Crystal Structure of the full-length Japanese encephalitis virus NS5 reveals a conserved methyltransferase-polymerase interface

PLoS Pathog. 2013;9(8):e1003549. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1003549. Epub 2013 Aug 8.

Abstract

The flavivirus NS5 harbors a methyltransferase (MTase) in its N-terminal ≈ 265 residues and an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP) within the C-terminal part. One of the major interests and challenges in NS5 is to understand the interplay between RdRP and MTase as a unique natural fusion protein in viral genome replication and cap formation. Here, we report the first crystal structure of the full-length flavivirus NS5 from Japanese encephalitis virus. The structure completes the vision for polymerase motifs F and G, and depicts defined intra-molecular interactions between RdRP and MTase. Key hydrophobic residues in the RdRP-MTase interface are highly conserved in flaviviruses, indicating the biological relevance of the observed conformation. Our work paves the way for further dissection of the inter-regulations of the essential enzymatic activities of NS5 and exploration of possible other conformations of NS5 under different circumstances.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Motifs
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • Encephalitis Virus, Japanese / enzymology*
  • Encephalitis Virus, Japanese / genetics
  • Methyltransferases / chemistry*
  • Methyltransferases / genetics
  • Methyltransferases / metabolism
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Viral Nonstructural Proteins / chemistry*
  • Viral Nonstructural Proteins / genetics
  • Viral Nonstructural Proteins / metabolism

Substances

  • NS5 protein, flavivirus
  • Viral Nonstructural Proteins
  • Methyltransferases

Grants and funding

This work was supported in part by the National Key Basic Research Program of China (2013CB9111), and the “Hundred Talents Program” of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.