Why the study?
Recent findings indicated polyprotein processing coordinates viral life cycle phases, but additional functions such as immune defense remained to be explored.
Selective polyprotein processing allows murine norovirus to evade the host antiviral protein Trim7, but this immune evasion comes at the cost of reduced viral fitness and pathogenesis.
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Alternative polyprotein processing may aid viral immune evasion; leaves open antiviral target validation in future studies.
To maximize a limited genetic capacity, viruses encode polyproteins that can be subsequently separated into individual components by viral proteases. While classically viewed as a means of economy, recent findings have indicated that polyprotein processing can spatially and temporally coordinate the distinct phases of the viral life cycle. Here, we present a function for alternative polyprotein processing centered on immune defense. We discovered that selective polyprotein processing of the murine norovirus polyprotein shields MNV from restriction by the host antiviral protein Trim7. Trim7 can bind the viral protein NS6 but not the viral precursor protein NS6-7. Our findings provide insight into the evolutionary pressures that define patterns of viral polyprotein processing and uncover a trade-off between viral replication and immune evasion.
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Sullender et al. (2022) studied this question.
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