Journal of Molecular Biology
Volume 426, Issue 6, 20 March 2014, Pages 1210-1219
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Review
The Role of Viperin in the Innate Antiviral Response

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmb.2013.10.019Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Viperin expression is induced by viral infection.

  • Viperin limits replication of both DNA and RNA viruses.

  • Viperin has an emerging role in innate immune signaling.

  • Viperin employs multiple mechanisms to limit the viral life cycles.

  • Viperin is emerging as a key antiviral host protein.

Abstract

Viral infection of the cell is able to initiate a signaling cascade of events that ultimately attempts to limit viral replication and prevent escalating infection through expression of host antiviral proteins. Recent work has highlighted the importance of the host antiviral protein viperin in this process, with its ability to limit a large variety of viral infections as well as play a role in the production of type I interferon and the modulation of a number of transcription factor binding sites. Viperin appears to have the ability to modulate varying conditions within the cell and to interfere with proviral host proteins in its attempts to create an unfavorable environment for viral replication. The study of the mechanistic actions of viperin has come a long way in recent years, describing important functional domains of the protein for its antiviral and immune modulator actions as well as demonstrating its role as a member of the radical SAM enzyme family. However, despite the rapid expansion of knowledge regarding the functions of this highly conserved and ancient antiviral protein, there still remains large gaps in our understanding of the precise mechanisms at play for viperin to exert such a wide variety of roles within the cell.

Abbreviations

ISG
interferon-stimulated gene
HCMV
human cytomegalovirus
ER
endoplasmic reticulum
HIV
human immunodeficiency virus
HCV
hepatitis C virus
DENV
dengue virus
dsRNA
double-stranded RNA
ISGF3
ISG factor 3
JEV
Japanese encephalitis virus
CHIKV
Chikungunya virus
MDM
monocyte-derived macrophage
WNV
West Nile virus
RC
replication complex
VAP-A
vesicle-associated membrane protein-associated protein-A
IFV
influenza virus
WT
wild type
RSV
respiratory syncytial virus

Keywords

interferon
virus
viral replication
immunity
interferon-stimulated gene

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