Key result
SARS-CoV-2 Nsp1 selectively enhances virus translation through interactions with EIF1A, and EIF1A depletion inhibits translation of non-structural genes and reduces viral titers.
Why the study?
A better mechanistic understanding of virus-host interactions, particularly essential interactions enabling viral protein production, was needed to reveal vulnerabilities and therapeutic opportunities.
Does inhibition of host translation factors like EIF1A reduce SARS-CoV-2 infectious particle production?
Does inhibition of host translation factors like EIF1A reduce SARS-CoV-2 infectious particle production?
SARS-CoV-2 Nsp1 interacts with host EIF1A to regulate translation start site fidelity, presenting a potential druggable target for antiviral development.
May identify antiviral targets in SARS-CoV-2 protein synthesis; hypothesis-generating and should not yet change practice.
A better mechanistic understanding of virus-host interactions can help reveal vulnerabilities and identify opportunities for therapeutic interventions. Of particular interest are essential interactions that enable production of viral proteins, as those could target an early step in the virus lifecycle. Here, we use subcellular proteomics, ribosome profiling analyses and reporter assays to detect changes in polysome composition and protein synthesis during SARS-CoV-2 (CoV2) infection. We identify specific translation factors and molecular chaperones whose inhibition impairs infectious particle production without major toxicity to the host. We find that CoV2 non-structural protein Nsp1 selectively enhances virus translation through functional interactions with initiation factor EIF1A. When EIF1A is depleted, more ribosomes initiate translation from an upstream CUG start codon, inhibiting translation of non-structural genes and reducing viral titers. Together, our work describes multiple dependencies of CoV2 on host biosynthetic networks and identifies druggable targets for potential antiviral development.
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Aviner et al. (2023) studied SARS-CoV-2 infection. EIF1A depletion was evaluated on Viral translation and infectious particle production. SARS-CoV-2 Nsp1 selectively enhances virus translation through interactions with EIF1A, and EIF1A depletion inhibits translation of non-structural genes and reduces viral titers.
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