Binding of Avibirnavirus VP3 to the PIK3C3-PDPK1 complex inhibits autophagy by activating the AKT-MTOR pathway

Macroautophagy/autophagy is a host natural defense response. Viruses have developed various strategies to subvert autophagy during their life cycle. Recently, we revealed that autophagy was activated by binding of Avibirnavirus to cells. In the present study, we report the inhibition of autophagy initiated by PIK3C3/VPS34 via the PDPK1-dependent AKT-MTOR pathway. Autophagy detection revealed that viral protein VP3 triggered inhibition of autophagy at the early stage of Avibirnavirus replication. Subsequent interaction analysis showed that the CC1 domain of VP3 disassociated PIK3C3-BECN1 complex by direct interaction with BECN1 and blocked autophagosome formation, while the CC3 domain of VP3 disrupted PIK3C3-PDPK1 complex via directly binding to PIK3C3 and inhibited both formation and maturation of autophagosome. Furthermore, we found that PDPK1 activated AKT-MTOR pathway for suppressing autophagy via binding to AKT. Finally, we proved that CC3 domain was critical for role of VP3 in regulating replication of Avibirnavirus through autophagy. Taken together, our study identified that Avibirnavirus VP3 links PIK3C3-PDPK1 complex to AKT-MTOR pathway and inhibits autophagy, a critical step for controlling virus replication.