Dengue Virus Capsid Protein Usurps Lipid Droplets for Viral Particle Formation (original) (raw)
Figure 2
The C protein contains the structural determinants for LD targeting.
A. Schematic representation of the topology of the viral C and prM proteins on the ER membrane. The anchor peptide and the cleavage sites of the signal peptidase and viral NS3/2B proteases are indicated. The location of the FMDV2A protease replacing the NS3/2B site is shown in the scheme on the right. The western blot shows expression of the C protein in cytoplasmic extracts of cells transfected with a full length DENV RNA WT (Cwt) or the RNA including the FMDV2A site (C2A). B. The anchor peptide is dispensable for C accumulation on LDs. BHK cells transfected with the DENV-FMDV2A RNA were fixed and probed with antibodies against C and BODIPY to stain neutral lipids in LDs, as indicated on the top. C. Expression of the mature C protein in the absence of other viral components is sufficient for LD targeting. BHK cells were transfected with an expression plasmid that encode the mature form of DENV C protein. Twenty four h post-transfection cells were fixed and probed with anti-C antibodies followed by staining of lipid droplet.