PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Angela R. Harrison
AU  - Megan Dearnley
AU  - Shawn Todd
AU  - Diane Green
AU  - Glenn A. Marsh
AU  - Gregory W. Moseley
TI  - Antagonism of STAT3 signalling by Ebola virus
AID  - 10.1101/2020.08.10.245464
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.08.10.245464
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/08/10/2020.08.10.245464.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/08/10/2020.08.10.245464.full
AB  - Many viruses target signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) 1 and 2 to antagonise antiviral interferon (IFN) signalling, but targeting of signalling by other STATs/cytokines, including STAT3/interleukin (IL-) 6 that regulate processes important to Ebola virus (EBOV) haemorrhagic fever, is poorly defined. We report that EBOV potently inhibits STAT3 responses to IL-6 family cytokines, and that this is mediated by the IFN-antagonist VP24. Mechanistic analysis indicates that VP24 effects a unique strategy combining distinct karyopherin-dependent and karyopherin-independent mechanisms to antagonise STAT3-STAT1 heterodimers and STAT3 homodimers, respectively. This appears to reflect distinct mechanisms of nuclear trafficking of the STAT3 complexes, revealed for the first time by our analysis of VP24 function. These findings are consistent with major roles for global inhibition of STAT3 signalling in EBOV infection, and provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms of STAT3 nuclear trafficking, significant to pathogen-host interactions, cell physiology and pathologies such as cancer.Author summary Ebola virus (EBOV) continues to pose a significant risk to human health globally, causing ongoing disease outbreaks with case-fatality rates between 40 and 60%. Suppression of immune responses is a critical component of EBOV haemorrhagic fever, but understanding of EBOV impact on signalling by cytokines other than interferon is limited. We find that infectious EBOV inhibits interleukin-6 cytokine signalling via antagonism of STAT3. The antagonistic strategy uniquely combines two distinct mechanisms, which appear to reflect differing nuclear trafficking mechanisms of critical STAT3 complexes. This provides fundamental insights into the mechanisms of pathogenesis of a lethal virus, and biology of STAT3, a critical player in immunity, development, growth and cancer.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.