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Functional role of cytosolic Nipah virus inclusion bodies

Cytosolic inclusion bodies (IBs) are generally formed in all NiV-infected cells in vitro and in vivo, starting at very early stages of infection. However, their functional role is still poorly understood. It may be substantially different from the role of IBs of other viruses, since we have first evidence that IBs of NiV do not represent the primary site of viral RNA synthesis, as is generally assumed (Ringel et al., 2019). The goal of this project is to validate these initial findings and elucidate in which replication steps NiV-IBs are actually involved. Since we have recently discovered that IBs not only contain NiV proteins but can also recruit overproduced non-viral proteins (Becker et al., 2022) and also recruit important cellular signaling molecules involved in the antiviral interferon response (Becker & Maisner, 2023), we aim to elucidate the exact functional role of NiV-IBs in counteracting host cell defense mechanisms. Overall, this project aims to provide a deeper understanding of the formation and functions of NiV-IBs, not least to assess whether these structures represent potential targets for future antiviral strategies.

NiV-IBs in infected cells detected by confocal and electron microscopy.