Antiviral Activity of Human OASL Protein Is Mediated by Enhancing Signaling of the RIG-I RNA Sensor

Virus infection is sensed in the cytoplasm by retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I, also known as DDX58), which requires RNA and polyubiquitin binding to induce type I interferon (IFN) and activate cellular innate immunity. We show that the human IFN-inducible oligoadenylate synthetases-like (OASL) protein has antiviral activity and mediates RIG-I activation by mimicking polyubiquitin. Loss of OASL expression reduced RIG-I signaling and enhanced virus replication in human cells. Conversely, OASL expression suppressed replication of a number of viruses in a RIG-I-dependent manner and enhanced RIG-I-mediated IFN induction. OASL interacted and colocalized with RIG-I, and through its C-terminal ubiquitin-like domain specifically enhanced RIG-I signaling. Bone-marrow-derived macrophages from mice deficient for Oasl2 showed that among the two mouse orthologs of human OASL, Oasl2 is functionally similar to human OASL. Our findings show a mechanism by which human OASL contributes to host antiviral responses by enhancing RIG-I activation. [Display omitted] •Human oligoadenylate synthetases-like (OASL) protein has antiviral activity•OASL specifically enhances RIG-I, not MDA5 signaling•OASL mediates RIG-I activation by mimicking polyubiquitin•The mouse ortholog Oasl2 has similar function as the human OASL Human oligoadenylate synthetases-like (OASL) has broad antiviral activity that is mediated through an unknown mechanism. Zhu et al. show that OASL enhances RIG-I signaling by mimicking polyubiquitin, and thus may help overcome the viral targeting of ubiquitin system to evade innate immunity.