Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 5, 2025

Paramyxoviruses for Tumor-targeted Immunomodulation: Design and Evaluation Ex Vivo
Published on: January 7, 2019
The conserved poxvirus membrane entry-fusion apparatus component OPG147 targets MITA/STING for immune evasion
Xue-Mei Yi1, Mi Li1, Su-Yun Wang2
1Department of Infectious Diseases, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Hubei Provincial Research Center for Basic Biological Sciences, Medical Research Institute, Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, Taikang Center for Life and Medical Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
None:
Monkeypox virus (MPXV) causes severe diseases in immunocompromised individuals. How MPXV evades the host defense remain enigmatic. We performed expression screens and identified MPXV OPG147, a membrane fusion machinery protein, as an inhibitor of cGAS-MITA/STING-mediated innate immunity. OPG147 from other poxviruses including the prototypic vaccinia virus (VACV) shows similar functions. OPG147 is associated with MITA/STING and STIM1, a calcium sensor that retains MITA/STING in the ER. OPG147 does not block cGAMP binding to MITA, but inhibits its ISGylation, dimerization/oligomerization and trafficking, thereby suppressing its activation. Mutation of VACV OPG147 F55/T116/T117 to alanine (VACVOPG147/3A) has no effects on its infection and replication, but induces higher innate immune response compared with wild-type VACV in cells and mice. VACVOPG147/3A infection also results in lower viral loads and decreased disease severity in mice. Our findings suggest that OPG147 contributes to immune evasion and is a virulence factor of poxviruses.
Related Concept Videos
Cancer Cell Migration through Invadopodia
SNAREs and Membrane Fusion
SNAREs exist in pairs that symmetrically interact and catalyze the fusion of the lipid bilayers in vesicle and target organelle. v-SNARE in the vesicle membrane are single polypeptide chains that bind to a complementary t-SNARE, composed of 2...
Surface Membrane Barriers
The outer layer of the skin, the epidermis, is a robust barrier comprising layers of closely packed keratinized cells. This dense arrangement prevents microbes from penetrating the body. The periodic shedding of epidermal cells...
Immune Response Against Viral Pathogens
NK Cells
NK cells are a crucial part of our innate immune system, acting as the first line of defense against viral infections. These cells can recognize and kill infected cells without prior exposure to the virus, effectively slowing down the spread of infection. Additionally, NK cells produce proinflammatory...
Mechanism of Filopodia Formation
Their main function is to guide migrating cells during normal tissue morphogenesis or cancer metastasis by recognizing and making initial contacts with the extracellular matrix. However, they can also act as stationary cell anchors or help to establish communication...
Immunoglobulin-like Cell Adhesion Molecules
Ig-CAMs exhibit either homophilic binding (to other Ig-CAMs) or heterophilic binding (to other ligands such as integrins). While most Ig-CAMs...

