PKR-mediated stress response enhances dengue and Zika virus replication

The mechanisms by which flaviviruses use non-canonical translation to support their replication in host cells are largely unknown. Here, we investigated how the integrated stress response (ISR), which promotes translational arrest by eIF2ɑ phosphorylation (p-eIF2ɑ), regulates flavivirus replication. During dengue virus (DENV) and Zika virus (ZIKV) infection, eIF2ɑ phosphorylation peaked at 24 hours post-infection and was dependent on protein kinase RNA-activated (PKR) but not type I interferon. The ISR is activated downstream of p-eIF2α during infection with either virus, but translation arrest only occurred following DENV4 infection. Despite this difference, both DENV4 and ZIKV replications were impaired in cells lacking PKR, independent of type I interferon/NF-kB signaling or cell viability. By using a ZIKV 5′-untranslated region (UTR) reporter system as a model, we found that this region of the genome is sufficient to promote an enhancement of viral mRNA translation in the presence of an active ISR. Together, we provide evidence that flaviviruses escape ISR translational arrest and co-opt this response to increase viral replication. IMPORTANCE: One of the fundamental features that make viruses intracellular parasites is the necessity to use cellular translational machinery. Hence, this is a crucial checkpoint for controlling infections. Here, we show that dengue and Zika viruses, responsible for nearly 400 million infections every year worldwide, explore such control for optimal replication. Using immunocompetent cells, we demonstrate that arrest of protein translations happens after sensing of dsRNA and that the information required to avoid this blocking is contained in viral 5′-UTR. Our work, therefore, suggests that the non-canonical translation described for these viruses is engaged when the intracellular stress response is activated.