α 5 β 1 -Integrin controls ebolavirus entry by regulating endosomal cathepsins

Abstract

Integrins are involved in the binding and internalization of both enveloped and nonenveloped viruses. By using 3 distinct cell systems—CHO cells lacking expression of α₅β₁-integrin, HeLa cells treated with siRNA to α₅-integrin, and mouse β₁-integrin knockout fibroblasts, we show that α₅β₁-integrin is required for efficient infection by pseudovirions bearing the ebolavirus glycoprotein (GP). These integrins are necessary for viral entry but not for binding or internalization. Given the need for endosomal cathepsins B and L (CatB and CatL) to prime GPs for fusion, we investigated the status of CatB and CatL in integrin-positive and integrin-negative cell lines. α₅β₁-Integrin-deficient cells lacked the double-chain (DC) forms of CatB and CatL, and this correlated with decreased CatL activity in integrin-negative CHO cells. These data indicate that α₅β₁-integrin-negative cells may be refractory to infection by GP pseudovirions because they lack the necessary priming machinery (the double-chain forms of CatB and CatL). In support of this model, we show that GP pseudovirions that have been preprimed in vitro to generate the 19-kDa form of GP overcome the requirement for α₅β₁-integrin for infection. These results provide further support for the requirement for endosomal cathepsins for ebolavirus infection, identify the DC forms of these cathepsins as previously unrecognized factors that contribute to cell tropism of this virus, and reveal a previously undescribed role for integrins during viral entry as regulators of endosomal cathepsins, which are required to prime the entry proteins of ebolavirus and other pathogenic viruses.