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Journal of Virology, August 2002, p. 7430-7443, Vol. 76, No. 15
0022-538X/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.76.15.7430-7443.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Department of Microbiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455
Received 31 October 2001/ Accepted 26 April 2002
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3. The presence of
3 imparts environmental stability to the virion (54) but also appears to negatively regulate critical virion functions such as membrane penetration. The ability of reovirus to establish a productive infection requires proteolysis of the outer capsid (13, 62, 65). More recent data point toward
3 as the critical target for degradation (19, 20).
The first step in reovirus infection is attachment to cellular receptors through interactions with the viral receptor protein
1 (46, 75). Following attachment, virions are internalized by receptor-mediated endocytosis and delivered to endosomal compartments (12, 13, 65). In cell culture and probably in extraintestinal tissues in vivo, reovirus virions undergo partial proteolysis within cellular endosomal and/or lysosomal compartments (13, 21, 62, 65). It has been suggested that the lysosomal cysteine protease cathepsin L is sufficient to mediate reovirus disassembly in murine L929 cells (4). During virion disassembly, the outer capsid protein
3 is proteolytically degraded and the underlying protein µ1 is cleaved, generating particles referred to as intermediate (or infectious) subvirion particles (ISVPs) (13, 21, 62, 65). ISVPs, unlike intact virions, have the capacity to penetrate cell membranes, thereby gaining access to cytoplasmic components required for viral gene expression (12, 38, 39, 48, 66). Studies using the mouse model have revealed that in enteric reovirus infections, proteolytic uncoating takes place within the intestinal lumen, where it is likely mediated by pancreatic serine proteases such as trypsin or chymotrypsin (CHT) (7, 11). There is debate as to whether ISVPs generated extracellularly are internalized by receptor-mediated endocytosis or enter cells by directly penetrating the plasma membrane (12, 65).
Other members of the Reoviridae family have a markedly more restricted tropism than reovirus. Whereas reovirus can infect a variety of cells in vivo, including those of the respiratory and intestinal tracts, heart, muscle, and brain (50, 58, 61, 68, 74), rotavirus replication is generally restricted to villus tip enterocytes of the small intestine (15, 27, 34). In vitro, rotavirus is typically cultured in the presence of exogenous trypsin. The addition of trypsin causes cleavage of the outer capsid protein VP4. This enables rotavirus to permeabilize membranes via an activity of VP5, one of the cleavage products (28, 33). In the absence of exogenous trypsin, rotavirus can be internalized by receptor-mediated endocytosis, but the virus fails to uncoat (6).
We hypothesized that the efficiency of reovirus outer capsid proteolysis is one determinant of cellular host range, the types of cells that can be productively infected by reovirus. To test this, we asked if addition of protease to cell culture medium would expand the range of cell types that would support reovirus infection. We identified a number of transformed and nontransformed cell lines, as well as primary cells, that are restrictive for viral infection. We demonstrated that addition of intestinal proteases to the cell culture medium promotes viral growth in these cells, in some cases dramatically. Our results indicate that virion uncoating is a critical determinant of cellular host range and that many cells which otherwise support productive reovirus infection restrict this early step in the virus life cycle.
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Reovirus serotype 1 Lang, serotype 2 Jones, and serotype 3 Dearing and c87 (Abney) are prototypic laboratory strains. Mutants 3-1 (29) and L/C (1) are variants of strain Dearing that were isolated from persistently infected L929 cells. Purified virions were prepared by CsCl density gradient centrifugation of extracts from cells infected with third-passage lysate stocks (35). Purified virions containing [35S]methionine-labeled proteins were prepared by adding 5 mCi of [35S]methionine in the form of EasyTag express protein labeling mix (NEN Life Science Products Inc., Boston, Mass.) to cell suspensions (2.0 x 108 cells at 5 x 105 cells/ml) at 17 h postinfection (p.i.). ISVPs and detergent-plus-protease subvirion particles (dpSVPs) were prepared by treating purified virions with CHT according to published methods (19, 53). To assess the efficiency of ISVP and dpSVP generation, we determined the extent to which µ1C was cleaved in various particles. Particles were analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Dried gels were scanned, protein band intensity was determined by using NIH Image software, and the mean density ratio of
2 to µ1C or
was calculated for virions, ISVPs, and dpSVPs.
Analysis of viral protein expression in infected cells. Cell suspensions were prepared by using 0.05% trypsin-0.53 mM EDTA to remove adherent cells from culture dishes. Cells were plated at a density of 106/ml in 6-well plates 18 to 24 h prior to infection. Cells were washed with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) containing 2 mM MgCl2 and then infected at the specified multiplicity of infection (MOI) with virus diluted in PBS-2 mM MgCl2. Virus was allowed to adsorb to cells for 1.5 h at 4°C. At this temperature, virus binds to cells but is not internalized (63). After adsorption, cultures were fed with serum-free medium and incubated at 37°C. As indicated, some samples included 10 µg of CHT (Sigma, St. Louis, Mo.)/ml or 10 µg of trypsin (Sigma)/ml in the postadsorption medium. At the indicated times p.i., cells were removed from culture dishes (with scraping of adherent cells), collected by low-speed centrifugation (at 179 x g), and lysed in Tris lysis buffer (TLB) (10 mM Tris [pH 7.5], 2.5 mM MgCl2, 100 mM NaCl, 0.5% Triton X-100, 5 µg of leupeptin [Sigma]/ml, 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride [PMSF]). After 30 min on ice, samples were pelleted by low-speed centrifugation for 10 min to remove cellular debris. Protein sample buffer (1.2 M sucrose, 0.5 M Tris [pH 8.0], 20% SDS, 0.01% bromphenol blue, 50 µl of ß-mercaptoethanol/ml) was added to cell lysate samples.
