Elevation in type I interferons inhibits HCN1 and slows cortical neuronal oscillations

Central nervous system (CNS) inflammation involves the generation of inducible cytokines such as interferons (IFNs) and alterations in brain activity, yet the interplay of both is not well understood. Here, we show that in vivo elevation of IFNs by viral brain infection reduced hyperpolarization-activated currents (Ih) in cortical pyramidal neurons. In rodent brain slices directly exposed to type I IFNs, the hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide (HCN)-gated channel subunit HCN1 was specifically affected. The effect required an intact type I receptor (IFNAR) signaling cascade. Consistent with Ih inhibition, IFNs hyperpolarized the resting membrane potential, shifted the resonance fre…

Rac1 and PAK1 are upstream of IKK-ε and TBK-1 in the viral activation of interferon regulatory factor-3

The anti-viral type I interferon (IFN) response is initiated by the immediate induction of IFN beta, which is mainly controlled by the IFN-regulatory factor-3 (IRF-3). The signaling pathways mediating viral IRF-3 activation are only poorly defined. We show that the Rho GTPase Rac1 is activated upon virus infection and controls IRF-3 phosphorylation and activity. Inhibition of Rac1 leads to reduced IFN beta promoter activity and to enhanced virus production. As a downstream mediator of Rac signaling towards IRF-3, we have identified the kinase p21-activated kinase (PAK1). Furthermore, both Rac1 and PAK1 regulate the recently described IRF-3 activators, I kappa B kinase- and TANK-binding kina…

The Kelch protein NS1-BP interacts with alpha-enolase/MBP-1 and is involved in c-Myc gene transcriptional control

Alpha-enolase is a key glycolytic enzyme that plays a functional role in several physiological processes depending on the cellular localization. The enzyme is mainly localized in the cytoplasm whereas an alternative translated form, named MBP-1, is predominantly nuclear. The MBP-1 protein has been characterized as a c-Myc promoter binding protein that negatively controls transcription. In the present study, we identified the kelch protein NS1-BP as one of the alpha-enolase/MBP-1 partners by using a yeast two-hybrid screening. Although NS1-BP has been originally described as a protein mainly localized in the nucleus, we provide evidence that NS1-BP also interacts with actin in human cells, a…

The kelch protein NS1-BP interacts with alpha-enolase/MBP-1 and is involved in c-Myc gene transcriptional control