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Journal of Virology, November 2000, p. 10480-10488, Vol. 74, No. 22
Howard Hughes Medical Institute and
Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Cell Biology,
Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208-3500
Received 19 January 2000/Accepted 9 August 2000
Two mRNA species are derived from the influenza C virus RNA segment
six, (i) a colinear transcript containing a 374-amino-acid residue open
reading frame (referred to herein as the seg 6 ORF) which is translated
to yield the p42 protein, and (ii) a spliced mRNA which encodes the
influenza C virus matrix (CM1) protein consisting of the first 242 amino acids of p42. The p42 protein undergoes proteolytic cleavage at a
consensus signal peptidase cleavage site after residue 259, yielding
the p31 and CM2 proteins. Translocation of p42 into the endoplasmic
reticulum membrane occurs cotranslationally and requires the
hydrophobic internal signal peptide (residues 239 to 259), as well as
the predicted transmembrane domain of CM2 (residues 285 to 308). The
p31 protein was found to undergo rapid degradation after cleavage from
p42. Addition of the 26S proteasome inhibitor lactacystin to influenza
C virus-infected or seg 6 ORF cDNA-transfected cells drastically
reduced p31 degradation. Transfer of the 17-residue C-terminal region
of p31 to heterologous proteins resulted in their rapid turnover. The
hydrophobic nature, but not the specific amino acid sequence of the
17-amino-acid C terminus of p31 appears to act as the signal for
targeting the protein to membranes and for degradation.
Influenza A, B, and C viruses encode
the small (97- to 115-amino-acid) integral membrane proteins
M2, NB, and CM2 respectively (27, 37). Their
similarity in oligomeric form, orientation in membranes, and size of
their extracellular, transmembrane, and cytoplasmic domains led to the
hypothesis that these proteins perform related functions in the
respective virus life cycles (36). The M2,
NB, and CM2 coding regions are highly conserved among the
respective A, B, and C influenza viruses that have been sequenced to
date (1, 21, 45); however, little if any amino acid homology
exists between the three proteins.
Influenza A virus M2 protein is packaged into virions
(54) and possesses a pH-activated proton-selective ion
channel activity (14, 38, 44). On entry of virions into
cells via the endocytic pathway, the M2 ion channel
activity acidifies the interior of virus particles, leading to
disruption of protein-protein interactions between the viral matrix
(M1) protein and the viral ribonucleocapsids (4, 30,
31, 55, 56). Following fusion of the viral membrane with the
membrane of the endosome, the ribonucleocapsids are transported to the
nucleus, where viral genome replication and transcription occurs
(27). The ion channel activity of the M2
protein, during its transport to the cell surface, raises the pH of the
trans-Golgi network (6, 7, 12, 13, 34, 40, 46).
For influenza viruses which possess a hemagglutinin (HA) protein with a
high pH threshold for undergoing protein-refolding conformational
changes associated with membrane fusion, this equilibration of
the lumenal pH of the trans-Golgi network with that of the cytoplasm is a prerequisite to prevent HA from fusion-activation in the
wrong cellular compartment (reviewed in reference
26).
To date, no functional role or evidence of ion channel activity has
been reported for the influenza C virus CM2 protein. The CM2 protein
forms disulfide-linked dimers and tetramers and is oriented in
membranes in an Nout-Cin orientation. CM2
contains a single site for N-linked carbohydrate addition which is
frequently further modified with lactosaminoglycans. The CM2 protein is
abundantly expressed at the cell surface of virus-infected and
cDNA-transfected cells and is incorporated into influenza C virions
(17, 36). The CM2 protein is encoded by influenza C virus
RNA segment six (19). RNA segment six is initially
transcribed into a colinear mRNA transcript, and a majority of this
species is subsequently spliced to yield a second mRNA transcript
(53). The colinear mRNA contains a 374-amino-acid open
reading frame (referred to herein as the seg 6 ORF) that is translated
into the precursor protein p42. Proteolytic cleavage of p42 at an
internal signal peptidase cleavage site gives rise to the p31 and CM2
proteins (18, 37). The spliced mRNA encodes the matrix (CM1)
protein, consisting of the N-terminal 242 residues of the seg 6 ORF
followed by a stop codon introduced via mRNA splicing (53).
