A novel role of Zebrafish TMEM33 in negative regulation of interferon production by two distinct mechanisms

PLoS Pathog. 2021 Feb 18;17(2):e1009317. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009317. eCollection 2021 Feb.

Abstract

The transmembrane protein 33 (TMEM33) was originally identified as an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) protein that influences the tubular structure of the ER and modulates intracellular calcium homeostasis. However, the role of TMEM33 in antiviral immunity in vertebrates has not been elucidated. In this article, we demonstrate that zebrafish TMEM33 is a negative regulator of virus-triggered interferon (IFN) induction via two mechanisms: mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein (MAVS) ubiquitination and a decrease in the kinase activity of TANK binding kinase 1 (TBK1). Upon stimulation with viral components, tmem33 was remarkably upregulated in the zebrafish liver cell line. The IFNφ1 promoter (IFNφ1pro) activity and mRNA level induced by retinoic acid-inducible gene (RIG)-I-like receptors (RLRs) were significantly inhibited by TMEM33. Knockdown of TMEM33 increased host ifn transcription. Subsequently, we found that TMEM33 was colocalized in the ER and interacted with the RLR cascades, whereas MAVS was degraded by TMEM33 during the K48-linked ubiquitination. On the other hand, TMEM33 reduced the phosphorylation of mediator of IFN regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) activation (MITA)/IRF3 by acting as a decoy substrate of TBK1, which was also phosphorylated. A functional domain assay revealed that the N-terminal transmembrane domain 1 (TM1) and TM2 regions of TMEM33 were necessary for IFN suppression. Finally, TMEM33 significantly attenuated the host cellular antiviral capacity by blocking the IFN response. Taken together, our findings provide insight into the different mechanisms employed by TMEM33 in cellular IFN-mediated antiviral process.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Gene Expression Regulation*
  • Interferons / metabolism*
  • Liver / immunology
  • Liver / metabolism*
  • Liver / virology
  • Membrane Proteins / genetics
  • Membrane Proteins / metabolism*
  • Phosphorylation
  • Rhabdoviridae / physiology
  • Rhabdoviridae Infections / immunology
  • Rhabdoviridae Infections / metabolism
  • Rhabdoviridae Infections / virology*
  • Ubiquitination
  • Zebrafish
  • Zebrafish Proteins / genetics
  • Zebrafish Proteins / metabolism*

Substances

  • Membrane Proteins
  • Zebrafish Proteins
  • Interferons

Grants and funding

This study was supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFD0900504), National Natural Science Foundation of China (32073009) and the Youth Innovation Promotion Association provided funding to SL. National Natural Science Foundation of China provided funding to L-FL under grant number 31802338. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.