Owens, M. B. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2025

Rab11B is required for binding and entry of recent H3N2, but not H1N1, influenza A isolates

As an obligate intracellular parasite, influenza A virus (IAV) depends on host proteins to complete several important functions, including trafficking viral proteins throughout the cell. Previous work has established a critical role for the cellular vesicular trafficking protein, Rab11A, in transporting the viral genome segments to the site of budding at the plasma membrane. While the role of Rab11A in IAV assembly is relatively well understood, very little is known about the function of a closely related isoform (Rab11B) during influenza virus infection. We have shown that both Rab11A and Rab11B are required for successful IAV infection by current H1N1 or H3N2 isolates. Cells in which either Rab11A or Rab11B were depleted failed to efficiently produce virus, with significant reductions in infectious titer. Surprisingly, our data revealed that recent (2022) H3N2, but not H1N1, isolates failed to efficiently produce viral proteins in single-cycle infections when Rab11B (but not Rab11A) was depleted. Flow cytometry analysis suggests that the defect in protein production is driven by a reduction in the total number of infected cells, rather than a decrease in viral protein production at the single cell level. Using reverse genetics and 7+1 reassortant viruses we mapped this Rab11B-dependent early defect in recent H3N2 isolates to the HA gene. RT-qPCR analysis of H3N2 virions bound to the cell surface showed a [~]50% decrease in virus binding the surface of cells depleted of Rab11B, but not Rab11A. This data suggests a novel role for Rab11B during viral entry, likely at the stage of viral binding, that is specific to H3N2 isolates.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2025

Acyl-coA binding protein AcbdA regulates peroxisome hitchhiking on early endosomes

Motor-driven transport on microtubules is critical for distributing organelles throughout the cell. Most commonly, organelle movement is mediated by cargo adaptors, proteins on the surface of an organelle that directly recruit microtubule-based motors. An alternative mechanism called hitchhiking was recently discovered: some organelles move, not by recruiting the motors directly, but instead by using membrane contact sites to attach to motor-driven vesicles and hitchhike along microtubules. Organelle hitchhiking is observed across fungi and animals. In filamentous fungi, nearly all peroxisomes move by hitchhiking on early endosomes (EEs). In the fungus Aspergillus nidulans, EE-associated linker proteins PxdA and DipA are critical for establishing EE-peroxisome membrane contact sites required for peroxisome movement. How peroxisomes recognize this subset of EEs and what peroxisome-membrane proteins exist that can interact with EEs is not known. Here, we undertook a forward mutagenesis screen to identify such proteins. We discovered an acyl-coA binding (ACB) domain-containing protein AcbdA/AN1062 that localizes to peroxisomes via its tail-anchored transmembrane domain (TMD). Deleting the AcbdA gene or only its N-terminal ACB domain perturbs the movement and distribution of peroxisomes. Importantly, AcbdA is not required for the movement of EEs or for the recruitment of PxdA and DipA on EEs. Fatty acid (FA)-induced increases in peroxisome movement require AcbdA, suggesting that peroxisome hitchhiking on EEs is coupled to FA metabolism. Mutating a conserved FFAT motif, predicted to interact with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), has no effect on peroxisome movement. Taken together, our data indicate that AcbdA is a peroxisome-membrane protein required to tether peroxisomes to EEs during hitchhiking. AcbdAs involvement in peroxisome-EE contact site formation represents a divergence from known functions of Acbd4/5 proteins and adds layers to our understanding of the functionality of the Acbd4/5 family of proteins.

cell biology↗