Human MicroRNAs Attenuate the Expression of Immediate Early Proteins and HCMV Replication during Lytic and Latent Infection in Connection with Enhancement of Phosphorylated RelA/p65 (Serine 536) That Binds to MIEP

Abstract

Attenuating the expression of immediate early (IE) proteins is essential for controlling the lytic replication of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV). The human microRNAs (hsa-miRs), miR-200b-3p and miR-200c-3p, have been identified to bind the 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) of the mRNA encoding IE proteins. However, whether hsa-miRs can reduce IE72 expression and HCMV viral load or exhibit a crosstalk with the host cellular signaling machinery, most importantly the NF-κB cascade, has not been evaluated. In this study, argonaute-crosslinking and immunoprecipitation-seq revealed that miR-200b-3p and miR-200c-3p bind the 3′-UTR of UL123, which is a gene that encodes IE72. The binding of these miRNAs to the 3′-UTR of UL123 was verified in transfected cells stably expressing GFP. We used miR-200b-3p/miR-200c-3p mimics to counteract the downregulation of these miRNA after acute HCMV infection. This resulted in reduced IE72/IE86 expression and HCMV VL during lytic infection. We determined that IE72/IE86 alone can inhibit the phosphorylation of RelA/p65 at the Ser536 residue and that p-Ser536 RelA/p65 binds to the major IE promoter/enhancer (MIEP). The upregulation of miR-200b-3p and miR-200c-3p resulted in the phosphorylation of RelA/p65 at Ser536 through the downregulation of IE, and the binding of the resultant p-Ser536 RelA/p65 to MIEP resulted in a decreased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Overall, miR-200b-3p and miR-200c-3p—together with p-Ser536 RelA/p65—can prevent lytic HCMV replication during acute and latent infection.