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Journal of Virology, October 1999, p. 8843-8847, Vol. 73, No. 10
Department of Microbiology, University of
Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
Received 7 April 1999/Accepted 25 June 1999
Initiation of productive infection by human herpes simplex virus
type 1 (HSV-1) requires cell cycle-dependent protein kinase (cdk)
activity. Treatment of cells with inhibitors of cdks blocks HSV-1
replication and prevents accumulation of viral transcripts, including
immediate-early (IE) transcripts (26). Inhibition of IE
transcript accumulation suggests that virion proteins, such as VP16,
require functional cdks to activate viral transcription. In this
report, we show that a cdk inhibitor, Roscovitine, blocks VP16-dependent IE gene expression. In the presence of Roscovitine, the
level of virion-induced activation of a transfected reporter gene (the
gene encoding chloramphenicol acetyltransferase) linked to the
promoter-regulatory region of the ICP0 gene was reduced 40-fold
relative to that of untreated samples. Roscovitine had little effect on
the interaction of VP16 with VP16-responsive DNA sequences as measured
by electrophoretic mobility shift assays. These data indicate that
VP16-dependent activation of IE gene expression requires functional
cdks and that this requirement is independent of the ability of VP16 to
bind to DNA.
The human herpes simplex virus type
1 (HSV-1) regulatory protein, VP16, stimulates productive infection by
activating transcription of viral immediate-early (IE) genes. VP16
activates transcription from IE promoters by indirectly binding to
specific sequence elements (TAATGARAT) found in the
promoter-regulatory regions of all IE genes (19, 33). VP16
is associated with the viral tegument and is released from the virion
upon entry into susceptible cells. Inside the cell, VP16 interacts with
two host proteins, host cell factor (HCF) and Oct-1, which together
facilitate binding of the protein complex to VP16 response elements
(14, 15, 30, 37). Formation of the protein-DNA complex is
essential for transactivation of IE genes (19, 22, 33).
Binding of VP16 to DNA through HCF and Oct-1 exposes the acidic
activation domain of VP16, which interacts with host transcriptional
proteins to increase the rate of transcription initiation
(31). While in vitro reconstitution of VP16-dependent
transcriptional activation using purified proteins has assisted in
elucidating the molecular mechanism of VP16 action, the mechanism by
which this process is regulated during viral infection is poorly
understood (16, 17, 24).
Several lines of evidence suggest that VP16 and VP16-associated
proteins rely on cell cycle-regulated activities to stimulate transcription. A temperature-sensitive form of HCF inhibits cell cycle
progression at the nonpermissive temperature (5). Extracts prepared from these cells inhibit VP16-dependent DNA binding and transactivation in vitro (5). Domains of HCF that are
required for cell cycle progression are also required for
VP16-dependent transcriptional activation (36). In addition,
the Oct-1 protein is phosphorylated in a cell cycle-dependent
manner (23, 27). Finally, two inhibitors of cyclin-dependent
kinases (cdks), Roscovitine and Olomucine, block accumulation of
HSV-1 IE transcripts and inhibit viral replication when added 1 to
6 h postinfection (p.i.) (25, 26). Roscovitine is a
specific inhibitor of cdk-1, cdk-2, cdk-5 (18), and cdk-7
(26a).
Inhibition of IE gene expression by cdk inhibitors suggests that these
kinases are important for VP16-dependent transcriptional activation.
Moreover, Roscovitine is the only drug that inhibits transcription of
IE genes. Taken together, these observations indicate that regulation
of VP16-dependent transactivation during viral infection requires cell
cycle-dependent activities. In this study, we demonstrate that
VP16-dependent transactivation of an IE promoter requires the
activities of cellular cdks and that this requirement is independent of
the ability of VP16 to bind to DNA.
Inhibition of virion-induced IE gene expression by
Roscovitine.
