The nuclear protein Sam68 is cleaved by the FMDV 3C protease redistributing Sam68 to the cytoplasm during FMDV infection of host cells

Picornavirus infection can lead to disruption of nuclear pore traffic, shut-off of cell translation machinery, and cleavage of proteins involved in cellular signal transduction and the innate response to infection. Here, we demonstrated that the FMDV 3Cpro induced the cleavage of nuclear RNA-binding protein Sam68 C-terminus containing the nuclear localization sequence (NLS). Consequently, it stimulated the redistribution of Sam68 to the cytoplasm. The siRNA knockdown of Sam68 resulted in a 1000-fold reduction in viral titers, which prompted us to study the effect of Sam68 on FMDV post-entry events. Interestingly, Sam68 interacts with the internal ribosomal entry site within the 5′ non-translated region of the FMDV genome, and Sam68 knockdown decreased FMDV IRES-driven activity in vitro suggesting that it could modulate translation of the viral genome. The results uncover a novel role for Sam68 in the context of picornaviruses and the proteolysis of a new cellular target of the FMDV 3Cpro.