Structurally diverse viral inhibitors converge on a shared mechanism to stall the antigen transporter TAP

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Lee, James; Manon, Victor; Chen, Jue
• 署名单位: Rockefeller University; Howard Hughes Medical Institute
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-13531
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2516676122
• 发表日期: 2025-09-23
• 关键词: epstein-barr-virus; beam-induced motion; class-i molecules; complex class-i; endoplasmic-reticulum; peptide translocation; functional dissection; cell-surface; atp binding; lytic cycle

摘要

In the host-pathogen arms race, herpesviruses and poxviruses encode proteins that sabotage the transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP), thereby suppressing MHC-I antigen presentation and enabling lifelong infection. Of the five known viral TAP inhibitors, only the herpes simplex virus (HSV) protein ICP47 has been structurally resolved. We now report cryoelectron microscopy structures of TAP in complex with the remaining four: BNLF2a (Epstein-Barr virus), hUS6 (human cytomegalovirus), bUL49.5 (bovine herpesvirus 1), and CPXV012 (cowpox virus), assembling a structural atlas of viral TAP evasion. Despite employing divergent sequences, folds, and conformational targets, these viral inhibitors converge on a common strategy: they stall TAP from the alternating access cycle, precluding peptide entry into the ER and shielding infected cells from cytotoxic T cell surveillance. These findings reveal striking functional convergence and provide a structural framework for rational antiviral design.