Dengue virus requires apoptosis linked gene-2-interacting protein X (ALIX) for viral propagation

• Main Authors: Chutima Thepparit, Sarawut Khongwichit, Kunjimas Ketsuwan, Sirikwan Libsittikul, Prasert Auewarakul, Duncan R. Smith
• Other Authors: Mahidol University
• Format: Article
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology; Immunology and Microbiology; Medicine
• Online Access: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/50265

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. The endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT) pathway accessory protein apoptosis linked gene-2-interacting protein X (ALIX) has been shown to be upregulated during dengue virus (DENV) replication. Yeast-two-hybrid screens have additionally shown that ALIX interacts with DENV NS3 protein, but evaluation of the interaction through a replicon assay failed to show a functional significance to the interaction. In this study the interaction between DENV NS3 and ALIX was investigated by co-immunoprecipitation, and functional significance assessed by investigation of DENV production in ALIX expression regulated cells. The results showed that ALIX both interacted and co-localized with DENV NS3 protein and that upregulation of ALIX resulted in a significantly increased viral titer, while either siRNA or CRISPR-Cas9 mediated down regulation of ALIX significantly reduced viral production, without affecting relative DENV genome levels. These results are consistent with ALIX playing a significant role in the DENV replication cycle either during late infection or at viral egress.