Viral deubiquitinases: role in evasion of anti-viral innate immunity

Abstract

Host anti-viral innate-immune signalling pathways are regulated by a variety of post-translation modifications including ubiquitination, which is critical to regulate various signalling pathways for synthesis of anti-viral molecules. A homeostasis of host immune responses, induced due to viral infection and further ubiquitination, is maintained by the action of deubiquitinases (DUB). Infecting viruses utilize the process of deubiquitination for tricking host immune system wherein viral DUBs compete with host DUBs for inhibition of innate-immune anti-viral signalling pathways, which instead of maintaining an immune homeostasis bring about virus-mediated pathogenesis. This suggests that viruses co-evolve with their hosts to acquire similar machinery for tricking immune surveillance and establishing infection.

Keywords:

• Viruses
• anti-viral innate-immune signalling
• pattern recognition receptors
• type I interferons
• viral deubiquitinases
• host deubiquitinases

Acknowledgements

We thank Late Dr. Sathish Narayanan (IISER Bhopal) for introducing us to this topic and Prof. Wade Gibson (The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine) for various suggestions in the field of viral deubiquitinases.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no declarations of interest.

Additional information

Funding

PK thanks, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India, for research fellowship support.