Fig. 3 |. CARD ISGylation is essential for formation of higher-order MDA5 assemblies.
a,b, Cytosol-mitochondria fractionation of WCLs from NHLFs that were transfected for 30 h with non-targeting control siRNA (si.C) or ISG15-specific siRNA (si.ISG15) and then mock-treated or transfected with EMCV-RNA (0.4 μg/mL) (a) or RABVLe (1 pmol/mL) (b) for 16 h. IB was performed with anti-MDA5 (a), anti-RIG-I (b), anti-ISG15 and anti-Actin (a, b). α-Tubulin and MAVS served as purity markers for the cytosolic and mitochondrial fraction, respectively (a, b). c, Endogenous MDA5 oligomerization in WT and Isg15−/− MEFs that were transfected with EMCV-RNA (0.5 μg/mL) for 16 h, assessed by SDD-AGE and IB with anti-MDA5. WCLs were further analyzed by SDS-PAGE and probed by IB with anti-MDA5 and anti-Actin. d, Oligomerization of FLAG-MDA5–2CARD in HEK293T cells that were transfected with the indicated siRNAs together with or without HA-Ube1L and FLAG-UbcH8 for 48 h, determined by native PAGE and IB with anti-FLAG. WCLs were further analyzed by SDS-PAGE and probed by IB with anti-FLAG, anti-HA, anti-ISG15, and anti-Actin. e, Oligomerization of FLAG-MDA5 WT and K23R/K43R in transiently transfected MDA5 KO HEK293 cells, assessed by SDD-AGE and IB with anti-FLAG. WCLs were further analyzed by SDS-PAGE and IB with anti-FLAG and anti-Actin. f, Oligomerization of FLAG-tagged MDA5 WT and mutants in transiently transfected MDA5 KO HEK293 cells, assessed by native PAGE and IB with anti-MDA5. WCLs were further analyzed by SDS-PAGE and probed by IB with anti-MDA5 and anti-Actin. g, IFN-β-luciferase reporter activity in MDA5 KO HEK293 cells that were transfected for 24 h with either empty vector, or FLAG-tagged MDA5 WT or mutants. Luciferase activity is presented as fold induction relative to the values for vector-transfected cells, set to 1. Data are representative of at least two independent experiments with similar results (mean ± s.d. of n = 3 biological replicates in f). ***p < 0.001 (two-tailed unpaired t-test).