Recombinant dengue virus type 1 NS3 protein exhibits specific viral RNA binding and NTPase activity regulated by the NS5 protein.

The full-length dengue virus NS3 protein has been successfully expressed as a 94-kDa GST fusion protein in Escherichia coli. Treatment of the purified fusion protein with thrombin released a 68-kDa protein which is the expected molecular mass for the DEN1 NS3 protein. The identity of this protein was confirmed by Western blotting using dengue virus antisera. Two related activities of the recombinant NS3 protein were characterized, which were the binding of the protein to the 3'-noncoding region of the dengue virus RNA genome and NTPase activity. We demonstrated using a band shift assay that the DEN1 NS3 protein could form a complex with the stem-loop structure in the 3'-noncoding region (3'-NCR), although sites outside the stem-loop may also participate in binding. Using various unlabeled homopolymeric and heteropolymeric RNAs as competitors for binding, it was further shown that the DEN1 NS3 protein exhibits preferential binding to a 94-nt RNA transcript from the 3'-NCR of the dengue virus. The NTPase activity of the recombinant DEN1 NS3 protein was characterized using a thin-layer chromatography assay. We found that the DEN1 NS3 protein possesses some aspects of NTPase activity, which are distinct from those found in other flaviviruses. Although the NS3 protein was able to utilize all four ribonucleoside triphosphates as its substrates, the NS3 protein showed a distinct preference for purine triphosphates (i.e., ATP and GTP). The addition of poly(U) did not stimulate NTPase activity in DEN1 NS3 protein, which contrasts with the reports for other flaviviral NS3 proteins. However, NTPase activity was specifically stimulated by the viral NS5 protein, which was manifested by a more than twofold increase in the rate of ATP hydrolysis and a 25% increase in the yield of ADP at the end of a 120-min reaction. These data suggest that the NTPase activity of the NS3 protein may be regulated by the viral NS5 protein during virus replication.