Protein samples (representing 105 cells) were resolved by electrophoresis on SDS-12% polyacrylamide gels and transferred to nitrocellulose membranes for 2 h at 100 V in 25 mM Tris-192 mM glycine-20% methanol. Nitrocellulose membranes (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, Calif.) were blocked overnight at 4°C in Tris-buffered saline (10 mM Tris [pH 8.0], 150 mM NaCl)-0.05% Tween (TBST) containing 5% nonfat dry milk, rinsed with TBST, and incubated with a rabbit anti-µNS polyclonal antiserum (14) (1:12,500 in TBST) for 1 h. Membranes were subsequently washed with TBST and incubated for 1 h with horseradish peroxidase-conjugated anti-rabbit immunoglobulin G (IgG) (1:7,500 in TBST) (Amersham, Arlington Heights, Ill.). Bound antibody was detected by treating the nitrocellulose filters with enhanced chemiluminescence (ECL) detection reagents (Amersham) and exposing the filters to Full Speed Blue X-ray film (Eastman Kodak, Rochester, N.Y.).
To determine if CHT-facilitated infection is influenced by agents which inhibit intracellular proteolysis of reovirus virions (3, 65), L929 cell monolayers were, in some cases, pretreated for 1 h with a medium which contained either 300 µM trans-epoxysuccinyl-L-leucylamido-(4-guanidino)butane (E-64) or 20 mM NH4Cl (both from Sigma). Cells were infected as described above. The postadsorption medium included either 300 µM E-64, 20 mM NH4Cl, or no inhibitor; some samples also included 10 µg of CHT/ml.
Analysis of intracellular proteolysis of reovirus virions. Cells were plated at a density of 106 per 35-mm culture dish and incubated for 18 to 24 h. Prior to infection, cell monolayers were washed twice with PBS. [35S]methionine-labeled Lang virions (5 x 105 cpm/sample, which reflected an MOI of 25) were allowed to adsorb to cells for 1 h at 4°C. After adsorption, cells were washed twice with ice-cold PBS to remove unbound virions, and time zero samples were collected. Fresh serum-free medium was added to the monolayers, and they were transferred to a 37°C incubator. Some samples included CHT (10 µg/ml). At the indicated times p.i., cells were removed from culture dishes and concentrated by low-speed centrifugation for 10 min. Cell pellets were resuspended in immunoprecipitation buffer (0.1 M NaCl, 10 mM Tris [pH 7.5], 1 mM EDTA, 0.5% NP-40) and incubated for 10 min on ice. Lysates were centrifuged at 716 x g to pellet nuclei. Proteins were precipitated from the supernatants by using acetone (51), collected by centrifugation at 12,000 x g for 10 min, solubilized in protein sample buffer, and resolved on SDS-15% polyacrylamide gels. Following electrophoresis, gels were fixed, treated with Amplify (Amersham), dried under a vacuum, and placed on PhosphorImager screens. Labeled viral protein bands were analyzed by using a Storm 840 PhosphorImager and quantified by using ImageQuant software (Molecular Dynamics, Sunnyvale, Calif.).
Analysis of viral growth. Cells were infected at an MOI of 3 (in batch suspensions), and attachment was allowed to proceed for 1.5 h on ice at 4°C. After adsorption, virus and cells were added to 3-dram vials (4 x 105 cells/vial) containing 1 ml of chilled serum-free medium. Some samples included CHT (10 µg/ml). Triplicate samples were prepared for each time point. For each cell type and condition (with or without CHT), one set of samples (time zero) was frozen immediately at -70°C. The remaining samples were placed at 37°C. Long-term exposure of cells to CHT negatively affected cell viability. To avoid this problem, at 9 h p.i. fetal calf serum was added to each 3-dram vial so that the medium was completed with the concentration of serum normally used to culture the cells. The addition of serum effectively inhibited the activity of CHT in the CHT-containing cultures. Samples were harvested at the times indicated and subjected to three cycles of freezing and thawing, and virus was quantified by a modified CHT plaque assay on L929 cells (see below). Viral yields were calculated as (log10 PFU/ml)t = x h - (log10 PFU/ml)t = 0 h ± standard deviation (SD).
