NF-κB activation is a turn on for vaccinia virus phosphoprotein A49 to turn off NF-κB activation

Vaccinia virus protein A49 inhibits NF-κB activation by molecular mimicry and has a motif near the N terminus that is conserved in IκBα, β-catenin, HIV Vpu, and some other proteins. This motif contains two serines, and for IκBα and β-catenin, phosphorylation of these serines enables recognition by the E3 ubiquitin ligase β-TrCP. Binding of IκBα and β-catenin by β-TrCP causes their ubiquitylation and thereafter proteasome-mediated degradation. In contrast, HIV Vpu and VACV A49 are not degraded. This paper shows that A49 is phosphorylated at serine 7 but not serine 12 and that this is necessary and sufficient for binding β-TrCP and antagonism of NF-κB. Phosphorylation of A49 S7 occurs when NF-κB signaling is activated by addition of IL-1β or overexpression of TRAF6 or IKKβ, the kinase needed for IκBα phosphorylation. Thus, A49 shows beautiful biological regulation, for it becomes an NF-κB antagonist upon activation of NF-κB signaling. The virulence of viruses expressing mutant A49 proteins or lacking A49 (vΔA49) was tested. vΔA49 was attenuated compared with WT, but viruses expressing A49 that cannot bind β-TrCP or bind β-TrCP constitutively had intermediate virulence. So A49 promotes virulence by inhibiting NF-κB activation and by another mechanism independent of S7 phosphorylation and NF-κB antagonism. Last, a virus lacking A49 was more immunogenic than the WT virus.