Generation and Assembly of Virus-Specific Nucleocapsids of the Respiratory Syncytial Virus

Summary

For in-depth mechanistic analysis of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) RNA synthesis, we report a protocol of utilizing the chaperone phosphoprotein (P) for coexpression of the RNA-free nucleoprotein (N⁰) for subsequent in vitro assembly of the virus-specific nucleocapsids (NCs).

Abstract

The use of an authentic RNA template is critical to advance the fundamental knowledge of viral RNA synthesis that can guide both mechanistic discovery and assay development in virology. The RNA template of nonsegmented negative-sense (NNS) RNA viruses, such as the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), is not an RNA molecule alone but rather a nucleoprotein (N) encapsidated ribonucleoprotein complex. Despite the importance of the authentic RNA template, the generation and assembly of such a ribonucleoprotein complex remain sophisticated and require in-depth elucidation. The main challenge is that the overexpressed RSV N binds non-specifically to cellular RNAs to form random nucleocapsid-like particles (NCLPs). Here, we established a protocol to obtain RNA-free N (N⁰) first by co-expressing N with a chaperone phosphoprotein (P), then assembling N⁰ with RNA oligos with the RSV-specific RNA sequence to obtain virus-specific nucleocapsids (NCs). This protocol shows how to overcome the difficulty in the preparation of this traditionally challenging viral ribonucleoprotein complex.

Introduction

Nonsegmented negative-sense (NNS) RNA viruses include many significant human pathogens, such as rabies, Ebola, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)^1,2. RSV is the leading cause of respiratory illness such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia in young children and older adults worldwide³. Currently, no effective vaccines or antiviral therapies are available to prevent or treat RSV⁴. As part of the life cycle, the RSV genome serves as the template for replication by the RSV RNA dependent RNA polymerase to produce an antigenome, which in turn acts as the template to gene....

Protocol

1. Molecular cloning

NOTE: Ligase Independent Cloning (LIC) was used to make an RSV bi-cistronic coexpression construct plasmid. LIC is a method developed in the early 1990s, which uses the 3’-5’ Exo activity of the T4 DNA  polymerase to create overhangs with complementarity between the vector and the DNA insert^21,22. The constructs were made using the 2BT-10 vector DNA, which consists of a 10x His tag at the N-terminal of the Open Reading Frame (ORF) (Figure 1).

1. Perform linearization of LIC vectors using SS....

Results

Purification of RNA-free N⁰P protein
With this protocol, a large-scale soluble heterodimeric RSV N⁰P complex can be obtained. The full length of N and N terminal part of P proteins were co-expressed with 10X His-Tag on the N protein in E. coli. N⁰P was purified using a cobalt column, ion exchange, and size exclusion chromatography. N⁰P contains both the full-length N and N terminal P but did not contain cellular RNA based on the UV absorbance A

Discussion

The known nucleocapsid-like particle (NCLP) structures of the nonsegmented negative-sense (NNS) RNA viruses show that the assembled NCLPs are the complex N with host cellular RNAs when overexpressed in bacterial or eukaryotic expression systems^{15,16,17,18,19}. Previous studies have attempted to get the RNA free N with a variety of methods, such as the RNase A d.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Agarose	SIgma	A9539-500G	making construct using LIC method
Amicon Ultra-15 Centrifugal Filter Unit	Millipore	UFC901024	concentrate the protein sample
Ampicillin sodium	GOLD BIOTECHNOLOGY	5118.111317A	antibiotic for cell culture
AseI	NEB	R0526S	making construct using LIC method
Cobalt (High Density) Agarose Beads	Gold Bio	H-310-500	For purification of His-tag protein
Corning LSE Digital Dry Bath Heater	CORNING	6885-DB	Heate the sample
dCTP	Invitrogen	10217016	making construct using LIC method
dGTP	Invitrogen	10218014	making construct using LIC method
Glycerol	Sigma	G5516-4L	making solution
HEPES	Sigma	H3375-100G	making solution
HiTrap Q HP	Sigma	GE29-0513-25	Protein purification
Imidazole	Sigma	I5513-100G	making solution
IPTG (Isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside)	GOLD BIOTECHNOLOGY	1116.071717A	induce the expression of protein
Microcentrifuge Tubes	VWR	47730-598	for PCR
Misonix Sonicator XL2020 Ultrasonic Liquid Processor	SpectraLab	MSX-XL-2020	sonicator for lysing cell
Negative stain grids	Electron Microscopy Sciences	CF400-Cu-TH	For making negative stain grids
New Brunswick Innova 44/44R	eppendorf	M1282-0000	Shaker for culturing the cell
Nonidet P 40 Substitute	Sigma	74385-1L	making solution
OneTaq DNA Polymerase	NEB	M0480L	PCR
QIAquick Gel Extraction Kit	QIAGEN	28706	Purify DNA
SSPI-HF	NEB	R3132S	making construct using LIC method
Superose 6 Increase 10/300 GL	Sigma	GE29-0915-96	Protein purification
T4 DNA polymerase	Sigma	70099-3	making construct using LIC method
Thermo Scientific Sorvall RC 6 Plus Centrifuge	Fisher Scientific	36-101-0816	Centrifuge, highest speed 20,000 rpm
Trizma hydrochloride	Sigma	T3253-250G	making solution
Uranyl Formate	Electron Microscopy Sciences	22451	making negative stain solution