Antiviral determinants of rat Mx GTPases map to the carboxy-terminal half

Rat Mx2 and rat Mx3 are two alpha/beta interferon-inducible cytoplasmic GTPases that differ in three residues in the amino-terminal third, which also contains the tripartite GTP-binding domain, and that differ in five residues in the carboxy-terminal quarter, which also contains a dimerization domain. While Mx2 is active against vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), Mx3 lacks antiviral activity. We mapped the functional difference between Mx2 and Mx3 protein to two critical residues in the carboxy-terminal parts of the molecules. An exchange of either residue 588 or 630 of Mx2 with the corresponding residues of Mx3 abolished anti-VSV activity, and the introduction of the two Mx2 residues on an Mx3 background partially restored anti-VSV activity, These results are consistent with the facts that Mx2 and Mx3 have similar intrinsic GTPase activities and that the GTPase domain of Mx3 can fully substitute for the GTPase domain of Mx2. Nevertheless, the amino-terminal third containing the GTP-binding domain is necessary for antiviral activity, since an amino-terminally truncated Mx2 protein is devoid of anti-VSV activity. Furthermore, Fab fragments of a monoclonal antibody known to neutralize antiviral activity block GTPase activity by binding an epitope in the carboxyterminal half of Mx2 or Mx3 protein. The results are consistent with a two-domain model in which both the conserved amino-terminal half and the less-well-conserved carboxy-terminal half of Mx proteins carry functionally important domains.