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Conflicting reports exist regarding the requirement for virus replication in interferon (IFN) induction by paramyxoviruses. Our previous work has demonstrated that pathogen-associated molecular patterns capable of activating the IFN-induction cascade are not normally generated during virus replication, but are associated instead with the presence of defective interfering (DI) viruses. We demonstrate here that DIs of paramyxoviruses, including parainfluenza virus 5, mumps virus and Sendai virus, can activate the IFN-induction cascade and the IFN-β promoter in the absence of virus protein synthesis. As virus protein synthesis is an absolute requirement for paramyxovirus genome replication, our results indicate that these DI viruses do not require replication to activate the IFN-induction cascade.

It is generally thought that pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) responsible for triggering interferon (IFN) induction are produced during virus replication and, to limit the activation of the IFN response by these PAMPs, viruses encode antagonists of IFN induction. Here we have studied the induction of IFN by parainfluenza virus type 5 (PIV5) at the single-cell level, using a cell line expressing GFP under the control of the IFN-β promoter. We demonstrate that a recombinant PIV5 (termed PIV5-VΔC) that lacks a functional V protein (the viral IFN antagonist) does not activate the IFN-β promoter in the majority of infected cells. We conclude that viral PAMPs capable of activating the IFN induction cascade are not produced or exposed during the normal replication cycle of PIV5, and suggest instead that defective viruses are primarily responsible for inducing IFN during PIV5 infection in this system., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Most paramyxoviruses circumvent the IFN response by blocking IFN signaling and limiting the production of IFN by virus-infected cells. Here we report that the highly conserved cysteine-rich C-terminal domain of the V proteins of a wide variety of paramyxoviruses binds melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (mda-5) product. mda-5 is an IFN-inducible host cell DExD/H box helicase that contains a caspase recruitment domain at its N terminus. Overexpression of mda-5 stimulated the basal activity of the IFN-beta promoter in reporter gene assays and significantly enhanced the activation of the IFN-beta promoter by intracellular dsRNA. Both these activities were repressed by coexpression of the V proteins of simian virus 5, human parainfluenza virus 2, mumps virus, Sendai virus, and Hendra virus. Similar results to the reporter assays were obtained by measuring IFN production. Inhibition of mda-5 by RNA interference or by dominant interfering forms of mda-5 significantly inhibited the activation of the IFN-beta promoter by dsRNA. It thus appears that mda-5 plays a central role in an intracellular signal transduction pathway that can lead to the activation of the IFN-beta promoter, and that the V proteins of paramyxoviruses interact with mda-5 to block its activity.

To replicate in vivo, viruses must circumvent cellular antiviral defense mechanisms, including those induced by the interferons (IFNs). Here we demonstrate that simian virus 5 (SV5) blocks IFN signalling in human cells by inhibiting the formation of the IFN-stimulated gene factor 3 and gamma-activated factor transcription complexes that are involved in activating IFN-alpha/beta- and IFN-gamma-responsive genes, respectively. SV5 inhibits the formation of these complexes by specifically targeting STAT1, a component common to both transcription complexes, for proteasome-mediated degradation. Expression of the SV5 structural protein V, in the absence of other virus proteins, also inhibited IFN signalling and induced the degradation of STAT1. Following infection with SV5, STAT1 was degraded in the absence of virus protein synthesis and remained undetectable for up to 4 days postinfection. Furthermore, STAT1 was also degraded in IFN-pretreated cells, even though the cells were in an antiviral state. Since pretreatment of cells with IFN delayed but did not prevent virus replication and protein synthesis, these observations suggest that following infection of IFN-pretreated cells, SV5 remains viable within the cells until they eventually go out of the antiviral state.

Sendai virus (SeV) is highly pathogenic for mice. In contrast, mice (including SCID mice) infected with simian virus 5 (SV5) showed no overt signs of disease. Evidence is presented that a major factor which prevented SV5 from productively infecting mice was its inability to circumvent the interferon (IFN) response in mice. Thus, in murine cells that produce and respond to IFN, SV5 protein synthesis was rapidly switched off. In marked contrast, once SeV protein synthesis began, it continued, even if the culture medium was supplemented with alpha/beta IFN (IFN-alpha/beta). However, in human cells, IFN-alpha/beta did not inhibit the replication of either SV5 or SeV once virus protein synthesis was established. To begin to address the molecular basis for these observations, the effects of SeV and SV5 infections on the activation of an IFN-alpha/beta-responsive promoter and on that of the IFN-beta promoter were examined in transient transfection experiments. The results demonstrated that (i) SeV, but not SV5, inhibited an IFN-alpha/beta-responsive promoter in murine cells; (ii) both SV5 and SeV inhibited the activation of an IFN-alpha/beta-responsive promoter in human cells; and (iii) in both human and murine cells, SeV was a strong inducer of the IFN-beta promoter, whereas SV5 was a poor inducer. The ability of SeV and SV5 to inhibit the activation of IFN-responsive genes in human cells was confirmed by RNase protection experiments. The importance of these results in terms of paramyxovirus pathogenesis is discussed.