ABSTRACT Chikungunya virus, a mosquito-borne alphavirus, causes fever, rash, arthritis, and neurological disorders. Its non-structural protein 3 harbors a macrodomain, a key neurovirulence factor that removes adenosine diphosphate ribose from ADP-ribosylated substrates. Notably, chikungunya virus infection results in distinct ADP-ribosylation patterns and non-structural protein 3 macrodomain-mediated replication dynamics in astrocytes and neurons. Understanding the connection between ADP-ribosylation and the activation of innate immunity, particularly interferon release, is key to elucidating how the cellular immunological state influences ADP-ribosylation, an understudied post-translational modification during viral infection. Here, murine astrocytic (C8-D1A) and neuronal (NSC-34) cells were infected with chikungunya virus to profile transcript and protein expression of innate immune mediators and type I IFNs. The role of PARP1 in global ADP-ribosylation patterns was assessed using PARP-specific inhibitors and genetic depletion approaches. Our investigations revealed that neuronal chikungunya virus infection induces ADP-ribosylation through PARP1 activation, driven by caspase-3-mediated apoptosis, without transcriptionally activating PARPs. In contrast, astrocytic infections showed minimal ADP-ribosylation despite transcriptional activation of interferon-stimulated PARPs. Neurons exhibited limited innate immune response gene transcriptional activity, whereas astrocytes demonstrated strong upregulation of genes essential for pattern recognition receptor activation, thus enhancing double-stranded RNA sensing and increasing type I interferon production during infection. We posit that PARP1 activation and type I IFN response differentially regulate ADP-ribosylation in chikungunya virus-infected neural cells in a cell type-dependent manner. IMPORTANCE Chikungunya virus is an emergent mosquito-borne alphavirus increasingly associated with neurological infection and subsequent long-term disabilities. Its continued global spread and recurrent outbreaks underscore its significant pandemic potential and the urgent need for effective countermeasures. Chikungunya virus showcases distinct, cell-type dependent replication dynamics within astrocytes and neurons, two major permissive cerebral cell types. However, understanding of the immunological basis of such cell type-specific infection dynamics remains limited, yet is necessary to elucidate virus pathogenesis within the brain and thus identification of downstream drug targets. Our study characterized two distinctly activated innate immunological pathways in chikungunya virus-infected astrocytes versus neurons, thus significantly contributing to molecular understanding cell type-specific chikungunya virus neurovirulence on a molecular level.
Pieterse et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
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