Zinc Finger CCCH-Type Antiviral Protein 1 Restricts the Viral Replication by Positively Regulating Type I Interferon Response

Zinc finger CCCH-type antiviral protein 1 (ZC3HAV1) is a host antiviral factor that can repress translation and promote degradation of specific viral mRNAs. In this study, we found that expression of ZC3HAV1 was significantly induced by infection with influenza A virus (IAV) and Sendai virus (Sev). It was shown that deficiency of IFNAR resulted in a dramatic decrease in the virus-induced expression of ZC3HAV1. Furthermore, transfection with poly(I:C) and treatment with interferon β (IFN-β) induced the ZC3HAV1 expression. Interference with the endogenous expression of ZC3HAV1 enhanced the replication of influenza virus by impairing the production of IFN-β and MxA, following the infection of influenza virus. In contrast, ectopic expression of ZC3HAV1 significantly restricted the replication of influenza virus by increasing the IFN-β expression. In addition, ZC3HAV1 also promoted the induction of tumor necrosis factor and interleukin 6. These results suggest that ZC3HAV1 is induced by IFN-β/IFNAR signaling during IAV and Sev infection and involved in positive regulation of IFN-dependent innate antiviral response.