Abstract：Fatty acylation, a posttranslational modification of proteins, is classified into four fundamental forms：palmitoylation, myristoylation, prenylation, and the covalent binding of glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI). All forms of fatty acylation may occur on the proteins from a variety of viruses. And the modified proteins are consequently altered in functions. Palmitoylation regulates the intercellular transportation and location of viral transmembrane proteins via enhancing the hydrophobicity, which is involved in the membrane fusion, assembly, and release during virus infection and replication. Through the regulation of the positive charges of protein’s surfaces, myristoylation changes the affinity between the cellular membrane and some viral proteins, for example, the modification of preS1 increases the receptor recognition and infectivity of both hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis D virus (HDV), and the myristoylation of Nef is necessary for regulation of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and immunity. The interaction of viral free proteins with the membrane compartments or other proteins is increased after prenylation. For example, prenylation could facilitate L-HDAg’s trafficking to endoplasmic reticulum, in which the proteins are assembled into HDV virions together with HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) and HDV RNA . Additionally, GPI binds to viral proteins covalently, and the GPI moiety would change the membrane structure or cytoplasmic phospholipid components of infected cells. For example, GPI modification induced the cross-linkage of cellular prion protein (PrPC) and agglutination of scrapie prion protein (PrPSC), which is involved in the spongiform pathogenesis induced by the prions. It would be greatly beneficial for both design and development of new antiviral drugs when the mechanism of lipid modification of viral proteins is further uncovered.
刘红，叶荣. 病毒蛋白脂酰化及其功能[J]. 微生物与感染, 2014, 9(2): 122-130.
LIU Hong, YE Rong. Fatty acylation and altered functions of viral proteins. JOURNAL OF MICROBES AND INFECTIONS, 2014, 9(2): 122-130.
