Abstract

The RLR-mediated antiviral immune response is critical for host defense against RNA virus infection. However, the detailed mechanism for balancing the RLR signaling pathway in host cells is not well understood. We found that the phosphatase Cdc25A negatively regulates the RNA virus-induced innate immune response. Our studies indicate that Cdc25A inhibits the RLR signaling pathway via its phosphatase activity. We demonstrated that Cdc25A reduces TBK1 activity and consequently restrains the activation of IFN-β transcription as well as the antiviral status of nearby cells. We showed that Cdc25A can also inhibit DNA virus-induced activation of IFN-β. Taken together, our findings uncover a novel function and mechanism for Cdc25A in regulating antiviral immune signaling. These findings reveal Cdc25A as an important negative regulator of antiviral immunity and demonstrate its role in maintaining host cell homeostasis following viral infection. ABSTRACT The phosphatase Cdc25A plays an important role in cell cycle regulation by dephosphorylating its substrates, such as cyclin-dependent kinases. In this study, we demonstrate that Cdc25A negatively regulates RIG-I-mediated antiviral signaling. We found that ectopic expression of Cdc25A in 293T cells inhibits the activation of beta interferon (IFN-β) induced by Sendai virus and poly(I·C), while knockdown of Cdc25A enhances the transcription of IFN-β stimulated by RNA virus infection. The inhibitory effect of Cdc25A on the antiviral immune response is mainly dependent on its phosphatase activity. Data from a luciferase assay indicated that Cdc25A can inhibit TBK1-mediated activation of IFN-β. Further analysis indicated that Cdc25A can interact with TBK1 and reduce the phosphorylation of TBK1 at S172, which in turn decreases the phosphorylation of its downstream substrate IRF3.