Positive-stranded RNA viruses modify host organelles to form replication organelles (ROs) for their own replication. The enteroviral 3A protein has been demonstrated to be highly associated with the COPI pathway, in which factors operate on the ER-to-Golgi intermediate and the Golgi. However, Sar1, a COPII factor exerting coordinated action at endoplasmic reticulum (ER) exit sites rather than COPI factors, is required for the replication of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV). Therefore, further understanding regarding FMDV 3A could be key to explaining the differences and to understanding FMDV's RO formation. In this study, FMDV 3A was confirmed as a peripheral membrane protein capable of modifying the ER into vesicle-like structures, which were neither COPII vesicles nor autophagosomes. When the C-terminus of 3A was truncated, it was located at the ER without vesicular modification. This change was revealed using mGFP and APEX2 fusion constructs, and observed by fluorescence microscopy and electron tomography, respectively. For the other 3A truncation, the minimal region for modification was aa 42-92. Furthermore, we found that the remodeling was related to two COPII factors, Sar1 and Sec12; both interacted with 3A, but their binding domains on 3A were different. Finally, we hypothesized that the N-terminus of 3A would interact with Sar1, as its C-terminus simultaneously interacted with Sec12, which could possibly enhance Sar1 activation. On the ER membrane, active Sar1 interacted with regions of aa 42-59 and aa 76-92 from 3A for vesicle formation. This mechanism was distinct from the traditional COPII pathway and could be critical for FMDV RO formation.
Keywords: COPII factors; ER remodeling; foot-and-mouth disease virus 3A protein.