Rotavirus interferon antagonist protein NSP1 interacts with cullin RING E3 ubiquitin ligases

What is it about?

NSP1 is a rotavirus protein that prevents interferon induction by degrading certain host proteins. In an effort to define how NSP1 induces protein degradation, we identified the cullin RING E3 ubiquitin ligase scaffolding protein Cul3 as an interactor with NSP1. However, Cul3 did not appear to be essential to the ability of NSP1 to induce degradation of IRF3 or beta-TrCP proteins.

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Why is it important?

Our findings are the first to identify the interaction of NSP1 with Cul3. The interaction of NSP1 with cullin RING ligases suggests a possible mechanism for degradation of IRF3 and beta-TrCP, two proteins that are essential for interferon activation. However, our results suggest that instead NSP1 utilizes this complex for another purpose during infection.