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. 1990 Nov;87(22):8898–8902. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.22.8898

Evidence that the N-terminal domain of nonstructural protein NS3 from yellow fever virus is a serine protease responsible for site-specific cleavages in the viral polyprotein.

T J Chambers 1, R C Weir 1, A Grakoui 1, D W McCourt 1, J F Bazan 1, R J Fletterick 1, C M Rice 1
PMCID: PMC55067  PMID: 2147282

Abstract

Sequence homology and molecular modeling studies have suggested that the N-terminal one-third of the flavirvirus nonstructural protein NS3 functions as a trypsin-like serine protease. To examine the putative proteolytic activity of NS3, segments of the yellow fever virus genome were subcloned into plasmid transcription/translation vectors and cell-free translation products were characterized. The results suggest that a protease activity encoded within NS2B and the N-terminal one-third of yellow fever virus NS3 is capable of cis-acting site-specific proteolysis at the NS2B-NS3 cleavage site and dilution-insensitive cleavage of the NS2A-NS2B site. Site-directed mutagenesis of the His-53, Asp-77, and Ser-138 residues of NS3 that compose the proposed catalytic triad implicates this domain as a serine protease. Infectious virus was not recovered from mammalian cells transfected with RNAs transcribed from full-length yellow fever virus cDNA templates containing mutations at Ser-138 (which abolish or dramatically reduce protease activity in vitro), suggesting that the protease is required for viral replication.

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Selected References

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