Reducing lipid peroxidation attenuates stress-induced susceptibility to herpes simplex virus type 1

Authors：Weng, Jing-yu; Chen, Xin-xing; Wang, Xiao-hua; Ye, Hui-er; Wu, Yan-ping; Sun, Wan-yang; Liang, Lei; Duan, Wen-jun; Kurihara, Hiroshi; Huang, Feng; Sun, Xin-xin; Ou-Yang, Shu-hua^*; He, Rong-rong^*; Li, Yi-fang^*

Source：Acta Pharmacologica Sinica, 2023.

DOI：10.1038/s41401-023-01095-6

• Herpes simplex virus type 1
• stress
• corticosterone
• arachidonate lipoxygenase 15
• phospholipid peroxidation
• STING
• viral infection
• rosmarinic acid
• neuronal cells

Psychological stress increases the susceptibility to herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection. There is no effective intervention due to the unknown pathogenesis mechanisms. In this study we explored the molecular mechanisms underlying stress-induced HSV-1 susceptibility and the antiviral effect of a natural compound rosmarinic acid (RA) in vivo and in vitro. Mice were administered RA (11.7, 23.4 mg center dot kg(-1)center dot d(-1), i.g.) or acyclovir (ACV, 206 mg center dot kg(-1)center dot d(-1), i.g.) for 23 days. The mice were subjected to restraint stress for 7 days followed by intranasal infection with HSV-1 on D7. At the end of RA or ACV treatment, mouse plasma samples and brain tissues were collected for analysis. We showed that both RA and ACV treatment significantly decreased stress-augmented mortality and alleviated eye swelling and neurological symptoms in HSV-1-infected mice. In SH-SY5Y cells and PC12 cells exposed to the stress hormone corticosterone (CORT) plus HSV-1, RA (100 mu M) significantly increased the cell viability, and inhibited CORT-induced elevation in the expression of viral proteins and genes. We demonstrated that CORT (50 mu M) triggered lipoxygenase 15 (ALOX15)-mediated redox imbalance in the neuronal cells, increasing the level of 4-HNE-conjugated STING, which impaired STING translocation from the endoplasmic reticulum to Golgi; the abnormality of STING-mediated innate immunity led to HSV-1 susceptibility. We revealed that RA was an inhibitor of lipid peroxidation by directly targeting ALOX15, thus RA could rescue stress-weakened neuronal innate immune response, thereby reducing HSV-1 susceptibility in vivo and in vitro. This study illustrates the critical role of lipid peroxidation in stress-induced HSV-1 susceptibility and reveals the potential for developing RA as an effective intervention in anti-HSV-1 therapy.

• Institution
  云南大学; i