RACK1 Associates with RNA-Binding Proteins Vigilin and SERBP1 to Facilitate Dengue Virus Replication

Dengue virus (DENV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus responsible for dengue disease, a major human health concern for which no effective treatment is available. DENV relies heavily on the host cellular machinery for productive infection. Here, we show that the scaffold protein RACK1, which is part of the DENV replication complex, mediates infection by binding to the 40S ribosomal subunit. Mass spectrometry analysis of RACK1 partners coupled to an RNA interference screen-identified Vigilin and SERBP1 as DENV host-dependency factors. Both are RNA-binding proteins that interact with the DENV genome. Genetic ablation of Vigilin or SERBP1 rendered cells poorly susceptible to DENV, as well as related flaviviruses, by hampering the translation and replication steps. Finally, we established that a Vigilin or SERBP1 mutant lacking RACK1 binding but still interacting with the viral RNA is unable to mediate DENV infection. We propose that RACK1 recruits Vigilin and SERBP1, linking the DENV genome to the translation machinery for efficient infection. We recently identified the scaffolding RACK1 protein as an important host-dependency factor for dengue virus (DENV), a positive-stranded RNA virus responsible for the most prevalent mosquito-borne viral disease worldwide. Here, we have performed the first RACK1 interactome in human cells and identified Vigilin and SERBP1 as DENV host-dependency factors. Both are RNA-binding proteins that interact with the DENV RNA to regulate viral replication. Importantly, Vigilin and SERBP1 interact with RACK1 and the DENV viral RNA (vRNA) to mediate viral replication. Overall, our results suggest that RACK1 acts as a binding platform at the surface of the 40S ribosomal subunit to recruit Vigilin and SERBP1, which may therefore function as linkers between the viral RNA and the translation machinery to facilitate infection.