Previous findings have suggested the possibility that
cdks are important for expression of viral IE genes (25,
26). In order to measure the effects of the cdk inhibitor,
Roscovitine, on VP16-dependent transcriptional activation, a
transient-transfection/superinfection assay was utilized. Vero cells
(2 × 105/60-mm-diameter dish) were transfected with 1 µg of a plasmid (pWRICP0-CAT) that contains the gene encoding
chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) under the control of the
promoter-regulatory region of the HSV IE gene, ICP0. At 48 h
posttransfection, cultures were infected with the equivalent of 10 PFU
of UV-inactivated HSV-1 KOS per cell in the presence and absence of 100 µM Roscovitine. At 3, 6, and 9 h p.i., the cultures were
harvested and CAT activity was measured. UV inactivation of viral
stocks inhibits viral gene expression but leaves the activities of
virion proteins, including VP16, intact. Thus, in this assay,
activation of the ICP0 promoter in the transfected plasmid by
UV-inactivated virions is mediated by VP16 and possibly by other
virion-associated proteins.
0022-538X/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Transactivation of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Immediate-Early
Gene Expression by Virion-Associated Factors Is Blocked by an
Inhibitor of Cyclin-Dependent Protein Kinases
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ABSTRACT
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TABLE 1.
Roscovitine, but not K252a or Lovastatin, inhibits
virion-induced IE gene expressiona
Kinetics of Roscovitine-dependent inhibition of IE gene expression. Since Roscovitine inhibits HSV replication even when added to infected cells at 6 h p.i. (7, 8), it was of interest to determine if cdk activity was required for activation of HSV IE promoters at different times after infection. For this purpose, Vero cells (2 × 105/60-mm-diameter dish) were transfected with 1 µg of pWRICP0-CAT and mock infected or infected with 10 PFU of UV-inactivated KOS per cell at 48 h posttransfection. The cultures were divided into six groups containing six dishes each. At 0, 2, 4, and 6 h p.i., the culture medium in a single group was removed and replaced with medium containing 100 µM Roscovitine. In addition, at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 h p.i., one dish from each group was harvested and CAT activity was measured. The mock-infected group was not treated with Roscovitine.
Inhibition of virion-induced CAT expression by Roscovitine was most efficient when drug was added at 0 and 2 h p.i. (Fig. 1). The level of CAT activity when Roscovitine was added at these times was similar to the basal levels in mock-infected samples. Roscovitine was less effective in inhibiting virion-induced CAT activity when added at 4 h p.i. Notably, however, the level of CAT activity did not change significantly after Roscovitine addition at this time, suggesting that the drug inhibited new CAT expression. By 6 h p.i., CAT activity in infected cultures was refractory to Roscovitine inhibition in that the levels of CAT activity in the presence of Roscovitine were comparable to those in the absence of drug. These results indicate either that (i) Roscovitine inhibits virion-induced CAT activity at a step that occurs prior to 6 h p.i. or (ii) by 6 h p.i., translation of CAT mRNA becomes rate limiting in the infected cell and blocking new synthesis of CAT mRNA does not affect translation of the remaining CAT message.
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Lovastatin and K252a do not inhibit virion-induced IE gene expression. Roscovitine inhibits IE gene expression either by blocking cdk activity or by blocking the activities of downstream proteins which are both activated by cdks and required for cell cycle progression. We thus tested whether cell cycle inhibition or inhibition of other serine-threonine kinases blocked virion-induced activation of IE gene expression. A well-characterized cell cycle inhibitor, Lovastatin, and a broad-spectrum serine-threonine kinase inhibitor, K252a, were tested for their ability to inhibit virion-induced CAT expression (10). Lovastatin is an HMG-coenzyme A reductase inhibitor that blocks association of ras with the plasma membrane (9, 11). This interaction is required to transduce growth factor-dependent signaling to the nucleus (9). Blocking this signaling pathway arrests cells in the G1 phase of the cell cycle (9). Indeed, in control experiments, 10 µM Lovastatin blocked cell cycle progression, while higher doses were toxic (data not shown). Thus, although Roscovitine and Lovastatin inhibit cell cycle progression, their mechanisms of action are quite different.
