Termination of NF-κB activity through a gammaherpesvirus protein that assembles an EC(5)S ubiquitin-ligase

Host colonisation by lymphotropic gammaherpesviruses depends critically on the expansion of viral genomes in germinal centre (GC) B cells. Yet, host and virus molecular mechanisms involved in driving such proliferation remain largely unknown. Here, we show that the ORF73 protein encoded by the murid herpesvirus-4 (MuHV-4) inhibits host nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) transcriptional activity through poly-ubiquitination and subsequent proteasomal-dependent nuclear degradation of the NF-κB family member p65/RelA. The mechanism involves the assembly of an ElonginC/Cullin5/SOCS (suppressors of cytokine signalling)-like complex, mediated by an unconventional viral SOCS-box motif present in ORF73. Functional deletion of this SOCS-box motif ablated NF-κB inhibitory effect of ORF73, suppressed MuHV-4 expansion in GC B cells and prevented MuHV-4 persistent infection in mice. These findings demonstrate that viral inhibition of NF-κB activity in latently infected GC centroblasts is critical for the establishment of a gammaherpesvirus persistent infection, underscoring the physiological importance of proteasomal degradation of RelA/NF-κB as a regulatory mechanism of this signalling pathway.