# Viral interaction with host eIF2alpha kinases

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2021 · $602,133

## Abstract

Summary
Viruses use many strategies to translate their mRNAs in the face of antiviral responses that would otherwise
block viral protein synthesis. The most prominent antiviral mechanism affecting protein synthesis is
phosphorylation of eukaryotic initation factor 2 (eIF2 by protein kinase R (PKR). Human adenoviruses
(hAds) overcome this via virus-associated (VA) RNAs that block PKR activation. However, mouse adenovirus
type 1 (MAV-1) does not encode VA RNAs; how MAV-1 successfully overcomes PKR is unknown. The role of
another eIF2 kinase, GCN2, in antiviral responses is less well appreciated, but it is antiviral against MAV-1.
There is a critical need to understand how PKR and GCN2 impact viral replication as part of the antiviral
response. The long-term goal is to increase fundamental knowledge about adenovirus-host interactions that
contribute to disease. The overall objective of this application is to determine how MAV-1 modulates host
eIF2 kinases and successfully replicates in the presence of these host antiviral defenses. The central
hypothesis is that MAV-1 overcomes the host antiviral response by reducing PKR levels, whereas MAV-1
activates but does not evade GCN2 in macrophages, target cells of viral replication. This hypothesis is based
on preliminary data that PKR is depleted in MAV-1 infections, GCN2-deficient macrophages produce more
virus, and GCN2-deficient mice are more susceptible and express more proinflammatory cytokines upon
MAV-1 infection than control mice. The rationale is that knowing how MAV-1 induces and counteracts the host
antiviral responses will enable manipulation of these responses and testing their effects in a powerful in vivo
model, which will increase understanding of disease. The specific aims are to determine 1) how MAV-1
counters the host PKR response, and 2) how the host GCN2 response protects mice from MAV-1 infection.
These aims will use assays of MAV-1 pathogenesis and molecular virology established in the applicant's
laboratory. In Aim 1, preliminary data showing that during infection PKR is degraded via the proteasome and
PKR translation is inhibited will be validated and extended to identify the mechanisms and whether specific
viral genes are responsible. Approaches will use viral mutants, PKR-/- mice and cells. Aim 2 will address how
the lack of GCN2 leads to higher mouse mortality and proinflammatory responses, and whether and how
MAV-1 induces GCN2 activation, using viral mutants, and wild type and GCN2-/- mice and cells. The approach
is innovative because it will elucidate for the first time how a DNA virus induces depletion of PKR, and it will
broaden the focus on eIF2 kinase GCN2 as a host antiviral response. The research is significant because it is
expected to have fundamental relevance to virus-host interactions and human disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10234144
- **Project number:** 5R01AI133935-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Katherine R. Spindler
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $602,133
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-24 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10234144

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10234144, Viral interaction with host eIF2alpha kinases (5R01AI133935-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-11 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10234144. Licensed CC0.

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