CHT plaque assay. Protease-facilitated plaque assays have been described elsewhere (40, 73). Briefly, L929 cells were plated in 6-well plates at 106 cells per well. After 18 to 24 h of incubation, the medium was removed and monolayers were washed with 1 ml of PBS containing 2 mM MgCl2. Samples, diluted in gelatin-saline (136.9 mM NaCl, 0.27 mM CaCl2-2H2O, 0.84 mM MgCl2, 19.4 mM H3BO3, 0.13 mM Na2B3O7, 0.3% gelatin [pH 7.4]), were added and allowed to adsorb to cells for 1 h at 37°C. Following adsorption, the inoculum was removed. Cell monolayers were covered with 1% agar and serum-free 199 medium (Irving Scientific, Santa Ana, Calif.), supplemented to contain 2 mM glutamine, 100 U of penicillin/ml, 100 µg of streptomycin/ml, 250 ng of amphotericin/ml, and 10 µg of CHT/ml. Plaques were counted 3 days after infection.
Neutralization experiments.
Purified Lang virions (2.3 x 105 PFU, corresponding to 7.2 x 107 particles) were diluted into either 1 ml of PBS, rabbit anti-reovirus core serum (20) (diluted 1:1,000 in PBS), or the anti-
1 monoclonal antibody 5C6 (diluted to 1 µg/ml in PBS) (71) and were incubated for 1 h at 37°C. The virus-antibody mixture was then added to L929 cells at an MOI of 3 and allowed to adsorb for 1.5 h at 4°C. After adsorption, infected cells were transferred into vials (4 x 105 infected cells/vial) containing serum-free medium. Some samples included CHT (10 µg/ml). Triplicate samples were prepared for each time point and antibody treatment. Time zero samples were frozen immediately at -70°C, and the remaining samples were incubated at 37°C for 24 h. Cell-associated virus was released by three cycles of freezing and thawing. Viral growth was analyzed by plaque assay on L929 cell monolayers as described elsewhere (72).
Immunoblot analysis for cathepsin L. Cell lysates were prepared from L929, MEF, RAW, and 3T6 cells using TLB as described above for the analysis of viral protein expression. The concentration of protein within each sample was determined by using the Bio-Rad DC protein assay kit. Secreted proteins from culture supernatants were precipitated with 20% trichloroacetic acid containing 25 µg of salmon sperm DNA/ml, centrifuged at 12,000 x g for 10 min, and resuspended in sample buffer.
Protein samples, normalized for either protein content (cellular proteins) or cell number (secreted proteins), were resolved by electrophoresis on SDS-15% polyacrylamide gels and transferred to nitrocellulose membranes. Nitrocellulose membranes were blocked overnight in TBST containing 10% nonfat dry milk, washed with TBST, and incubated with a rabbit antiserum raised against murine cathepsin L (1:5,000 in TBST) (56). Membranes were subsequently washed with TBST and then incubated with a horseradish peroxidase-conjugated anti-rabbit IgG (1:7,500 in TBST). Protein bands were detected by using ECL reagents as described above.
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FIG. 1. Effects of exogenous protease on viral protein expression in L929, A549, MEF, Vero, and 3T6 cells. (A) L929, A549, MEF, Vero, and 3T6 cells were infected with reovirus serotype 1 Lang at an MOI of 3. CHT (10 µg/ml) either was (+ CHT) or was not (- CHT) included in the postadsorption medium. Cell extracts were prepared from samples at 9 h p.i., electrophoresed on SDS-12% polyacrylamide gels, transferred to nitrocellulose membranes (Bio-Rad), and probed with a rabbit anti-µNS antiserum (diluted 1:12,500). Bound antibody was detected by using reagents that generate a chemiluminescent signal. (B) Cultures of the indicated cell types were infected as described for panel A, except that an MOI of 20 was used. Trypsin (10 µg/ml) either was (+ TRY) or was not (- TRY) included. Cell extracts were harvested and analyzed for µNS expression as described for panel A.
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Addition of exogenous CHT generates ISVP-like particles capable of bypassing normal requirements for viral uncoating. There are several mechanisms by which inclusion of CHT in the postadsorption culture medium might have facilitated infection of restrictive cells. One possibility was that the addition of CHT generated ISVP-like particles capable of bypassing the normal cellular requirements for acidic endosomal or lysosomal pH and cysteine protease activity. However it was also possible that CHT facilitated infection by altering cell surface components involved in infection. To gain insight into the mechanism by which CHT facilitated infection of restrictive cells, we first asked whether this treatment generated ISVP-like particles in the cultures. We examined the effects of the cysteine protease inhibitors E-64 and NH4Cl on infection of L929 cells by reovirus strain Lang in the presence or absence of exogenous CHT. In permissive cells, these agents have been shown to inhibit reovirus uncoating and to block infection by virions; infection with in vitro-generated ISVPs is not inhibited by these agents (3, 65). Infection was monitored by assaying expression of the viral nonstructural protein µNS (Fig. 2A). As expected, both E-64 and NH4Cl inhibited infection by viral stocks when CHT was not included in the postadsorption medium. In contrast, µNS was synthesized in infected cultures treated with 10 µg of CHT/ml, even if the postadsorption culture medium also contained E-64 or NH4Cl. µNS expression was also seen in the positive-control samples that were infected with in vitro-generated ISVPs prepared from purified Lang virions. These findings indicate that addition of CHT to the postadsorption medium generates particles that, like ISVPs, bypass the normal requirements for pH-dependent proteolysis in endocytic vesicles.
