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Journal of Virology, December 2005, p. 14647-14659, Vol. 79, No. 23
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.79.23.14647-14659.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Functional Divergence of Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus and Related Gamma-2 Herpesvirus Thymidine Kinases: Novel Cytoplasmic Phosphoproteins That Alter Cellular Morphology and Disrupt Adhesion

Michael B. Gill,1,2 Jo-Ellen Murphy,3 and Joyce D. Fingeroth1,2*

Division of Infectious Disease, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center,1 Harvard Medical School,2 Department of Dermatology, Harvard Skin Disease Research Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 021153

Received 18 April 2005/ Accepted 25 August 2005

The nucleoside kinase encoded by Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is a relatively inefficient enzyme with substrate specificity for thymidine alone, unlike alphaherpesvirus thymidine kinases (TKs). Similar to all gammaherpesvirus TKs, KSHV TK is composed of two distinct domains, a conserved C-terminal kinase and a novel and uncharacterized N terminus. Ectopic expression of KSHV TK in adherent cells induced striking morphological changes and anchorage independence although cells survived, a property shared with the related rhadinovirus TKs of rhesus monkey rhadinovirus and herpesvirus saimiri. To determine whether KSHV TK served alternate functions relevant to the rhadinovirus life cycle and to reveal the contribution of the N terminus, an enhanced green fluorescent protein-tagged fusion protein and serial mutants were generated for investigation of intracellular localization and cell biology. Analysis of truncation mutants showed that a proline-rich region located within the N terminus cooperated with the conserved C-terminal kinase to tether KSHV TK to a reticular network in the cytoplasm and to induce morphological change. Fusion of the KSHV N terminus to herpes simplex virus type 1 TK, a nucleus-localized enzyme, similarly resulted in cytoplasmic redistribution of the chimeric protein but did not alter cell shape or adhesion. Unlike other human herpesvirus TKs, KSHV TKs and related rhadinovirus TKs are constitutively tyrosine phosphorylated; a KSHV TK mutant that was hypophosphorylated failed to detach and grow in suspension. Loss of adhesion may enhance terminal differentiation, viral replication, and egress at the cellular level and at the organism level may facilitate detachment and distant migration of KSHV-replicating cells within body fluids—promoting oropharyngeal transmission and perhaps contributing to the multifocal lesions that characterize KS.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Harvard Institutes of Medicine, 4 Blackfan Circle, Room 353, Boston, MA 02115. Phone: (617) 667-0072. Fax: (617) 975-5243. E-mail: jfingero{at}bidmc.harvard.edu.

Journal of Virology, December 2005, p. 14647-14659, Vol. 79, No. 23
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.79.23.14647-14659.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Sander, G., Konrad, A., Thurau, M., Wies, E., Leubert, R., Kremmer, E., Dinkel, H., Schulz, T., Neipel, F., Sturzl, M. (2008). Intracellular Localization Map of Human Herpesvirus 8 Proteins. J. Virol. 82: 1908-1922 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Gill, M. B., Kutok, J. L., Fingeroth, J. D. (2007). Epstein-Barr Virus Thymidine Kinase Is a Centrosomal Resident Precisely Localized to the Periphery of Centrioles. J. Virol. 81: 6523-6535 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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