Flock house virus induces apoptosis by depletion of Drosophila inhibitor-of-apoptosis protein DIAP1.

The molecular mechanisms by which RNA viruses induce apoptosis and apoptosis-associated pathology are not fully understood. Here we show that flock house virus (FHV), one of the simplest RNA viruses (family, Nodaviridae), induces robust apoptosis of permissive Drosophila Line-1 (DL-1) cells. To define the pathway by which FHV triggers apoptosis in this model invertebrate system, we investigated the potential role of Drosophila apoptotic effectors during infection. Suggesting the involvement of host caspases, the pancaspase inhibitor benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp-fluromethylketone (z-VAD-fmk) prevented FHV-induced cytopathology and prolonged cell survival. RNA interference-mediated ablation of the principal Drosophila effector caspase DrICE or its upstream initiator caspase DRONC prevented FHV-induced apoptosis and demonstrated direct participation of this intrinsic caspase pathway. Prior to the FHV-induced activation of DrICE, the intracellular level of inhibitor-of-apoptosis (IAP) protein DIAP1, the principal caspase regulator in Drosophila melanogaster, was dramatically reduced. DIAP1 was depleted despite z-VAD-fmk-mediated caspase inhibition during infection, suggesting that the loss of DIAP1 was caused by an upstream FHV-induced signal. The RNA interference-mediated knockdown of DIAP1 caused rapid and uniform apoptosis of DL-1 cells and thus indicated that DIAP1 depletion is sufficient to trigger apoptosis. Confirming this conclusion, the elevation of intracellular DIAP1 levels in stable diap1-transfected cells blocked caspase activation and prevented FHV-induced apoptosis. Collectively, our findings suggest that DIAP1 is a critical sensor of virus infection, which upon virus-signaled depletion relieves caspase inhibition, which subsequently executes apoptotic death. Thus, our study supports the hypothesis that altering the level or the activity of cellular IAP proteins is a general mechanism by which RNA viruses trigger apoptosis.