J. Virol. doi:10.1128/JVI.02403-07
Copyright (c) 2008, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.
The ERM family member ezrin regulates stable microtubule formation and retroviral infection
Juliane Haedicke,
Kenia de los Santos,
Stephen P. Goff,
and
Mojgan H. Naghavi*
Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine and Medical Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email:
mojgan.naghavi{at}ucd.ie.
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Abstract |
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We recently identified the cytoskeletal regulatory protein moesin as a novel gene that inhibits retroviral replication prior to reverse transcription by downregulation of stable microtubule formation. Here, we provide evidence that overexpression of ezrin, another closely related ERM (ezrin-radixin-moesin) family member, also blocks replication of both murine leukemia viruses (MLVs) and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in Rat2 fibroblasts before reverse transcription while knockdown of endogenous ezrin increases susceptibility of human cells to HIV-1 infection. Together, these results suggest that ERM proteins may be important determinants of retrovirus susceptibility through negative regulation of stable microtubule networks.