Journal article

Mouse Mx1 Inhibits Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Genomic Replication and Late Gene Expression In Vitro and Prevents Lesion Formation in the Mouse Zosteriform Model

MB Tessema, R Farrukee, CE Andoniou, MA Degli-Esposti, CV Oates, JB Barnes, LM Wakim, AG Brooks, SL Londrigan, PC Reading

Journal of Virology | AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY | Published : 2022

Abstract

Myxovirus resistance (Mx) proteins are dynamin-like GTPases that are inducible by interferons (IFNs) following virus infections. Most studies investigating Mx proteins have focused on their activity against influenza A viruses (IAV), although emerging evidence suggests that some Mx proteins may exhibit broader antiviral activity. Herein, we demonstrate that in addition to IAV, overexpression of mouse Mx1 (mMx1), but not mMx2, resulted in potent inhibition of growth of the human alphaherpesviruses herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) and HSV-2, whereas neither inhibited the mouse betaherpesvirus murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) in vitro. IFN induction of a functional endogenous mMx1 in primary mouse f..

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Grants

Awarded by Department of Health and Ageing, Australian Government


Funding Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the Melbourne Cytometry Platform (Peter Doherty Institute node) for providing flow cytometry services. Fluorescent images were taken by confocal microscopes located at the Biological Optical Microscopy Platform, The University of Melbourne. We also thank Marco Herold at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for providing the lentiviral constructs. This study was supported by Project Grant APP1143154 from The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia. The Melbourne WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza is supported by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.