The Preliminary Study on the Inhibitory Effect of Overexpression of HSP27 in Encephalomyocarditis Virus Replication

LI Qian^1,2, MA Ruixian^1,2, XU Shujuan^1,2, CHEN Yanhong², LI Xiangrong¹, FENG Ruofei¹*

(¹Key Laboratory of Biotechnology & Bioengineering of State Ethnic Affairs Commission, Biomedical Research Center, Northwest Minzu University, Lanzhou 730030, China; ²College of Life Science and Engineering, Northwest Minzu University, Lanzhou 730030, China)

Abstract:

HSP27 has been shown to play an important role in the life cycle of some viruses, but its regulatory role in EMCV infection is still unclear. In this study, the plasmid pCMV Myc-HSP27 of human HSP27 was constructed and expressed in HEK293 cells, then inoculated with EMCV to detect the replication of the virus and the expression of related pathway proteins. The results showed that overexpression of HSP27 could inhibit the replication of EMCV in host cells. Further analysis indicated that HSP27 might negatively regulate the replication of EMCV by positively regulating the expression of adaptor proteins MAVS, TBK1, and IRF3 in the IFN-β signaling pathway and preventing the fusion of autophagosome and lysosome. In summary, this study is the first to show that HSP27 inhibits EMCV replication through the IFN-β signaling pathway and autophagy pathway. These findings provide new insights for revealing the regulatory role of host factors and potential antiviral targets in EMCV infection.