Synthesis of the p42 protein has been detected in (i) influenza C
virus-infected cells (16), (ii) seg 6 ORF cDNA-transfected
cells, and (iii) in vitro translation reactions using RNA encoding the
seg 6 ORF (18, 37). The N-terminal product of p42 cleavage,
p31, is identical in amino acid sequence to the CM1 protein except for the presence of 17, mostly hydrophobic, amino acids at its C terminus. The p31 protein binds tightly to lipid membranes with properties more
like those of the integral membrane protein CM2 than those of the
peripheral membrane protein CM1 (37). In this study, we
investigate further the requirements of p42 membrane insertion and we
examine the fate of the p31 protein after cleavage from p42.
Cells and viruses.
Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK), CV-1,
and HeLa-T4 cells were grown in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's (DME)
medium, containing 10% fetal bovine serum, 2 mM glutamine, and
penicillin-streptomycin (P-S). Influenza C/Ann Arbor/1/50 (C/AA) virus
working stocks were generated as described previously (36).
Plasmid construction and site-directed mutagenesis.
All
plasmid constructs were based on the seg 6 ORF cDNA of influenza C/AA
virus, whose cloning and nucleotide sequencing have been described
previously (36, 37). Oligonucleotide primer sequences are
available upon request. The PCR using Vent DNA polymerase (New England
Biolabs, Beverly, Mass.) was used to isolate a cDNA consisting of the
entire p31 ORF (amino acids 1 to 259) followed by an in-frame stop
codon. This method was also used to obtain a cDNA, CM2
0022-538X/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Identification of a Membrane Targeting and
Degradation Signal in the p42 Protein of Influenza C Virus
and
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ABSTRACT
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References
![]()
INTRODUCTION
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References
![]()
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References
SP, encoding
the entire mature CM2 protein (amino acids 260 to 374) with a Met codon
introduced immediately upstream and in-frame to initiate translation.
The cDNAs for the A/M1-C17 and chloramphenicol acetyltransferase
(CAT)-C17 proteins were constructed by PCR with oligonucleotide primers
designed to fuse the coding sequence for the 17-amino-acid p31
C-terminal region (Trp-Leu-Val-Val-Ile-Ile-Cys-Phe-Ser-Ile-Thr-Ser-Gln-Pro-Ala-Ser-Ala) followed by an in-frame stop codon to the 3' end of the influenza A
virus M1 protein coding region (cDNA of influenza A/Puerto Rico/8/34 virus) (55) or the CAT coding region, respectively. The
CAT-HA cDNA was constructed in a similar manner, fusing the coding
sequence for the 12CA5 monoclonal antibody (MAb) epitope
(Tyr-Pro-Tyr-Asp-Val-Pro-Asp-Tyr-Ala) followed by a stop codon to the
3' end of the CAT coding region. All cDNAs were cloned into pGEM 3 under the control of the bacteriophage T7 promoter (36).
In vitro transcription and translation. Bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase transcripts were synthesized from HindIII linearized plasmids, by using the T7 Message Machine kit (Ambion Inc., Austin, Tex.). RNA was translated in the presence of [35S]methionine (30 µCi per 100-µl reaction mixture) (Amersham Life Science, Arlington Heights, Ill.) using rabbit reticulocyte lysates and canine pancreatic microsomes (3 µl per reaction mixture) as described previously (36). Assays for identifying the nature of the interaction of proteins with microsomal membranes were performed as described previously (37, 55).
Infection, transfection, and metabolic labeling of cells. MDCK cells were infected with influenza C virus at a multiplicity of infection of 1 PFU per cell for 2 h at 37°C. The inoculum was removed and the cells were then cultured at 37°C in DME medium with glutamine and P-S for 20 h.
