Exploration for Double-stranded RNA Interactome Evading Innate Immune Response

Abstract

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has brought attention to the significance of comprehending the innate immune response to viral infections. When viral double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) is detected by various dsRNA-binding proteins (dsRBPs), Interferon-beta (IFN-β) and downstream genes are activated, resulting in the establishment of an antiviral state in the host. To thwart this response, some viruses utilize their viral proteins to hinder the host from sensing the virus invasion. However, our understanding of the ‘host proteins’ that viruses use to mediate immune evasion is limited. To discover dsRBPs affecting IFN-β and downstream response, we performed CRISPR-Cas9 knockout targeting 44 putative dsRBPs extracted from our previous study in the A549 cell line. After generating these polyclonal knockout cells, we treated synthetic dsRNA (poly (I:C)) to imitate viral infection and measured the levels of IFNβ using ELISA screening. We envisage that this interactome data will offer novel perspectives on the molecular mechanisms underlying the innate immune response to viral infections.