miR-122-dependent binding of TNRC6 to HCV RNA

The liver-specific microRNA, miR-122, is an essential host factor for replication of hepatitis C virus (HCV), an important infectious cause of chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. miR-122 stabilizes the positive-strand HCV RNA genome and promotes viral RNA synthesis by binding two closely spaced sites (S1 and S2) near the 5’ end of the genome in association with Ago2. Ago2 is essential for both host factor activities, but whether other host proteins are involved is unknown. Using a quantitative proteomics approach, we identified TNRC6A (GW182) and its paralogs (TNRC6B and TNRC6C), as functionally important components of the miR-122/Ago2 host factor complex binding HCV RNA. Depletion of any two TNRC6 proteins reduced HCV replication in Huh-7.5 cells,but did not reduce viral RNA stability or translational activity, but rather dampened miR-122 stimulation of viral RNA synthesis. However, TNRC6 depletion had no effect on replication of HCV in which S2 was mutated so that miR-122 binds only S1, whereas it significantly enhanced replication when S1 was mutated and only S2 bound by miR-122. Consistent with this, we found that TNRC6 proteins preferentially associate with the S1 site, and that the association of Ago2 with S2 is increased in TNRC6-depleted cells. Collectively, these data suggest a model in which TNRC6 proteins, which are known to interact with Ago2, preferentially direct the miR-122/Ago2 complex to S1 while restricting its association with S2, thereby fine tuning the spatial organization of miR-122/Ago2 complexes bound to the viral RNA.