To test the effects of Lovastatin and K252a on HSV-1 IE gene expression, Vero cells (2 × 105 cells/60-mm-diameter dish) were transfected with 1 µg of pWRICP0-CAT. At 48 h posttransfection, the cultures were infected with 10 PFU of UV-inactivated KOS per cell in the presence and absence of 100 µM Roscovitine, 10 µM Lovastatin, and 250 µM K252a (the highest nontoxic dose of this drug). At 3, 6, and 9 h p.i., infected cultures were harvested and CAT activity was measured. As shown in Table 1, Lovastatin (row 8) and K252a (row 6) had little effect on virion-induced IE gene expression when added at the time of infection. Likewise, cultures treated with Lovastatin or K252a 24 h prior to infection had no effect on virion-induced IE gene expression (data not shown). Collectively, the results shown in Table 1 demonstrate that virion-induced IE gene expression requires activities (most likely cdks) that are sensitive to inhibition by Roscovitine but not Lovastatin or K252a.Roscovitine does not inhibit VP16-dependent DNA binding. Binding of VP16 to the consensus sequence, TAATGARAT, is necessary for transcriptional activation of IE genes. To test whether Roscovitine inhibits binding of VP16 to DNA, gel mobility shift assays were performed. Nuclear extracts were prepared from cycloheximide-treated (50 µg/ml) Vero cells (107/T150 flask) that were either mock infected or infected with 20 PFU of KOS per cell in the presence or absence of 100 µM Roscovitine. Cycloheximide was used to inhibit viral gene expression so that only virion-associated activities would be measured in the nuclear extracts (22). In addition, nuclear, rather than whole-cell, extracts were used in the event that Roscovitine inhibits nuclear transport of VP16, HCF, and Oct-1. At 3 h p.i., the cultures were harvested and nuclear extracts were prepared by the method of Dignam et al. (3).
Three microliters of nuclear extract (12 µg of protein) was incubated in 12 µl of binding buffer [10 mM HEPES (pH 8.0), 1 mM EDTA, 5 mM dithiothreitol, 0.1% NP-40, 0.5% Ficoll, 50 ng of salmon sperm DNA/ml, 1.5 µg of poly(dIdC)/ml] for 5 min at 20°C. In addition, the binding reaction mixture was supplemented with histidine-tagged Oct-1 POU domain protein expressed in Escherichia coli and purified by nickel affinity chromatography. The binding reaction mixtures were supplemented with Oct-1 POU domain protein to enhance the VP16-dependent DNA binding activity because Oct-1 is limiting in Vero cell nuclear extracts. After 5 min of incubation, 0.5 ng of a 32P-end-labeled (~5 × 105 cpm) 29-bp oligonucleotide probe (CCGTGCATGCTAATGATATTCCTTTGGGGG) containing the VP16 response element from the ICP0 promoter (underlined) was added to the reaction mixture, and the mixture was incubated for an additional 30 min at 20°C. The protein-DNA complexes were separated by native gel electrophoresis on a 5% polyacrylamide gel in TBE buffer (89 mM Tris-borate, 89 mM boric acid, 2 mM EDTA) and visualized by PhosphorImager analysis (Fig. 2A).
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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This work was supported in part by Public Health Service grant RO1 CA20260 from the National Cancer Institute and grant IRG-135R from the American Cancer Society.
We thank William Halford for helpful discussions and ideas and Timothy Block and Ying-Hsiu Su for critical reading of the manuscript. We also thank Steve Treizenberg and David Davido for providing VP16 antibody and Jennifer Isler for providing OBP antibody.
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FOOTNOTES |
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* Corresponding author. Present address: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, The Jefferson Center for Biomedical Research, 700 Butler Ave., Doylestown, PA 18901-2697. Phone: (215) 489-4914. Fax: (215) 489-4920. E-mail: Robert.Jordan{at}mail.tju.edu.
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