A recombinant vaccinia virus expressing bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase (vac-T7) was used, essentially as described previously (11). Briefly, HeLa-T4 or CV-1 cells in 35-mm-diameter tissue culture plates were infected with vac-T7 at a multiplicity of infection of 10 in OptiMEM (Gibco Life Technologies, Grand Island, N.Y.) with 0.1% bovine serum albumin for 1 h at 37°C. Plasmids (1 µg per plate) were transfected using liposomes made in our laboratory (39), and the cells were incubated for an additional 5 h posttransfection (h.p.t.) at 37°C. Transient expression from pCAGGS plasmids was performed by transfecting 1 µg of plasmid DNA into HeLa-T4 cells in 35-mm-diameter plates using Lipofectamine Plus (Gibco Life Technologies) according to the manufacturer's protocol. Transfected cells were incubated for 18 h at 37°C prior to metabolic labeling. For pulse-chase labeling, the cells were incubated for 30 min with DME medium deficient in methionine and cysteine (Met-Cys-DME), containing 20 mM HEPES (pH 7.1), glutamine and P-S. Cultures were labeled metabolically by replacing the medium with Met-Cys-DME containing 20 mM HEPES (pH 7.1)-glutamine-P-S and containing 35S-labeled Pro-mix (50 µCi per dish for pCAGGS or vac-T7-mediated expression or 100 µCi per dish for influenza C virus-infected cells) for 15 min at 37°C. The vac-T7 expression experiments in Fig. 1 were labeled metabolically with Met-Cys-DME containing 20 mM HEPES (pH 7.1)-glutamine-2 mM cysteine-P-S and 100 µCi of [35S]methionine per dish. The chase periods were initiated by replacing the medium with chase medium (DME medium with glutamine, 2 mM cysteine, 2 mM methionine, and P-S) and cells incubated at 37°C for various times. Cell monolayers were lysed in RIPA buffer (10 mM Tris [pH 7.4], 1% deoxycholate, 1% Triton X-100, 0.1% sodium dodecyl sulfate [SDS]) (25) containing 50 mM iodoacetamide and protease inhibitors (35). The lysates were clarified by centrifugation for 15 min at 55,000 rpm in a Beckman TLA100.2 rotor and stored at
70°C. Lactacystin (Calbiochem, La
Jolla, Calif.) was dissolved in ethanol at a concentration of 2 mM and
stored at
20°C.
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p31 antiserum. A synthetic peptide identical to the 17-amino-acid sequence (amino acids 253 to 259) present at the C terminus of p31 but not in CM1 and containing an additional Cys residue (Cys-Trp-Leu-Val-Val-Ile-Ile-Cys-Phe-Ser-Ile-Thr-Ser-Gln-Pro-Ala-Ser-Ala) was coupled to keyhole limpet hemocyanin (Pierce, Rockford, Ill.) and used to immunize female New Zealand White rabbits (Covance Research Products, Denver, Pa.) as previously described (36).
Immunoprecipitation and glycosidase treatment. Immunoprecipitations were performed essentially as described previously (35-37) using a rabbit serum specific for the CM2 cytoplasmic tail (final dilution, 1:100), a rabbit serum specific for p31 (final dilution 1:100), a rabbit serum specific for CM1 (final dilution, 1:50), a rabbit serum specific for CAT (final dilution, 1:100; 5 prime-3 prime, Boulder, Co.) or a MAb hybridoma (M55) supernatant specific for influenza A virus M1 protein (final dilution, 1:50) (J. Zhang and R. A. Lamb, unpublished data). To remove N-linked carbohydrate modifications from proteins, lysates were immunoprecipitated and digested for 16 h at 37°C with 0.2 U of peptide-N-glycosidase F (PNGase) (Boehringer Mannheim Corporation, Indianapolis, Ind.). Samples were then boiled in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) sample buffer (35).
SDS-PAGE.
Polypeptides were analyzed on 15% acrylamide
gels, as described previously (35). 14C-labeled
Mr standards (Amersham Life Sciences) were
loaded on gels to approximate molecular weights. The gels were fixed
and dried, and radioactivity was analyzed using a Fuji BioImager 1000 and MacBas software (Fuji Medical System, Stamford, Conn.) or gels were
exposed to X-Omat AR film (Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N.Y.) at
70°C.
