Myxoma virus Leukemia-associated protein is responsible for major histocompatibility complex class I and Fas-CD95 down-regulation and defines scrapins, a new group of surface cellular receptor abductor proteins
ABSTRACTDown-modulation of major histocompatibility class I (MHC-I) molecules is a viral strategy for survival in the host.Myxoma virus, a member of thePoxviridaefamily responsible for rabbit myxomatosis, can down-modulate the expression of MHC-I molecules, but the viral factor(s) has not been described. We cloned and characterized a gene coding for an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident protein containing an atypical zinc finger and two transmembrane domains, which we called myxoma virus leukemia-associated protein (MV-LAP). MV-LAP down-regulated surface MHC-I and Fas-CD95 molecules upon transfection; the mechanism probably involves an exacerbation of endocytosis and was lost when the ER r…
Role of tir and intimin in the virulence of rabbit enteropathogenic Escherichia coli serotype O103:H2.
ABSTRACT Attaching and effacing (A/E) rabbit enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (REPEC) strains belonging to serogroup O103 are an important cause of diarrhea in weaned rabbits. Like human EPEC strains, they possess the locus of enterocyte effacement clustering the genes involved in the formation of the A/E lesions. In addition, pathogenic REPEC O103 strains produce an Esp-dependent but Eae (intimin)-independent alteration of the host cell cytoskeleton characterized by the formation of focal adhesion complexes and the reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton into bundles of stress fibers. To investigate the role of intimin and its translocated coreceptor (Tir) in the pathogenicity of REPEC, …