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FIG. 2. Effects of E-64 and NH4Cl on CHT-facilitated infection. (A) L929 cells were infected at an MOI of 20 either with a crude virus stock, with or without CHT at 10 µg/ml (+ CHT or - CHT, respectively), or with ISVPs generated from purified Lang virions. After adsorption, some of the samples received medium containing E-64 (300 µM) or NH4Cl (20 mM). At 9 h p.i., samples were harvested and µNS expression was detected by immunoblotting as described in the legend to Fig. 1. (B) Purified Lang virions or ISVPs were used to infect L929, Vero, and MEF cells at an MOI of 20. At 9 h p.i., µNS expression was analyzed by immunoblotting as described in the legend to Fig. 1.
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Virion uncoating is impaired in some restrictive cell lines.
The results shown in Fig. 2 strongly suggest that the block to infection in some restrictive cells is at the level of virion uncoating, since restrictive cells can be infected either by ISVPs or by including CHT in the postadsorption medium. To examine uncoating directly, we infected L929, A549, MEF, or Vero cells with [35S]methionine-labeled Lang virions, prepared cell extracts at various times p.i., and subjected samples to SDS-PAGE and phosphorimager analysis (Fig. 3). The characteristic pattern of proteolytic uncoating (4, 65) can be observed in infected L929 and A549 cells in the absence of CHT. Early in infection, the outer capsid protein
3 is degraded and the underlying protein µ1/µ1C undergoes endoproteolytic cleavage, yielding the detectable N-terminal fragments
/µ1
and the smaller C-terminal fragment
(not retained on this gel). Addition of exogenous protease potentiates uncoating in infected L929 and A549 cell cultures, as evidenced by the increased extents of
3 and µ1/µ1C cleavage at early times (0.5 and 1 h) in the CHT-exposed samples. This is consistent with previous findings that uncoating occurs within 3 h p.i. in the permissive L929 cell line (65). In contrast, there was little detectable
3 or µ1/µ1C cleavage in infected MEF cells in the absence of exogenous enzyme, even at 9 h p.i. We observed a similar block to uncoating in infected 3T6 cells (data not shown). In contrast, the block to uncoating did not appear to be as severe in infected Vero cells. In the absence of CHT, we detected a small degree of outer capsid proteolysis in infected Vero cells at the later time points analyzed. In the presence of CHT, infected MEF and Vero cells showed the characteristic pattern of
3 and µ1/µ1C cleavage. The finding that postadsorption CHT-treatment rapidly generates ISVP-like particles is consistent with our observation that infections in the presence of CHT and E-64 or NH4Cl progress to the stage of viral protein expression (Fig. 2).
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FIG. 3. Analysis of virion uncoating in the absence or presence of exogenous CHT. Monolayers of L929, A549, MEF, or Vero cells were infected with 5 x 105 cpm of purified [35S]methionine-labeled Lang virions (equivalent to an MOI of 25). After 1 h of adsorption at 4°C, the inoculum was removed, and fresh medium was added (with [+] or without [-] CHT). Samples were incubated at 37°C for the times (in hours) indicated at the top. Cells were then lysed, and extracts were prepared as described by Sturzenbecker and colleagues (65). Samples were subjected to electrophoresis on SDS-12% polyacrylamide gels. Gels were dried under a vacuum, and radioactivity was detected by PhosphorImager analysis (Molecular Dynamics). The positions of capsid proteins are indicated. Virion uncoating is characterized by the removal of 3, cleavage of µ1 and µ1C, and the presence of the µ1/µ1C cleavage fragments µ1 and .
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3 is removed, the underlying protein µ1/µ1C is cleaved, and the vertex-associated
1 molecules are believed to assume an extended conformation (reviewed in reference 30). To elucidate the role of the cell attachment protein
1 in CHT-facilitated infection, we first asked if infection could be blocked with 5C6, a neutralizing
1-specific monoclonal antibody (71). We incubated purified Lang virions with either 5C6 or a control anti-core antiserum and then used the particles to infect L929 cell monolayers in the presence or absence of protease. Viral yields were measured at 24 h p.i. The results of this experiment are shown in Table 1. We found that the
1-specific antibody neutralized infection even if CHT was included in the postadsorption medium. In the absence of antibody or in the presence of a core-specific antiserum, we observed a
2-log-unit increase in viral yield at 24 h p.i. This result indicates that CHT-facilitated infection is dependent on
1-cell receptor interactions, as is infection by purified ISVPs (19). |
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TABLE 1. Capacities of anti- 1 and core-specific antibodies to neutralize infectivitya
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1 may enhance the capacity of ISVPs to interact with cell receptors (2). To determine if the mechanism by which CHT facilitates infection involves enhanced cell binding, we quantitated the levels of cell-associated virus at time zero in the experiment for which results are shown in Fig. 3. As described earlier, equal amounts of radiolabeled virus were allowed to attach to cells for 1 h at 4°C, and unbound virus was removed by washing with ice-cold PBS. At 4°C, virus binds to cells but is not internalized; by 30 min p.i. at 37°C, a majority of bound virus has been reported to be internalized (63). As shown in Table 2, CHT treatment does not enhance viral binding, since the level of cell-associated radioactivity in the
core proteins is not higher in infections with CHT. The fact that there were fewer cell-associated counts in most of the samples that contained CHT is consistent with the observation that ISVPs may have fewer
1 molecules than do virions (25). We obtained similar results in experiments in which scintillation counting was used to compare the capacities of purified radiolabeled virions and ISVPs to bind to L929 cells and a macrophage cell line (J. Linke and L. Schiff, unpublished data). |
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TABLE 2. Quantitation of cell-associated inoculuma
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3 and not the endoproteolytic cleavage of µ1C that generates
and
.
