Inclusion Body Fusion of Human Parainfluenza Virus Type 3 Regulated by Acetylated α-Tubulin Enhances Viral Replication

Abstract

Inclusion bodies (IBs) are unique structures generated by viral proteins and some cellular proteins as a platform for efficient viral replication. Human parainfluenza virus type 3 (HPIV3) is a nonsegmented single-stranded RNA virus that mainly causes lower respiratory tract disease in infants and young children. However, no vaccines or antiviral drugs for HPIV3 are available. Therefore, understanding virus-host interactions and developing new antiviral strategies are increasingly important. Acetylation on lysine (K) 40 of α-tubulin is an evolutionarily conserved modification and plays an important role in many cellular processes, but its role in viral IB dynamics has not been fully explored. To our knowledge, our findings are the first to show that acetylated α-tubulin enhances viral replication by regulating HPIV3 IB fusion.