The Role of IFITM Proteins in Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus Infection
Alicja Chmielewska, Maria Gómez-Herranz, Paulina Gach, Marta Nekulová, Małgorzata A. Bagnucka, Andrea D. Lipińska, Michał Rychłowski, Weronika Hoffmann, Ewelina Król, Bořivoj Vojtěšek, Richard D. Sloan, Krystyna Bieńkowska-Szewczyk, Ted R. Hupp, Kathryn L. Ball
Abstract
TBEV infection may result in encephalitis, chronic illness, or death. TBEV is endemic in northern Asia and Europe; however, due to climate change, new centers of endemicity have arisen. Although effective TBEV vaccines have been approved, vaccination coverage is low, and due to the lack of specific therapeutics, infected individuals depend on their immune responses to control the infection. IFITM proteins are components of the innate antiviral defenses that suppress cell entry of many viral pathogens. However, no studies on the role of IFITM proteins in TBEV infection have been published thus far. Understanding antiviral innate immune responses is crucial for the future development of antiviral strategies. Here, we show the important role of IFITM proteins in the inhibition of TBEV infection and virus-mediated cell death. However, our data suggest that TBEV cell-to-cell spread may be less prone to both interferon- and IFITM-mediated suppression, potentially facilitating escape from IFITM-mediated immunity.