As mentioned above, proteolytic conversion of virions to ISVPs results in the removal of
3 and endoproteolyic cleavage of the underlying protein µ1/µ1C. To determine whether one or both of these events is critical to the capacity of proteolyzed particles to infect restrictive cells, we investigated the infectivity of dpSVPs. dpSVPs are ISVPs that are prepared in the presence of alkyl sulfate detergents (19). They differ from ISVPs in that µ1/µ1C is uncleaved (as it is in virions); similar levels of µ1-related proteins are present in the three particle types (Fig. 4A). We infected permissive L929 and restrictive Vero and 293 cells with strain Lang virions, ISVPs, and dpSVPs. In one set of samples, E-64 was added to inhibit intracellular cleavage of
3 (in the virion-infected cells) and µ1/µ1C (in the virion- and dpSVP-infected cells) (3, 19). At 9 h p.i., cell lysates were prepared and µNS expression was analyzed by immunoblotting. Results are shown in Fig. 4B. As expected, after infection with virions, µNS was detected only in the L929 cell extracts that had not been treated with E-64. ISVPs were capable of establishing infection in L929, Vero, and 293 cells, even when the medium included E-64. The phenotype of dpSVP infections was identical to that of ISVP infections, indicating that the endoproteolytic cleavage of µ1/µ1C that generates
and
is not required for infection of restrictive cells. This result strongly suggests that protease treatment facilitates infection in restrictive cells by effecting
3 cleavage.
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FIG. 4. Analysis of the capacities of different subvirion particles to infect restrictive cells. (A) dpSVPs were prepared by treating purified Lang virions for 10 min with CHT in the presence of sodium tetradecyl sulfate (19). Digestions were terminated with PMSF, and 1010 particles were analyzed by SDS-PAGE. Viral proteins (indicated on the left) were stained with Coomassie brilliant blue. The mean density ratio of 2 to µ1C/ was calculated as described in Materials and Methods. (B) Purified Lang virions, ISVPs, and dpSVPs were used to infect L929, Vero, and 293 cells at an MOI of 20. At 9 h p.i., µNS expression was analyzed by immunoblotting as described in the legend to Fig. 1.
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FIG. 5. Analysis of viral growth in the presence or absence of CHT. L929, A549, MEF, Vero, and 3T6 cells were infected with virus at an MOI of 3. After adsorption, samples were incubated in medium with (solid lines) or without (dashed lines) the addition of CHT at 10 µg/ml. The amounts of virus present at time zero and at 1, 3, and 5 days p.i. were determined by a modified CHT plaque assay on L929 cell monolayers, and yields were determined as described in Materials and Methods. Each time point represents the mean (± SD) derived from three independent samples.
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FIG. 6. Capacity of PI virus isolates L/C and 3-1 to replicate in L929, MEF, and RAW cells. (A) L929, MEF, and RAW cells were infected at an MOI of 5 with PI virus isolates 3-1 and L/C. After adsorption, samples were incubated in media that either did or did not contain CHT at 10 µg/ml (+ CHT and - CHT, respectively). At 15 h p.i., cell lysates were prepared and µNS synthesis was analyzed by immunoblotting as described in the legend to Fig. 1. (B) Control L929 cell infections were performed with the PI viruses at an MOI of 5 in the presence of NH4Cl or E-64, as described in the legend to Fig. 3. Analysis of viral protein expression was performed at 15 h p.i., as described in the legend to Fig. 1.
