the first protein-RNA interaction map for infected tick cells.

PLoS PathogensVol. 21(8)
University of Liverpool (GB), University of Dundee (GB), Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (GB), Masaryk University (CZ), University of Oxford (GB), Rosalind Franklin Institute (GB), MRC University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (GB), Medical Research Council (GB)
Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, European Research Council
Openalex Percentile: Top 18%
Viral Infections and Vectors
1.40
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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