Indirect immunofluorescence. HeLa-T4 cells on glass coverslips were transfected with 1.0 µg of pCAGGS-A/M1, pCAGGS-A/M1-C17, pCAGGS-CM1, or pCAGGS-p31 plasmid DNA per 35-mm-diameter tissue culture plate and incubated for 18 h at 37°C. All subsequent steps were performed at room temperature. Cell monolayers were washed twice with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), fixed in 1% formaldehyde in PBS for 10 min, and permeabilized with PBS containing 0.1% saponin for 10 min. A blocking solution consisting of PBS with 5% normal goat serum (Sigma Chemical Co., St. Louis, Mo.), 0.1% bovine serum albumin and 0.1% saponin was added for 30 min. The M55 MAb (anti-A/M1; final dilution, 1:10) or G32 MAb (anti-CM1; final dilution, 1:500) was added and incubated for 1 h. The cells were washed with PBS containing 0.1% saponin before addition of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated goat anti-mouse IgG (Jackson ImmunoResearch Laboratories, Inc., West Grove, Pa.) at a final dilution of 1:500 for 30 min. After washing with PBS containing 0.1% saponin, the coverslips were mounted onto glass slides using Vectashield (Vector Laboratories, Burlingame, Calif.) and examined on a Zeiss LSM 410 confocal microscope (Carl Zeiss Inc., Thornwood, N.Y.). All antibody dilutions were made in blocking buffer.
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RESULTS |
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Together, the internal signal peptide and the CM2 transmembrane domain mediate efficient translocation across the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane. As compared to CM1, the p31 protein shows a much greater affinity for microsomal membranes when the proteins were translated in vitro in the presence of canine pancreatic microsomes (37). The association of p31 with membranes most likely occurs through the hydrophobic 17-amino-acid C terminus of p31, as the CM1 protein (which does not contain this amino acid sequence) dissociates from microsomes in the presence of 4 M urea, 2 M KCl, or under alkaline (pH 11.5) conditions (37). To determine whether microsome association requires the proteolytic cleavage of p31 from p42 or whether it is an intrinsic property of the p31 protein, RNAs encoding p31 or seg 6 ORF (Fig. 1A) were translated in vitro in the presence of microsomal membranes. Translation reactions were reacted under conditions (pH 11.5 or 4 M urea) which dissociate peripheral but not integral membrane proteins from microsomes, and the amount of the membrane-associated versus the membrane-dissociated p31 protein was determined (Fig. 1B). The p31 protein associated strongly with microsomes when expressed alone (90% associated in untreated lanes, 79% associated after pH 11.5 treatment, and 71% associated after 4 M urea treatment) or from the seg 6 ORF cDNA (84% associated in untreated lanes, 77% associated after pH 11.5 treatment, and 72% associated after 4 M urea treatment).
To determine whether the p31 C-terminal 17-amino-acid region completely traverses or simply binds to the ER membrane, a series of truncation-deletion mutants were constructed, utilizing the N-linked carbohydrate addition site at Asn 270 (36) as a marker for complete translocation across the ER membrane (Fig. 1A). Plasmids encoding the indicated cDNAs were transfected into vac-T7-infected HeLa-T4 cells and metabolically labeled at 5 h.p.t., and the cells were lysed after a 5-min incubation in chase medium. To identify glycosylated species, one-half of the immunoprecipitated polypeptides were treated with PNGase to remove N-linked carbohydrates before analysis by SDS-PAGE (Fig. 1C). Approximately 97% of the p42 protein was processed into glycosylated CM2 (CM218) in cells transfected with the seg 6 ORF cDNA, indicating very efficient translocation of the p42 protein into the ER membrane. Deletion of the upstream 238 amino acids of p42 (cDNA CM2) had little effect on ER translocation, as 88% of CM2 was glycosylated (CM218 compared to CM2sp and CM215). Elimination of the signal peptide cleavage site in p42 by substituting an Arg for the Ala at residue 259 (seg 6 A259R), resulted in glycosylation of 60% of the translated polypeptide (gp42 as compared to p42). This reduction in glycosylation efficiency may be due to inaccessibility of Asn 270 to the ER glycosylation machinery because of steric constraints (see below and Fig. 2A), because after in vitro translation in the presence of microsomes, the p42 protein possesses characteristics of an integral membrane protein (37). The ER translocation of proteins containing either the p42 internal signal peptide or the CM2 transmembrane domain alone was then assessed (Fig. 1C). The p33 cDNA, which encodes the first 274 amino acids of p42 as well as an Ala-to-Arg substitution at amino acid 259, was glycosylated at 20% efficiency (gp33 compared to p33), indicating only limited translocation of the C-terminal region. A cDNA containing the coding region for amino acids 260 to 374 (CM2
SP)
was glycosylated at 52% efficiency (CM218 compared to CM215),
indicating that only half of the newly synthesized polypeptides
were inserted into the ER membrane in the proper orientation.