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TABLE 3. Effects of CHT on the replication of reovirus strain Lang in a panel of primary cell cultures and continuous cell linesa
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1 to proteolytic cleavage (22, 52). To determine if protease-facilitated infection of cultured cells is specific to reovirus strain Lang, we infected a small but representative panel of the cell lines analyzed in Table 3 with reovirus type 2 Jones and two serotype 3 strains, Dearing and c87 (Abney), and measured 24-h viral yields in the presence and absence of CHT. We included c87 in our analysis because, in vitro, the response of host cells to different serotype 3 strains can vary substantially (for example, see reference 70). Results are shown in Table 4. With respect to infection by strain Dearing, in the absence of CHT, Vero cells were the most permissive and RAW cells were the least permissive of the restrictive cells analyzed. The pattern was similar when we analyzed infection by other strains. After L929 cells, Vero cells were the most permissive cell type in the absence of added protease, supporting 1.3 log units of replication after infection with c87 and approximately one-half log unit after infection with strain Jones. CHT treatment substantially increased the viral yields of serotype 2 and serotype 3 strains in Vero, 293, RAW, and HL-60 cells. Together with the results of experiments using strain Lang, these data indicate that there is no serotype specificity to the ability of exogenous CHT to facilitate infection. It is notable that even strain Dearing, whose cell attachment protein is susceptible to proteolysis by CHT, is capable of infecting cells under these conditions. |
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TABLE 4. Effects of CHT on the replication of reovirus serotypes 2 and 3a
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3. To begin to elucidate the nature of the block(s) to uncoating within restrictive cell lines, we took advantage of reagents developed during the study of persistent reovirus infection. During persistent reovirus infections of murine L929 cells, mutant cells are selected that restrict viral disassembly (3, 29, 77) because they do not express mature cathepsin L, a lysosomal cysteine protease (4). These mutant cells fully support reovirus growth when infection is initiated with ISVPs or with the viral mutants that coevolve with the cells (1, 29). The mutant viruses (PI viruses) that are coselected during persistent infection of L929 cells have an enhanced disassembly phenotype. These viruses uncoat more rapidly than wild-type virus in vitro and replicate in E-64- and NH4Cl-treated cells (3, 29, 77). Genetic studies reveal that pertinent viral mutations are contained within the gene which encodes
3 (3, 77). To determine if the block to uncoating in restrictive cells is similar to that which develops during persistent infection of L929 cells, we asked if viruses isolated from persistently infected L929 cell cultures could infect restrictive MEFs and RAW cells. RAW is a murine macrophage cell line that is restrictive to reovirus infection in the absence of exogenous protease (Table 3). We used two independently isolated L929 cell-derived PI viruses, L/C (1) and 3-1 (29), to infect L929, MEF, and RAW cells in the presence or absence of CHT. At 15 h. p.i., cell lysates were prepared and viral protein expression was analyzed by immunoblotting. The results of a representative experiment are shown in Fig. 6. Figure 6A shows that neither MEF nor RAW cells synthesize viral proteins when infected with 3-1 or L/C in the absence of CHT; however, addition of CHT to the postadsorption medium facilitates infection by these viruses. Figure 6B shows that, as previously reported, both PI viruses can infect L929 cells in the presence of E-64 and NH4Cl, like ISVPs (3, 29). In another experiment (data not shown), we examined the capacity of the PI virus 3-1 to infect restrictive Vero cells and found no evidence of viral protein production when cells were infected in the absence of exogenous protease.
The finding that MEF, RAW, and Vero cells could not be infected by PI viruses suggests that the restriction to virion uncoating in these cells is distinct from that which develops during persistent infection of L929 cells. This conclusion would be further supported if the naturally restrictive cells were found to express mature cathepsin L. To examine this, we probed immunoblots containing extracts and supernatants from murine L929, MEF, 3T6, and RAW cells with a rabbit antiserum directed against murine cathepsin L (56). Results of a representative experiment are shown in Fig. 7. Figure 7A shows the immunoblot results for cell-associated cathepsin L. Cathepsin L is synthesized as a 38-kDa proenzyme that is either secreted or cleaved into the mature form, consisting of a 23-kDa heavy chain and a 5-kDa light chain (36, 60). We detected the mature form of cathepsin L in the restrictive MEF, 3T6, and RAW cells as well as in the permissive L929 cells. Figure 7B shows the immunoblotting results for protein secreted into the media of the various cell cultures. Each cell type secreted the precursor form of cathepsin L. These findings indicate that the restriction to uncoating in MEFs and RAW cells, which can be overcome by exogenous treatment with CHT, is not a consequence of the lack of expression of mature cathepsin L.
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FIG. 7. Immunoblot analysis of cathepsin L expression in permissive and restrictive cells. (A) Cell lysates, normalized for protein content, were resolved by SDS-15% PAGE and electrophoretically transferred onto nitrocellulose filters. Filters were incubated with a polyclonal rabbit antiserum directed against murine cathepsin L (1:5,000). Bound antibody was detected by using reagents that generate a chemiluminescent signal. Bands representing the three forms of cathepsin L are indicated. The 38-kDa proenzyme is either secreted from cells or transported to the endosyme or lysosome, where it is converted into a transient 30-kDa intermediate form. The intermediate form is further processed into a 23-kDa mature cathepsin L heavy chain and a 5-kDa light chain (not retained on the 15% polyacrylamide gel). (B) Proteins were precipitated from cell culture supernatants (normalized for cell number). Protein samples were resolved on an SDS-15% polyacrylamide gel and analyzed for the presence of the cathepsin L proenzyme, as described for panel A. P, pellet; S, supernatant.
