New opportunities for anti-viral intervention

Patrick Matthias from the FMI, together with scientists from the ETH Zurich, has discovered that the influenza virus takes advantage of the cellular process that deals with misfolded proteins, to crack open its capsid. They could show that the viral capsid, by carrying unanchored ubiquitin, mimics misfolded protein aggregates. This form of ubiquitin is recognized with high affinity by a cytoplasmic enzyme, HDAC6, which is therefore recruited to the envelope encasing the viral genome. In addition, HDAC6 binds to cytoplasmic motor proteins, dynein and myosin. These four proteins create a molecular module with HDAC6 at its center. The motor proteins promote movement along microtubules and actin filaments, thereby generating mechanical stress that pulls the viral capsid apart. These unexpected findings have just been published in Science .