The Feline calicivirus Leader of the Capsid (LC) Protein Contains a Putative Transmembrane Domain, Binds to the Cytoplasmic Membrane, and Exogenously Permeates Cells

Author:

Peñaflor-Téllez Yoatzin1,Escobar-Almazan Jesús Alejandro1,Pérez-Ibáñez Carolina1,Miguel-Rodríguez Carlos Emilio1,Gómez de la Madrid Jaury1ORCID,Monge-Celestino Erick I.1,Talamás-Rohana Patricia1ORCID,Gutiérrez-Escolano Ana Lorena1ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Departamento de Infectómica y Patogénesis Molecular, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, Av. IPN 2508, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, Mexico City 07360, Mexico

Abstract

Feline calicivirus (FCV), an important model for studying the biology of the Caliciviridae family, encodes the leader of the capsid (LC) protein, a viral factor known to induce apoptosis when expressed in a virus-free system. Our research has shown that the FCV LC protein forms disulfide bond-dependent homo-oligomers and exhibits intrinsic toxicity; however, it lacked a polybasic region and a transmembrane domain (TMD); thus, it was initially classified as a non-classical viroporin. The unique nature of the FCV LC protein, with no similarity to other proteins beyond the Vesivirus genus, has posed challenges for bioinformatic analysis reliant on sequence similarity. In this study, we continued characterizing the LC protein using the AlphaFold 2 and the recently released AlphaFold 3 artificial intelligence tools to predict the LC protein tertiary structure. We compared it to other molecular modeling algorithms, such as I-Tasser’s QUARK, offering new insights into its putative TMD. Through exogenous interaction, we found that the recombinant LC protein associates with the CrFK plasmatic membrane and can permeate cell membranes in a disulfide bond-independent manner, suggesting that this interaction might occur through a TMD. Additionally, we examined its potential to activate the intrinsic apoptosis pathway in murine and human ovarian cancer cell lines, overexpressing survivin, an anti-apoptotic protein. All these results enhance our understanding of the LC protein’s mechanism of action and suggest its role as a class-I viroporin.

Funder

Consejo Nacional de Humanidades, Ciencias y Tecnologías

Publisher

MDPI AG

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