Rapamycin stimulates viral protein synthesis and augments the shutoff of host protein synthesis upon picornavirus infection.

The immunosuppressant drug rapamycin blocks progression of the cell cycle at G1 in mammalian cells and yeast. We recently showed that rapamycin inhibits both in vitro and in vivo cap-dependent, but not cap-independent, translation. This inhibition is causally related to reduced phosphorylation and consequent activation of 4E-BP1, a repressor of the function of the cap-binding protein, eIF4E. Two members of the picornavirus family, encephalomyocarditis virus and poliovirus, inhibit phosphorylation of 4E-BP1. Since translation of picornavirus mRNAs is cap independent, inhibition of phosphorylation of 4E-BP1 could contribute to the shutoff of host protein synthesis. Here, we show that rapamycin augments both the shutoff of host protein synthesis and the initial rate of synthesis of viral proteins in cells infected with encephalomyocarditis virus and poliovirus.