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Dense Granule Protein-7 (GRA-7) of Toxoplasma gondii inhibits viral replication in vitro and in vivo

  • Microbial Pathogenesis and Host-Microbe Interaction
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Abstract

Dense granule protein-7 (GRA-7) is an excretory protein of Toxoplasma gondii. It is a potential serodiagnostic marker and vaccine candidate for toxoplasmosis. Previous reports demonstrated that GRA-7 induces innate immune responses in macrophages by interacting with TRAF6 via the MyD88-dependent pathway. In the present study, we evaluated the antiviral activity and induction of an antiviral state by GRA-7 both in vitro and in vivo. It was observed that GRA-7 markedly reduced the replication of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV-GFP), influenza A virus (PR8-GFP), coxsackievirus (H3-GFP), herpes simplex virus (HSV-GFP), and adenovirus-GFP in epithelial (HEK293T/HeLa) and immune (RAW264.7) cells. These antiviral activities of GRA-7 were attributed to the induction of type I interferon (IFN) signaling, resulting in the secretion of IFNs and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Additionally, in BALB/c mice, intranasal administration of GRA-7 prevented lethal infection by influenza A virus (H1N1) and exhibited prophylactic effects against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV-GFP). Collectively, these results suggested that GRA-7 exhibits immunostimulatory and broad spectrum antiviral activities via type I IFN signaling. Thus, GRA-7 can be potentially used as a vaccine adjuvant or as a candidate drug with prophylactic potential against viruses.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, 34134, Republic of Korea

    Prasanna Weeratunga, Thilina U. B. Herath, Tae-Hwan Kim, Hyun-Cheol Lee, Jae-Hoon Kim, Byeong-Hoon Lee, Eun-Seo Lee, Kiramage Chathuranga, W. A. Gayan Chathuranga & Jong-Soo Lee

  2. Department of Molecular and Life Science, College of Science and Technology, Hanyang University, Ansan, 15588, Republic of Korea

    Chul-Su Yang

  3. Korean Medicine (KM) Application Center, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daegu, 41062, Republic of Korea

    Jin Yeul Ma

Authors
  1. Prasanna Weeratunga
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  2. Thilina U. B. Herath
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  3. Tae-Hwan Kim
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  4. Hyun-Cheol Lee
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  5. Jae-Hoon Kim
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  6. Byeong-Hoon Lee
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  7. Eun-Seo Lee
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  8. Kiramage Chathuranga
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  9. W. A. Gayan Chathuranga
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  10. Chul-Su Yang
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  11. Jin Yeul Ma
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  12. Jong-Soo Lee
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Correspondence to Jong-Soo Lee.

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Weeratunga, P., Herath, T.U.B., Kim, TH. et al. Dense Granule Protein-7 (GRA-7) of Toxoplasma gondii inhibits viral replication in vitro and in vivo. J Microbiol. 55, 909–917 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-017-7392-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-017-7392-5

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