Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV, order Bunyavirales, family Nairoviridae, genus Orthonairovirus) is the tick-borne etiological agent of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) in humans. Animals are generally susceptible to CCHFV infection but refractory to disease. Small animal models are limited to interferon-deficient mice, that develop acute fatal disease following infection. Here, using a ZsGreen1- (ZsG) expressing reporter virus (CCHFV/ZsG), we examine tissue tropism and dissemination of virus in interferon-α/β receptor knock-out (Ifnar-/-) mice. We demonstrate that CCHFV/ZsG retains in vivo pathogenicity comparable to wild-type virus. Interestingly, despite high levels of viral RNA in all organs assessed, 2 distribution patterns of infection were observed by both fluorescence and immunohistochemistry (IHC), corresponding to the permissiveness of organ tissues. To further investigate viral dissemination and to temporally define cellular targets of CCHFV in vivo, mice were serially euthanized at different stages of disease. Flow cytometry was used to characterize CCHFV-associated alterations in hematopoietic cell populations and to classify infected cells in the blood, lymph node, spleen, and liver. ZsG signal indicated that mononuclear phagocytic cells in the lymphatic tissues were early targets of infection; in late-stage infection, overall, the highest levels of signal were detected in the liver, and ZsG was found in both antigen-presenting and lymphocyte cell populations.

Paramyxoviruses represent a family of RNA viruses causing significant human diseases. These include measles virus, the most infectious virus ever reported, in addition to parainfluenza virus, and other emerging viruses. Paramyxoviruses likely share common replication machinery but their mechanisms of RNA biosynthesis activities and details of their complex polymerase structures are unknown. Mechanistic and functional details of a paramyxovirus polymerase would have sweeping implications for understanding RNA virus replication and for the development of new antiviral medicines. To study paramyxovirus polymerase structure and function, we expressed an active recombinant Nipah virus (NiV) polymerase complex assembled from the multifunctional NiV L protein bound to its phosphoprotein cofactor. NiV is an emerging highly pathogenic virus that causes severe encephalitis and has been declared a global public health concern due to its high mortality rate. Using negative-stain electron microscopy, we demonstrated NiV polymerase forms ring-like particles resembling related RNA polymerases. We identified conserved sequence elements driving recognition of the 3'-terminal genomic promoter by NiV polymerase, and leading to initiation of RNA synthesis, primer extension, and transition to elongation mode. Polyadenylation resulting from NiV polymerase stuttering provides a mechanistic basis for transcription termination. It also suggests a divergent adaptation in promoter recognition between pneumo- and paramyxoviruses. The lack of available antiviral therapy for NiV prompted us to identify the triphosphate forms of R1479 and GS-5734, two clinically relevant nucleotide analogs, as substrates and inhibitors of NiV polymerase activity by delayed chain termination. Overall, these findings provide low-resolution structural details and the mechanism of an RNA polymerase from a previously uncharacterized virus family. This work illustrates important functional differences yet remarkable similarities between the polymerases of nonsegmented negative-strand RNA viruses.

The ability of a New World (NW) clade B arenavirus to enter cells using human transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) strictly correlates with its ability to cause hemorrhagic fever. Amapari (AMAV) and Tacaribe (TCRV), two nonpathogenic NW clade B arenaviruses that do not use human TfR1, are closely related to the NW arenaviruses that cause hemorrhagic fevers. Here we show that pseudotyped viruses bearing the surface glycoprotein (GP) of AMAV or TCRV can infect cells using the TfR1 orthologs of several mammalian species, including those of their respective natural hosts, the small rodent Neacomys spinosus and the fruit bat Artibeus jamaicensis. Mutation of one residue in human TfR1 makes it a functional receptor for TCRV, and mutation of four residues makes it a functional receptor for AMAV. Our data support an in vivo role for TfR1 in the replication of most, if not all, NW clade B arenaviruses, and suggest that with modest changes in their GPs the nonpathogenic arenaviruses could use human TfR1 and emerge as human pathogens.

Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is a negative-strand RNA virus of the family Bunyaviridae (genus: Nairovirus). In humans, CCHFV causes fever, hemorrhage, severe thrombocytopenia, and high fatality. A major impediment in precisely determining the basis of CCHFV's high pathogenicity has been the lack of methodology to produce recombinant CCHFV. We developed a reverse genetics system based on transfecting plasmids into BSR-T7/5 and Huh7 cells. In our system, bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase produced complementary RNA copies of the viral S, M, and L segments that were encapsidated with the support, in trans, of CCHFV nucleoprotein and L polymerase. The system was optimized to systematically recover high yields of infectious CCHFV. Additionally, we tested the ability of the system to produce specifically designed CCHFV mutants. The M segment encodes a polyprotein that is processed by host proprotein convertases (PCs), including the site-1 protease (S1P) and furin-like PCs. S1P and furin cleavages are necessary for producing the non-structural glycoprotein GP38, while S1P cleavage yields structural Gn. We studied the role of furin cleavage by rescuing a recombinant CCHFV encoding a virus glycoprotein precursor lacking a functional furin cleavage motif (RSKR mutated to ASKA). The ASKA mutation blocked glycoprotein precursor's maturation to GP38, and Gn precursor's maturation to Gn was slightly diminished. Furin cleavage was not essential for replication, as blocking furin cleavage resulted only in transient reduction of CCHFV titers, suggesting that either GP38 and/or decreased Gn maturation accounted for the reduced virion production. Our data demonstrate that nairoviruses can be produced by reverse genetics, and the utility of our system uncovered a function for furin cleavage. This viral rescue system could be further used to study the CCHFV replication cycle and facilitate the development of efficacious vaccines to counter this biological and public health threat.