Inability of NS1 protein from an H5N1 influenza virus to activate PI3K/Akt signaling pathway correlates to the enhanced virus replication upon PI3K inhibition.

Background: Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathway, activated during influenza A virus infection, can promote viral replication via multiple mechanisms. Direct binding of NS1 protein to p85β subunit of PI3K is required for activation of PI3K/Akt signaling. Binding and subsequent activation of PI3K is believed to be a conserved character of influenza A virus NS1 protein. Sequence variation of NS1 proteins in different influenza A viruses led us to investigate possible deviation from the conservativeness.

Results: In the present study, NS1 proteins from four different influenza A virus subtypes/strains were tested for their ability to bind p85β subunit of PI3K and to activate PI3K/Akt. All NS1 proteins efficiently bound to p85β and activated PI3K/Akt, with the exception of NS1 protein from an H5N1 virus (A/Chicken/Guangdong/1/05, abbreviated as GD05), which bound to p85β but failed to activate PI3K/Akt, implying that as-yet-unidentified domain(s) in NS1 may alternatively mediate the activation of PI3K. Moreover, PI3K inhibitor, LY294002, did not suppress but significantly increased the replication of GD05 virus.

Conclusions: Our study indicates that activation of PI3K/Akt by NS1 protein is not highly conserved among influenza A viruses and inhibition of the PI3K/Akt pathway as an anti-influenza strategy may not work for all influenza A viruses.