Hella Schwanke, Vladimir Gonçalves Magalhães, Stefan Schmelz, Emanuel Wyler, Thomas Hennig, Thomas Günther, Adam Grundhoff, Lars Dölken, Markus Landthaler, Marco van Ham, Lothar Jänsch, Konrad Büssow, Joop van den Heuvel, Wulf Blankenfeldt, Caroline C Friedel, Florian Erhard, Melanie M Brinkmann
Induction of type I interferon (IFN) gene expression is among the first lines of cellular defense a virus encounters during primary infection. We previously identified the tegument protein M35 of murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) as an essential antagonist of this antiviral system, showing that M35 interferes with type I IFN induction downstream of pattern-recognition receptor (PRR) activation. Here, we report structural and mechanistic details of M35's function. Determination of M35's crystal structure combined with reverse genetics revealed that homodimerization is a key feature for M35's immunomodulatory activity...
June 8, 2023: Journal of Virology