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3, resulting in exposure of the underlying capsid protein µ1. Protein µ1 plays a critical role in the capacity of reovirus particles to disrupt membranes (12, 38, 39, 48, 66). In this report, we have presented evidence that the requirement for capsid proteolysis profoundly restricts the reovirus cellular host range. Although this definition is somewhat arbitrary, we have defined restrictive growth in this study as less than 1/2 log unit of growth at 24 h p.i. By this criterion, we identified a number of cell lines and primary cell cultures that restrict reovirus infection. Remarkably, the majority of restrictive cells (8 out of 10) support efficient viral replication (between 0.9 and 2.3 log units of growth at 24 h p.i.) when protease is included in the postadsorption culture medium. Direct analysis of virion binding and uncoating in some of these restrictive cell lines revealed that virus efficiently bound to the cell surface but that virion disassembly was affected. We found that restrictions to viral uncoating vary in degree. Whereas some cell lines, such as MEFs, showed no evidence of significant uncoating even at 9 h p.i., the process appeared delayed in others, such as Vero cells. The range of phenotypes suggests that alternative proteases may function in different cells at varying degrees of efficiency. Alternatively, endocytic transport may be inefficient in some cells, resulting in the slow delivery of infecting virions to a vesicle containing one or more proteases that can initiate disassembly.
In our uncoating experiments, the outer capsid protein
3 was rapidly and efficiently degraded when exogenous protease was included in the postadsorption medium. Under these conditions, infections were productive even when the medium also contained E-64 or NH4Cl. Thus, addition of exogenous protease to the infected cultures rapidly generates ISVP-like particles that are capable of bypassing the essential acid- and cysteine protease-dependent step in reovirus infection (3, 16, 65). In the presence of CHT, we observed a significant increase in the 24-h viral yield in almost all cell types analyzed, including cell lines, such as A549 and L929, that efficiently support infection in the absence of protease. This observation suggests that the requirement for virion uncoating limits reovirus infection even in permissive cell lines. Since reoviruses naturally infect the enteric tracts of their mammalian hosts, they may have evolved to be most efficiently uncoated by intestinal proteases.
What is the mechanism by which CHT facilitates infection?
Protease treatment profoundly alters reovirus outer capsid structure (30). Given that each of the three outer capsid proteins is affected by protease treatment, what is (are) the relevant viral target(s) in CHT-facilitated infection? Our data are most consistent with a role for
3. Protease treatment of reovirus virions can result in several types of changes in the cell attachment protein
1. In some serotype 3 strains, proteases cleave the molecule such that the globular head is separated from the fibrous tail (31, 52). The fact that we see expanded host range by protease treatment of all three serotypes indicates that cleavage of
1 is not key to the expanded host range, since, of the viruses we examined, only strain Dearing exhibits this phenotype (45). Protease treatment can also cause a striking change in the morphology of
1, converting it from a poorly visualized, more compact form to an extended, flexible fiber (30). This conformational change in
1 may play a role in the interaction of reovirus with receptors on intestinal M cells (2). Our data are not consistent with a specific role for
1 extension in the mechanism of CHT-facilitated infection. Protease treatment did not enhance viral binding in either the restrictive cells or the nonrestrictive cells that we analyzed. Neither did we see infection of restrictive cells by serotype 2 Jones virions, which are reported to have constitutively extended
1 molecules (35).
Proteolytic degradation and removal of the outermost capsid protein,
3, renders the underlying protein µ1/µ1C susceptible to proteolysis. This protein undergoes endoproteolytic cleavage in the conversion from virions to ISVPs. Our experiments with dpSVPs, which lack
3 but have uncleaved µ1/µ1C, strongly suggest that
3 removal is the critical target for CHT. Our results are consistent with findings by Nibert and colleagues that the µ1/µ1C cleavage that generates µ1
,
, and
is not required for penetration in either L929 cells or MDCK cells (19, 20). Thus, the block to infection in restrictive cells likely involves the requirement for
3 degradation, a requirement that is mitigated when CHT is included in the culture medium or when ISVPs or dpSVPs are used to initiate infection.
What is the nature of the block to uncoating in restrictive cells? We have begun to characterize the molecular basis for the restriction(s) to virion uncoating within cells that support efficient replication by ISVPs or ISVP-like particles. Experiments described in this paper have investigated the hypothesis that the restriction is similar to that which develops during a persistent reovirus infection. During the establishment of persistent reovirus infections in L929 cells, mutant cells which resist infection by wild-type virus are selected. Recent studies reveal that these mutant cells fail to express the mature form of the lysosomal cysteine protease cathepsin L (4). These cells can be infected by mutant viruses that coevolve in the cultures or by ISVPs generated in vitro from wild-type virus (1, 29). The fact that neither of two PI viruses could infect restrictive cells in the absence of protease suggests that the block to uncoating in these cells is distinct from that which develops during persistence in L929 cells. This conclusion is further supported by our observation that many restrictive cells express and process cathepsin L.
Our own preliminary data suggest that a persistent infection can be established in MEF cells by 8 days after infection with virions (data not shown). This is characterized by minimal cell culture crisis and continuous viral output. Others have demonstrated that cells with blocks to reovirus entry, such as murine erythroleukemia cells, become persistently infected rapidly without significant culture crisis (76). Persistently infected carrier cultures have also been established by blocking uncoating in permissive L929 cells with ammonium chloride (16). We expect that insight into the nature of the block(s) to infection in MEF cells will come from future studies of the relationship between virus and cells isolated from persistently infected carrier cultures.