Taken together, these data indicate that proper and efficient membrane
translocation occurs only with proteins containing both the
internal signal peptide and the CM2 transmembrane domain. In addition,
translocation of p42 occurred cotranslationally and required an
N-ethyl maleimide-sensitive component in the canine pancreatic microsomes (data not shown), presumably the signal recognition particle (SRP).
Rapid, proteasome-dependent degradation of p31 when expressed
either from cDNA or in influenza C virus-infected cells.
An antiserum specific to the p31 protein was generated by immunizing
rabbits with a peptide corresponding to the 17 C-terminal amino acids
unique to p31 compared to the CM1 protein. HeLa-T4 cells were
transfected with a eukaryotic expression plasmid containing the seg 6 ORF or mock transfected, followed by metabolic labeling at 18 h.p.t. The cells were incubated in chase medium for 5 min before lysis
and immunoprecipitation with rabbit serum specific for recombinant CM1
protein (37), a peptide corresponding to the cytoplasmic
tail of CM2 (36), or the 17-amino-acid peptide corresponding
to the C terminus of p31 (Fig. 2A). The
CM1-specific serum immunoprecipitated two major
polypeptide species from pC seg 6 ORF cDNA transfected
cells: CM1 (faster migrating, predominant species) and p31 (slower
migrating, less abundant species). The p31 C terminus-specific
serum immunoprecipitated exclusively the slower migrating band,
indicating a high specificity for p31. A small amount of p42 protein
was immunoprecipitated by the CM1- and CM2-specific serum, but not by
the p31-specific serum (Fig. 2A). The reason for the lack of reactivity
of the p31 serum with p42 is not known, but the internal signal peptide
may not be accessible to antibodies due to steric hindrance when the
CM2 transmembrane domain is present in the same polypeptide
chain (Fig. 1C). No major polypeptides were immunoprecipitated
from mock-transfected cells by any of the antisera.
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Transfer of the 17-amino-acid C terminus of p31 to the C terminus
of influenza A virus M1 protein or the CAT protein results in rapid
degradation.
As the 17 C-terminal residues of p31 distinguish the
rapidly degraded p31 protein from the relatively stable CM1 protein, it
seemed plausible that these residues contained a degradation signal. To
test this hypothesis, a chimeric protein, A/M1-C17 was
constructed which contained the 17-amino-acid C terminus of p31 added
to the C terminus of the influenza A virus M1 protein. The
M1 protein was chosen as a reporter protein because it has similar biochemical properties to the CM1 protein but it has little sequence identity (5, 56). HeLa-T4 cells were transfected with pC A/M1 or pC A/M1-C17, pulse-labeled at
18 h.p.t., incubated in chase medium for the indicated number of
minutes, and lysed. The proteins were immunoprecipitated with an
M1-specific MAb, and the polypeptides were
separated by SDS-PAGE. The M1-C17 chimeric protein was
observed to undergo rapid degradation compared to the M1
protein (Fig. 3A), suggesting that the
17-residue C-terminal region of p31 can serve as a degradation signal
when transferred to another protein. The M1-C17 protein
migrated as a doublet for unknown reasons. The proteasome inhibitor
lactacystin inhibited the degradation of A/M1-C17 (27% A/M1-C17
remaining without lactacystin, 71% remaining with lactacystin) (Fig.
3B), indicating the protein was degraded by the 26S proteasome.
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Degradation of p31 requires the presence of a core group of
hydrophobic amino acids within its 17-residue C terminus.
