The C-terminal 42 residues of the Tula virus Gn protein regulate interferon induction

Hantaviruses primarily infect the endothelial cell lining of capillaries and cause two vascular permeability-based diseases. The ability of pathogenic hantaviruses to regulate the early induction of interferon determines whether hantaviruses replicate in endothelial cells. Tula virus (TULV) and Prospect Hill virus (PHV) are hantaviruses which infect human endothelial cells but fail to cause human disease. PHV is unable to inhibit early interferon (IFN) responses and fails to replicate within human endothelial cells. However, TULV replicates successfully in human endothelial cells, suggesting that TULV is capable of regulating cellular IFN responses. We observed a >300-fold reduction in the IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs) MxA and ISG56 following TULV versus PHV infection of endothelial cells 1 day postinfection. Similar to results with pathogenic hantaviruses, expressing the TULV Gn protein cytoplasmic tail (Gn-T) blocked RIG-I- and TBK1-directed transcription from IFN-stimulated response elements (ISREs) and IFN-β promoters (>90%) but not transcription directed by constitutively active IFN regulatory factor-3 (IRF3). In contrast, expressing the PHV Gn-T had no effect on TBK1-induced transcriptional responses. Analysis of Gn-T truncations demonstrated that the C-terminal 42 residues of the Gn-T (Gn-T-C42) from TULV, but not PHV, inhibited IFN induction >70%. These findings demonstrate that the TULV Gn-T inhibits IFN- and ISRE-directed responses upstream of IRF3 at the level of the TBK1 complex and further define a 42-residue domain of the TULV Gn-T that inhibits IFN induction. In contrast to pathogenic hantavirus Gn-Ts, the TULV Gn-T lacks a C-terminal degron domain and failed to bind tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor-associated factor 3 (TRAF3), a TBK1 complex component required for IRF3 activation. These findings indicate that the nonpathogenic TULV Gn-T regulates IFN induction but accomplishes this via unique interactions with cellular TBK1 complexes. These findings fundamentally distinguish nonpathogenic hantaviruses, PHV and TULV, and demonstrate that IFN regulation alone is insufficient for hantaviruses to cause disease. Yet regulating the early IFN response is necessary for hantaviruses to replicate within human endothelial cells and to be pathogenic. Thus, in addition to IFN regulation, hantaviruses contain discrete virulence determinants which permit them to be human pathogens.