Human bocavirus can inhibit NF-κB signal pathway

Human Bocavirus (HBoV) is a newly-discovered pathogen in 2005 can cause intestinal and respiratory infections which in infants. As a new kind of emerging viral pathogen, its pathogenic mechanisms and the molecular mechanisms of how the virus escapes from innate immune recognition of host and some other important scientific issues have urgent need to be clarified. The natural immune system is the first barrier for our body to prevent pathogens from invading, and NF-κB signaling pathway is an important part of the innate immune system. Recently, Wang Hanzhong research team from Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences has made significant progress in the mechanism of bocavirus regulating NF-κB signaling pathway, revealing bocavirus NS1 protein inhibits p65 from binding to κB binding site by binding to transcription factor p65NTD area, thereby inhibiting downstream gene transcription mechanism. Researchers also produced recombinant human proteins to complete the research. The papers have been published online in the journal Science Report.

Because of the important role of NF-κB signaling pathway in terms against viruses, many viruses have evolved mechanisms to inhibit NF-κB signaling pathway. The targets of most viruses suppressing NF-κB signaling pathway are located on the cytoplasmic IKK complex, and known viruses in the nucleus which are able to inhibit NF-κB signaling pathway are very less. Through research, Wang Hanzhong research team found that NS1 protein of bocavirus is capable of interacting with p65 and further found that NS1 is capable of binding to p65NTD region, while NTD region is the critical domain for p65 to recognize κB binding sites. By DNA binding experiments, the team found that p65 can inhibit NS1 from binding to the κB binding sites. These results suggest that the NS1 protein of bocavirus binds to p65 NTD region to inhibit the interaction between p65 and κB binding site, thereby inhibiting the transcription of the downstream gene.

The study firstly reported that bocavirus has a regulatory role on NF-κB signaling pathway, providing an important basis for understanding the pathogenicity of the bocavirus. The first author of the paper is doctoral Liu Qingshi and the study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Flarebio provides high-quality recombinant proteins such as recombinant ITGB8 at a competitive price.