The
specific nature of the degradation signal in the 17-residue C terminus
of p31 was characterized further by constructing a set of mutant p31
proteins (Fig. 5; also see Materials and
Methods). HeLa-T4 cells were transfected with the cDNAs, and cells
were pulse-labeled at 18 h.p.t. and incubated in chase medium for
the indicated number of minutes. The cells were lysed, proteins were immunoprecipitated with CM1-specific serum, and polypeptides
were analyzed by SDS-PAGE. The degradation kinetics of mutant p31
proteins containing truncations of four or eight residues from the C
terminus of p31 was found to be similar to that of wild-type p31 (Fig. 5). In contrast, deletion of 13 residues from the p31 C terminus, which
deletes a significant number of hydrophobic residues, resulted in a
protein that was relatively stable with 65% of the initial protein
remaining after a 60-min incubation in chase medium. To determine the
contribution of the core nine hydrophobic amino acids in the C terminus
of p31 towards protein degradation, these residues were replaced with
either nine leucine residues (p31-Leu), the core hydrophobic amino
acids of the C-terminal membrane-anchoring sequence of synaptobrevin
(p31-SB), or the hydrophilic amino acids comprising the epitope for the
FLAG MAb (p31-FLAG). As shown in Fig. 5, the p31-Leu and p31-SB protein
constructs were degraded rapidly while the p31-FLAG construct was quite
stable over 60 min of incubation in chase medium.
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DISCUSSION |
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The influenza C virus RNA segment 6 colinear mRNA transcript which contains the seg 6 ORF (374 amino acid residues) is translated to yield a precursor protein, p42, which on insertion into microsomal membrane is subsequently cleaved by signal peptidase to form the membrane associated N-terminal p31 protein and the CM2 integral membrane protein (18, 37). The efficient membrane translocation of p42 (i) requires the internal signal peptide that becomes the C terminus of p31; (ii) requires the hydrophobic domain that becomes the transmembrane domain of CM2; (iii) requires an N-ethyl maleimide sensitive component, presumably the SRP; and (iv) occurs cotranslationally in vitro. Taken together, the data indicate the p42 protein undergoes insertion into the ER membrane via the classical pathway utilized by virtually all mammalian cell proteins containing signal peptides or signal anchor sequences (reviewed in reference 22): this is despite the uncommon position of the signal peptide, which is located 239 amino acids from the N terminus of the protein.
When expressed alone from cDNA, p31 associates tightly with membranes. This interaction appears to occur between the hydrophobic C-terminal region of p31 and the inner leaflet of the lipid bilayer. The p33 protein construct, which consists of a 16-residue C-terminal extension to p31 (as well as an amino acid substitution which eliminates the signal peptidase cleavage site) underwent N-linked glycosylation poorly, suggesting that complete translocation of the C-terminal region did not occur efficiently. In contrast, members of the SNARE family of cellular proteins possess C-terminal hydrophobic domains which anchor them to membranes. Insertion of these proteins into the ER membrane occurs via an SRP-independent, posttranslational pathway which requires ATP (24, 49). The C-terminal hydrophobic domains of SNAP-25 and synaptobrevin span the lipid bilayer, as judged by the efficient utilization of N-linked glycosylation sites engineered into the C terminus. Determining the structural and/or sequence differences between the p31 and SNARE protein C-terminal domains which mediate complete translocation across the lipid bilayer could provide some insights into the mechanism responsible for the anchoring of SNARE proteins to lipid bilayers.
Interestingly, when the CM2 protein was expressed without an N-terminal signal sequence, approximately half of the molecules were glycosylated, implying the protein behaves as a type III integral membrane protein. This is reminiscent of the behavior of the influenza A virus M2 and the influenza B virus NB integral membrane proteins, neither of which contains N-terminal signal sequences and which both contain only a single hydrophobic domain, yet they are oriented in the plasma membrane in an Nout-Cin type I integral membrane protein orientation (28, 52).
We have speculated previously that the requirement of both the signal peptide and transmembrane domain for efficient translocation may reflect the formation of a loop intermediate which interacts with the Sec61 translocon (37). The data presented here continue to support this hypothesis. The reduced glycosylation of p42 as well as the inability of a rabbit serum generated against a peptide corresponding to the C-terminal 17 amino acids of p31 (the internal signal peptide) to immunoprecipitate p42 could result from severe structural constraints placed on the amino acid sequence between the signal peptide and the CM2 transmembrane domain when cleavage after amino acid 259 does not occur.