Cellular processes that may restrict uncoating include vesicle acidification and trafficking. It has been shown that reovirus infection is dependent on an acidic pH within the vesicular compartment (16, 49, 65). It is not clear, however, if low pH is required only to activate an essential protease or if it is also required for another early step in reovirus infection, such as an essential conformational change in a capsid protein. Some genetic evidence suggests that the pH- and protease-dependent steps in infection are separable (3). Interestingly, HL-60 cells, which we have shown fail to support reovirus replication in the absence of exogenous protease, have a more alkaline lysosomal pH than do L929 cells (6.4 versus 5.2) (3, 9). This finding is consistent with a model in which lysosomal pH plays a pivotal role in determining the susceptibility of some cells to infection by intact reovirus virions, but ISVPs or proteolyzed particles establish infection by a mechanism independent of vesicular pH.
This study also identified cells, such as 3T6 cells, that were restrictive to infection even after addition of exogenous protease. There was very limited viral growth in 3T6 cells, even at 5 days p.i. in the presence of protease (Fig. 5.). Viral binding to these cells was relatively inefficient, and bound virus did not appear to uncoat in the absence of exogenous protease (data not shown). Thus, 3T6 cells may restrict infection by virions at several different steps in the life cycle. One component of the restrictive phenotype in 3T6 cells could be similar to that described for R1.1 thymoma cells. Reovirus has been reported to bind to these cells but not to be internalized, instead becoming localized to cell membrane elaborations (59). Indeed, more work will be required to elucidate the nature of the block(s) to viral infection in cells where protease treatment does not overcome the restriction.
Importance of proteolysis in viral tropism and disease. Mounting evidence suggests that viral pathogenesis in animal hosts is influenced by protease expression. Influenza virus is predominantly pneumotropic, despite use of a broadly expressed receptor. This restricted tropism may be the consequence of Clara cell-specific expression of a protease that can activate the influenza virus hemagglutinin for membrane penetration (42, 43). Exposure to extracellular protease is critical for infections by rotaviruses and astroviruses (8, 23, 33, 47). In vivo, these viruses replicate almost exclusively in the enteric tract and require the addition of exogenous protease, usually trypsin, for propagation in cell culture. Clearly, the extent to which cells express and secrete various types of proteases can have a significant effect on viral susceptibility for those cells and surrounding cells.
Unlike many other viruses whose tissue tropism is restricted at the level of receptor expression, reoviruses appear to utilize one or more common cellular molecules as receptors (5; reviewed in reference 67). This is supported by our finding that a variety of cell types can be infected by reovirus when CHT is included in the postadsorption medium. The fact that reovirus receptors are widely expressed, together with the observation that reovirus does not cause serious disease in its host (reviewed in reference 69), suggests that other factors must limit systemic spread of the virus within a host. We suggest that at least one of those factors is the requirement for proteolytic uncoating of the infecting virion and the resultant activation of its capacity to penetrate cell membranes. Future studies will determine whether protease-treated particles (ISVPs) have increased pathogenic potential in the mouse model because they can infect cells that normally restrict uncoating and thus serve as natural barriers to infection by virions.
Practical implications. Our findings have important practical applications. Addition of exogenous protease, either CHT or trypsin, to cell culture medium can be used to readily generate ISVP-like particles from crude viral stocks. This simple method may be used to study reovirus biology within a wide range of cells that do not naturally support virion uncoating. We are currently using this approach to study reovirus replication in Vero cells and in MEFs from various knockout mice. Although most of our experiments utilized crude viral stocks, restrictive cells were also productively infected with ISVPs prepared by in vitro digestion of purified virions with CHT. The latter approach, while significantly more time-consuming and expensive, may be preferable in animal studies when the size of the inoculum must be small and in studies of phenotypes that would be influenced by cytokines present within crude viral stocks. Also, CHT-facilitated infection should allow preparation of higher-titer virus stocks. We have shown that inclusion of CHT in the postadsorption medium increases viral yields in permissive cells, including L929, A549, and Vero cells. Comparison of viral yields in Vero and L929 cells suggests that CHT-facilitated infection of Vero cells, which do not express alpha/beta interferons (32), may generate stocks with particularly high titers.
Finally, reovirus has been shown to preferentially infect cells with an activated Ras pathway (24, 64). This finding has led to the study of reovirus as an anticancer therapy (24, 37, 55). The mechanism by which Ras activation increases reovirus growth has been suggested to involve inactivation of the interferon-induced eIF2
kinase PKR (64). Interestingly, it has been demonstrated that Ras activation can result in increased expression of various proteases, including cathepsin L (17, 18, 44). Since reovirus infection can be mediated by cathepsin L, higher levels of this protease could make Ras-activated cells more permissive to infection. Studies in our laboratory are currently under way to determine if increased expression of cellular proteases in Ras-activated cells is a requirement for reovirus oncolysis.
This work was supported by NIH grant AI45990 to L.A.S. J.W.G. received support from NIH training grants T32 CA09138 and 2T32 AI07421.
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