Molecular mechanisms and cellular functions of liquid-liquid phase separation during antiviral immune responses

Shuai Yang; Weishan Shen; Jiajia Hu; Sihui Cai; Chenqiu Zhang; Shouheng Jin; Xiangdong Guan; Jianfeng Wu; Yaoxing Wu; Jun Cui

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2023.1162211

Molecular mechanisms and cellular functions of liquid-liquid phase separation during antiviral immune responses

Front Immunol. 2023 May 10:14:1162211. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1162211. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Shuai Yang^{1

2}, Weishan Shen³, Jiajia Hu⁴, Sihui Cai², Chenqiu Zhang², Shouheng Jin², Xiangdong Guan³, Jianfeng Wu³, Yaoxing Wu^{1

3}, Jun Cui^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Ministry of Education MOE Key Laboratory of Gene Function and Regulation, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
² Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Gene Function and Regulation, State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
³ Department of Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.

Abstract

Spatiotemporal separation of cellular components is vital to ensure biochemical processes. Membrane-bound organelles such as mitochondria and nuclei play a major role in isolating intracellular components, while membraneless organelles (MLOs) are accumulatively uncovered via liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) to mediate cellular spatiotemporal organization. MLOs orchestrate various key cellular processes, including protein localization, supramolecular assembly, gene expression, and signal transduction. During viral infection, LLPS not only participates in viral replication but also contributes to host antiviral immune responses. Therefore, a more comprehensive understanding of the roles of LLPS in virus infection may open up new avenues for treating viral infectious diseases. In this review, we focus on the antiviral defense mechanisms of LLPS in innate immunity and discuss the involvement of LLPS during viral replication and immune evasion escape, as well as the strategy of targeting LLPS to treat viral infectious diseases.

Keywords: LLPS; Viral infection disease; immune evasion; innate immunity; virus replicaiton.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Antiviral Agents*
Cell Nucleus*
Immunity

Substances

Antiviral Agents

Grants and funding

This research was supported by Guangdong Provincial Key R&D Program for Covid 19 (232020012620600001), National Natural Science Foundation of China (82272186), Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, China (2021A1515012179), and Guangdong Clinical Research Center for Critical Care Medicine (2020B1111170005). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.