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Journal of Virology, December 1999, p. 9867-9878, Vol. 73, No. 12
0022-538X/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Improving Proteolytic Cleavage at the 3A/3B Site of the Hepatitis A Virus Polyprotein Impairs Processing and Particle Formation, and the Impairment Can Be Complemented in trans by 3AB and 3ABC

Yuri Kusov* and Verena Gauss-Müller

Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Medical University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany

Received 1 June 1999/Accepted 1 September 1999

The orchestrated liberation of viral proteins by 3Cpro-mediated proteolysis is pivotal for gene expression by picornaviruses. Proteolytic processing is regulated either by the amino acid sequence at the cleavage site of the substrate or by cofactors covalently or noncovalently linked to the viral proteinase. To determine the role of the amino acid sequence at cleavage sites 3A/3B and 3B/3C that are essential for the liberation of 3Cpro from its precursors and to assess the function of the stable processing intermediates 3AB and 3ABC, we studied the effect of cleavage site mutations on hepatitis A virus (HAV) polyprotein processing, particle formation, and replication. Using the recombinant vaccinia virus system, we showed that the normally retarded cleavage at the 3A/3B junction can be improved by altering the amino acid sequence at the scissile bond such that it matches the preferred HAV 3C cleavage sites. In contrast to the processing products of the wild-type polyprotein, 3ABC was no longer detectable in the mutant. VP0 and VP3 were generated less efficiently, implying that processing of the structural protein precursor P1-2A depends on the presence of stable 3ABC and/or 3AB. In addition, cleavage of 2BC was impaired in 3AB/3ABC-deficient mutants. Formation of HAV particles was not affected in mutants with blocked 3A/3B and/or 3B/3C cleavage sites. However, 3ABC-deficient mutants produced small numbers of HAV particles, which could be augmented by coexpressing 3AB or 3ABC. The hydrophobic domain of 3A that has been proposed to mediate membrane anchorage of the replication complex was crucial for restoration of defective particle formation. In vitro transcripts of the various cleavage site mutants were unable to initiate an infectious cycle, and no progeny viruses were obtained even after blind passages. Taken together, the data suggest that accumulation of uncleaved HAV 3AB and/or 3ABC is pivotal for both viral replication and efficient particle formation.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Medical University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, D-23538 Lübeck, Germany. Phone: 49-451-500 4085. Fax: 49-451-500 3637. E-mail: koussov{at}molbio.mu-luebeck.de.

Journal of Virology, December 1999, p. 9867-9878, Vol. 73, No. 12
0022-538X/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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