Open AccessAlteration of the actin-based cytoskeleton by rabies virus.
Author(s) -
P. E. Ceccaldi,
Flavia Valtorta,
Sandrine Braud,
Raymond Hellio,
H Tsiang
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of general virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.55
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1465-2099
pISSN - 0022-1317
DOI - 10.1099/0022-1317-78-11-2831
Subject(s) - virology , biology , rabies virus , rabies , virus , actin , cytoskeleton , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , cell
We investigated the effect of rabies virus infection on the actin cytoskeleton using various techniques. Confocal microscopic examination of rabies virus-infected neuroblastoma cells at late stages of infection revealed a dramatic decrease in F-actin staining. The results of a fluorimetric assay with pyrenylated actin indicated that purified rabies virus nucleocapsid has no direct action on the kinetics of actin polymerization and only a weak effect on the final extent of polymerization. Video-microscopy experiments with purified components showed that rabies virus nucleocapsid inhibits the actin-bundling effect induced by dephospho-synapsin I, a neuron-specific protein which is known to exert a control on the actin-based cytoskeleton. Thus, the observed decrease in F-actin staining in infected cells might be ascribed to an indirect action of rabies nucleocapsid on the effects of actin-binding proteins such as synapsin I.