| Summary: | The innate immune system recognizes viral nucleic acids and stimulates cellular antiviral responses. Intracellular detection of viral RNA is mediated by the Retinoic acid inducible gene (RIG)-I Like Receptor (RLR), leading to production of type I interferon (IFN) and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Once cells are infected with a virus, RIG-I and MDA5 bind to viral RNA and undergo conformational change to transmit a signal through direct interaction with downstream CARD-containing adaptor protein, IFN-β promoter stimulator-1 (IPS-1, also referred as MAVS/VISA/Cardif). IPS-1 is composed of N-terminal Caspase Activation and Recruitment Domain (CARD), proline-rich domain, intermediate domain, and C-terminal transmembrane (TM) domain. The TM domain of IPS-1 anchors it to the mitochondrial outer membrane. It has been hypothesized that activated RLR triggers the accumulation of IPS-1, which forms oligomer as a scaffold for downstream signal proteins. However, the exact mechanisms of IPS-1-mediated signaling remain controversial. In this study, to reveal the details of IPS-1 signaling, we used an artificial oligomerization system to induce oligomerization of IPS-1 in cells. Artificial oligomerization of IPS-1 activated antiviral signaling without a viral infection. Using this system, we investigated the domain-requirement of IPS-1 for its signaling. We discovered that artificial oligomerization of IPS-1 could overcome the requirement of CARD and the TM domain. Moreover, from deletion- and point-mutant analyses, the C-terminal Tumor necrosis factor Receptor-Associated Factor (TRAF) binding motif of IPS-1 (aa. 453-460) present in the intermediate domain is critical for downstream signal transduction. Our results suggest that IPS-1 oligomerization is essential for the formation of a multiprotein signaling complex and enables downstream activation of transcription factors, Interferon Regulatory Factor 3 (IRF3) and Nuclear Factor-κB (NF-κB), leading to type I IFN and pro-inflammatory cytokine production.
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