The E3 ligase TRIM56 is a host restriction factor of Zika virus and depends on its RNA-binding activity but not miRNA regulation, for antiviral function

Yang, Darong; Li, Nan L.; Wei, Dahai; Liu, Baoming; Guo, Fang; Elbahesh, Husni; Zhang, Yunzhi; Zhou, Zhi; Chen, Guo-Yun; Li, Kui

Ectopic expression of Flag-tagged TRIM56 or empty control vector was achieved in 293T-WT and No-Dice (4-25) cells by retroviral-mediated gene transfer, and there was comparable expression of Flag-TRIM56 between the two cell lines (Fig 6D, compare lanes 4 vs 2) . Following ZIKV infection, profound reductions in ZIKV E and NS5 protein levels were observed in TRIM56-overexpressing cells as compared with control vector-transduced cells, irrespective of Dicer deficiency (Fig 6D) . The same could be said of intracellular viral RNA replication (Fig 6E) or progeny virus production ( Fig 6F) . Collectively, these data show that the deficiency of Dicer does not undermine the inhibitory effect of TRIM56 on ZIKV infection, suggesting an antiviral mechanism independent of the biogenesis of or regulation by host miRNAs.