| Title | Dense Granule Protein-7 (GRA-7) of Toxoplasma gondii inhibits viral replication in vitro and in vivo |
|---|---|
| Author | Prasanna Weeratunga1, Thilina U. B. Herath1, Tae-Hwan Kim1, Hyun-Cheol Lee1, Jae-Hoon Kim1, Byeong-Hoon Lee1, Eun-Seo Lee1, Kiramage Chathuranga1, W. A. Gayan Chathuranga1, Chul-Su Yang2, Jin Yeul Ma3, and Jong-Soo Lee1* |
| Address | 1College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea, 2Department of Molecular and Life Science, College of Science and Technology, Hanyang University, Ansan 15588, Republic of Korea, 3Korean Medicine (KM) Application Center, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daegu 41062, Republic of Korea |
| Bibliography | Journal of Microbiology, 55(11),909-917, 2017, |
| DOI | 10.1007/s12275-017-7392-5 |
| Key Words | Toxoplasma gondii, GRA-7, antiviral activity |
| 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 (VSVGFP), 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. |