Participation of cytoplasmic silencing bodies in Junín virus replication.

LINERO, FLORENCIA; THOMAS, MARÍA GABRIELA; BOCCACCIO, GRACIELA; SCOLARO, LUIS

Foz de Iguazú, Brasil

Congreso; 39a Reunião Anual da Sociedade Brasileira de Bioquimica e Biologia Molecular; 2010

SBBq

Viruses use different approaches to improve replication strategies manipulating host cytoplasmic RNA structures such as stress granules (SGs) and processing bodies (PBs). In this work we evaluated, in first place, if infection of Vero cells with the arenavirus Junín (JUNV), etiological agent of the Argentine Hemorrhagic Fever induces SGs and PBs formation.  On this purpose, we used SGs markers TIA-1, PAB-1 and eIF4E, and PBs marker Hedls. We observed that JUNV infection did not induce the formation of SGs and PBs neither promoted nuclei-cytoplasm translocation of these markers. Then, we analyzed if JUNV interferes with SGs and PBs formation induced by sodium arsenite. Vero cells infected with JUNV were treated with 500µM sodium arsenite during 1 h before its processing to microscopy. We observed a reduction in the formation of SGs reaching 60-80% of inhibition at 48 h p.i., but not in PBs induction. Finally, we tested the requirement of the eIF4E cellular factor in JUNV translation with a dominant negative plasmid of 4E-BP, and observed that this factor is not necessary to JUNV replication. These results indicate that JUNV infection not only did not induce but prevent SGs and PBs formation and although viral mRNAs have a Cap structure, this strategy is not due to the requirement of the eIF4E factor.