Rabies virus (RABV), a member of Lyssavirus of Rhabdoviridae family, is a kind of negative-strand RNA virus. The zoonosis caused by RABV leads to high mortality in animals and humans. Though with the extensive investigation, the mechanisms of RABV entry into cells have not been well characterized. Chemical inhibitors and RNA interference (RNAi) were used to analysis RABV internalization pathway. The expression level of viral N protein was examined by quantitative PCR and western blot, and the virus infection in the cells was visualized by fluorescence microscopy. We firstly examined the endocytosis pathway of the challenge virus standard (CVS) -11 strain in N2a cells. Chlorpromazine treatment and knockdown of clathrin heavy chain (CHC) significantly reduced viral entry, which proved clathrin was required. Meanwhile neither nystatin nor knocking down caveolin-1 (Cav1) in N2a cells had an effect on CVS-11 infection, suggesting that caveolae was independent for CVS-11 internalization. And when cholesterol of cell membrane was extracted by MβCD, viral infection was strongly impacted. Additionally by using the specific inhibitor dynasore and ammonium chloride, we verified that dynamin and a low-pH environment were crucial for RABV infection, which was confirmed by confocal microscopy. Our results demonstrated that CVS-11 entered N2a cells through a clathrin-mediated, cholesterol-, pH-, dynamin-required, and caveolae-independent endocytic pathway.

Identification of cellular proteins interacting with influenza A virus PB1-F2 protein

Since 2007, h9.4.2.5 has emerged as the most predominant branch of H9N2 avian influenza viruses (AIVs) that affects the majority of the global poultry population. The spread of this viral branch in vaccinated chicken flocks has not been considerably curbed despite numerous efforts. The evolutionary fitness of h9.4.2.5-branched AIVs must consequently be taken into consideration. The glycosylation modifications of hemagglutinin (HA) play a pivotal role in regulating the balance between receptor affinity and immune evasion for influenza viruses. Sequence alignment showed that five major HA glycosylation patterns have evolved over time in h9.4.2.5-branched AIVs. Here, we compared the adaptive phenotypes of five virus mutants with different HA glycosylation patterns. According to the results, the mutant with 6 N-linked glycans displayed the best acid and thermal stability and a better capacity for multiplication, although having a relatively lower receptor affinity than 7 glycans. The antigenic profile between the five mutants revealed a distinct antigenic distance, indicating that variations in glycosylation level have an impact on antigenic drift. These findings suggest that changes in the number of glycans on HA can not only modulate the receptor affinity and antigenicity of H9N2 AIVs, but also affect their stability and multiplication. These adaptive phenotypes may underlie the biological basis for the dominant strain switchover of h9.4.2.5-branched AIVs. Overall, our study provides a systematic insight into how changes in HA glycosylation patterns regulate the evolutionary fitness and epidemiological dominance drift of h9.4.2.5-branched H9N2 AIVs, which will be of great benefit for the glycosylation-dependent vaccine design.