Journal: bioRxiv
Article Title: A genus-wide interaction atlas across NS4B orthologues identifies a conserved role for UFMylation in orthoflavivirus replication
doi: 10.1101/2025.05.15.653649
Figure Lengend Snippet: a. Schematic representation of the UFMylation pathway inhibition by the UBA5 inhibitor DKM 2-93. DKM 2-93 competitively binds to the catalytic cysteine of UBA5, and prevents the activation of UFM1. b. Dose-response curve of DKM 2-93 for inhibition of ZIKV infection in JEG-3 cells. JEG-3 cells were treated with increasing concentrations of the inhibitor for 24 h, then infected with the ZIKV H/PF/2013 reporter strain expressing Renilla luciferase (MOI 0.1), and treated with the inhibitor for another 24 h. Cell viability and virus replication were determined at 24 hpi by resazurin and luciferase assays, respectively. c. Western blot analysis confirmed the impairment of virus replication. NS1 was stained as an infection marker (top panel), and GAPDH was used as a loading control (bottom panel). d. A reduction in ZIKV titers was observed in the presence of non-cytotoxic concentrations of the inhibitor in JEG-3 cells. JEG-3 cells were infected with ZIKV H/PF/2013 wild-type strain (MOI 0.01), and treated with either DMSO or two non-cytotoxic concentrations of DKM 2-93. Supernatants were harvested at 48 hpi and the virus titers were measured by plaque assay. e. Time-of-addition analysis of the antiviral activity of DKM 2-93. JEG-3 cells were either pre-treated (grey bar) with the inhibitor (32 µM) for 3 h prior to infection with ZIKV H/PF/2013 wild-type strain (MOI 0.01), or co-treated (blue bar) by adding the inhibitor (32 µM) to the viral inoculum during 1 h of virus adsorption, or post-treated (orange bar) 3 h after the removal of the viral inoculum. In each case, the supernatant was collected at 48 hpi, and the virus titers were determined by plaque assay. f-g. Huh7 cells were electroporated with wild-type subgenomic replicon (sgZIKV) reporter virus RNA expressing Renilla luciferase, and treated with DKM 2-93 (32 µM) immediately thereafter. Luciferase activity was measured 4 hours post electroporation to assess effects on viral RNA translation (f, sgZIKV-R2A), and up to 96 hours post electroporation to assess effects of viral RNA replication (g, sgZIKV-R2A). Panels d, e, and f, n=3 biological replicates; bars represent the mean and error bars represent the standard deviation of the mean. *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001, ****p<0.0001, or ns, not significant as determined by one-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test (d) or two-way ANOVA with Sidak’s multiple comparisons test (e and f) or unpaired two-tailed t-test on log₁₀-transformed PFU/mL values with Holm–Šidák correction for multiple comparisons (g). Panel c, representative immunoblots from n=3 biological replicates are shown.
Article Snippet: The mouse monoclonal antibodies recognizing HA (2999), the rabbit monoclonal anti-human COXIV (4850) antibody, and HRP-conjugated anti-human GAPDH (51332) were purchased from Cell Signaling.
Techniques: Inhibition, Activation Assay, Infection, Expressing, Luciferase, Virus, Western Blot, Staining, Marker, Control, Plaque Assay, Activity Assay, Adsorption, Electroporation, Standard Deviation, Two Tailed Test, Transformation Assay