The p31 protein underwent rapid degradation after cleavage from p42. Cleavage at the signal peptidase consensus sequence is not required for degradation, as p31 expressed alone or p31 expressed from the seg 6 ORF cDNA were degraded with nearly identical kinetics. The 17-amino-acid C-terminal region of p31 was able to target the influenza A virus M1 protein for rapid degradation when fused in frame to the C terminus of the M1 protein, suggesting this 17-residue sequence contains a transferable degradation signal. Since the M1 protein itself binds tightly to membranes (55), we speculate that the addition of the C-terminal 17 amino acids of p31 to M1 changes the nature of the membrane binding of the chimeric protein, rather than simply increasing the membrane affinity of the protein. This degradation signal does not have to reside at the C terminus of the protein to mediate degradation, as the p42 protein itself undergoes rapid degradation (data not shown), but this has not been explored rigorously. Extensive mutagenesis of the 17 amino acid p31 C-terminal region suggests the signal specifying degradation is a region of hydrophobicity and not a specific amino acid sequence. It is possible that the hydrophobic nature of the 17-amino-acid sequence or the tight membrane association of proteins containing this amino acid sequence may preclude proper folding of other domains of the protein. The increased membrane binding and rapid degradation of the CAT-C17 chimeric protein lends support to this hypothesis. However, a flexible hinge known in other constructs to permit independent folding of linked domains (2, 42), placed between the 17-amino-acid C terminus of p31 and the coding region of CM1 did not change significantly the degradation rate of the chimeric protein.
The degradation of p31 is inhibited by lactacystin, indicating involvement of the 26S proteasome pathway. However, we were unable to detect polyubiquitinated forms of p31, even in the presence of proteasome inhibitors. Virtually all proteins that undergo proteasome-mediated degradation acquire polyubiquitin chains on the amide groups of lysine residues, (reviewed in reference 3). However, ornithine decarboxylase (29, 32, 47) and Stat5 (48) as well as p21Cip1 (41) appear to be degraded via the 26S proteasome in an ubiquitin-independent manner. Whether p31 degradation occurs via a similar mechanism requires further investigation. The degradation of integral membrane proteins such as the major histocompatibility complex class I heavy chain proteins is mediated by the cytomegalovirus US2 and US11 genes (43, 50, 51), as well as the herpes simplex virus ICP47 gene (10, 15, 20). This process requires the export or retrograde translocation of the major histocompatibility complex class I proteins from the ER membrane into the cytoplasm, where proteasome-mediated degradation occurs (reviewed in reference 23). Whether ATP or Sec61 is required to actively dislocate p31 from cellular membranes before degradation by the 26S proteasome has not been explored.
Lastly, the detection of p31 in influenza C virus-infected cells further supports proteolytic cleavage of p42 as the mechanism for CM2 production. While we have been unable to demonstrate the presence of p42 in influenza C virus-infected cells (data not shown), it has been detected by others (16). The rapid degradation of p31 may indicate the protein does not have a function in the influenza C virus life cycle. Proteolytic cleavage of CM2 from a polypeptide precursor, followed by rapid degradation of the upstream polypeptide species represents a method of gene regulation not utilized by any other member of the Orthomyxoviridae family. Therefore, it provides yet another coding strategy employed by these viruses to maximize their genome coding capacity while minimizing genome size.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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We thank all members of the Lamb laboratory for useful discussions and K. Nakamura, Yamagata University School of Medicine, Yamagata, Japan, for the generous gift of anti-CM1 MAbs.
This research was supported by research grant R37 AI-20201 (R.A.L.) and fellowship F32 AI-10382 (A.P.) from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. A.P. was an Associate and R.A.L. is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
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FOOTNOTES |
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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Cell Biology, Northwestern University, 2153 North Campus Dr., Evanston, IL 60208-3500. Phone: (847) 491-5433. Fax: (847) 491-2467. E-mail: ralamb{at}northwestern.edu.
Present address: Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington
University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110.
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