Novel insights into stress-induced susceptibility to influenza: corticosterone impacts interferon-β responses by Mfn2-mediated ubiquitin degradation of MAVS

Although stress has been known to increase the susceptibility of pathogen infection, the underlying mechanism remains elusive. In this study, we reported that restraint stress dramatically enhanced the morbidity and mortality of mice infected with the influenza virus (H1N1) and obviously aggravated lung inflammation. Corticosterone (CORT), a main type of glucocorticoids in rodents, was secreted in the plasma of stressed mice. We further found that this stress hormone significantly boosted virus replication by restricting mitochondrial antiviral signaling (MAVS) protein-transduced IFN-β production without affecting its mRNA level, while the deficiency of MAVS abrogated stress/CORT-induced viral susceptibility in mice. Mechanistically, the effect of CORT was mediated by proteasome-dependent degradation of MAVS, thereby resulting in the impediment of MAVS-transduced IFN-β generation in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, RNA-seq assay results indicated the involvement of Mitofusin 2 (Mfn2) in this process. Gain- and loss-of-function experiments indicated that Mfn2 interacted with MAVS and recruited E3 ligase SYVN1 to promote the polyubiquitination of MAVS. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments clarified an interaction between any two regions of Mfn2 (HR1), MAVS (C-terminal/TM) and SYVN1 (TM). Collectively, our findings define the Mfn2-SYVN1 axis as a new signaling cascade for proteasome-dependent degradation of MAVS and a ‘fine tuning’ of antiviral innate immunity in response to influenza infection under stress.