Restraint of Powassan virus replication by TRIM5α facilitates viral avoidance of antiviral immunity

TRIpartite Motif (TRIM) protein 5 alpha (TRIM5α) is a well-characterized cellular inhibitor of lentivirus replication that limits transmission of related viruses between primates. We previously reported that TRIM5α derived from humans and rhesus macaques inhibits replication of orthoflaviviruses belonging to the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) serocomplex, including TBEV, Kyasanur forest disease virus and Langat virus (LGTV), but interestingly not the tick-borne Powassan virus (POWV). To further characterize the primate TRIM5α and orthoflavivirus interface, we screened TRIM5α variants from representative old- and new-world primates for restriction capacity. TRIM5α from old-world African green monkey, De Brazza’s monkey and chimpanzee demonstrated virus-specific restriction of tick-borne orthoflaviviruses. Efforts to determine why TRIM5α fails to inhibit POWV revealed that our lab stock had acquired a non-synonymous mutation in NS3 that, when introduced into a POWV molecular clone, facilitated virus replication in the presence of all inhibitory primate TRIM5α proteins. Infection of human dendritic cells with TRIM5α-resistant POWV resulted in high early replication and strong induction of interferon responses that limited replication compared with the wild-type virus. Thus, primate TRIM5α functions as a potent cellular barrier to infection with tick-borne orthoflaviviruses that restrains replication to a level that may help avoid early innate immune recognition.