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Journal of Virology, October 2002, p. 10365-10373, Vol. 76, No. 20
0022-538X/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.76.20.10365-10373.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Helena Browne,2 and Gillian Elliott1*
Virus Assembly Group, Marie Curie Research Institute, The Chart, Oxted, Surrey RH8 0TL,1 Division of Virology, Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QP, United Kingdom2
Received 22 April 2002/ Accepted 10 July 2002
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The mechanism of tegument acquisition by the maturing virion is also poorly characterized. Because tegument must be incorporated into the virus prior to or at the same time as envelopment, the identification of the cellular site(s) of tegument protein assembly may help refine the current understanding of HSV maturation. While the details of virus assembly remain controversial, a collection of evidence in recent years has supported the theory that capsids in the nucleus undergo an envelopment-deenvelopment step at the nuclear membrane and then acquire their final envelope at a downstream location within the cytoplasm (1, 18, 29, 40, 42, 45). This model would allow for tegument proteins to be added in the nucleus, the cytoplasm, or both. The targeting of capsid proteins to the nucleus (33, 39) and envelope proteins to the secretory pathway (32, 34) is well documented, and the subcellular compartmentalization of these proteins correlates well with their putative sites of acquisition by the maturing virus. However, analysis of the targeting of several tegument proteins has revealed that the localization of this class of proteins is more varied and complex than that of the other structural components of the virion, making it difficult to correlate the subcellular localization of these proteins with potential sites of incorporation into the virus. For instance, the three proteins that make up the major part of the HSV tegument, namely, VP22, VP16, and VP13/14, have been shown to exhibit a range of localization patterns in infected cells. VP13/14 targets the nucleus (4, 30), VP16 localizes to nuclear replication compartments and the cytoplasm (7, 21), while conflicting reports on VP22 localization have shown it to be either cytoplasmic (11, 30) or nuclear (36). In addition, the homologues of VP22 from pseudorabies virus (PRV), Marek's disease virus, and bovine herpesvirus 1 have all been shown to localize to the nucleus of infected cells (2, 6, 23, 38).
Most studies on the subcellular localization of proteins in virus-infected cells have been carried out by immunofluorescence analysis of fixed cells. In contrast, our studies in recent years have involved the development of viruses expressing fluorescence-tagged structural proteins, enabling us to visualize the localization of these proteins in live cells and to monitor changes in their localization within the same cells as infection progresses. To this end, we have constructed HSV type 1 (HSV-1) recombinants in which individual major tegument proteins, namely, VP22 and VP13/14, have been tagged with green fluorescent protein (GFP) (4, 11). Both of these viruses replicate as efficiently as the parental virus and incorporate the fusion proteins into their structure at levels equivalent to those incorporated by the parental virus, suggesting that the addition of a GFP tag does not interfere with the behavior of these tegument proteins in infected cells. However, when these viruses were analyzed by live-cell microscopy, they produced quite different results with regard to the main cellular localization of the two proteins. VP22 was predominantly cytoplasmic throughout infection and exhibited localization and trafficking reminiscent of movement through the Golgi apparatus (11). In contrast, VP13/14 was efficiently targeted to the nucleus, localizing in a range of distinctive patterns as infection progressed, most notably in bright punctate dots (4). Although a small proportion of the protein could be seen in the cytoplasm, the exact behavior of this proportion of VP13/14 was difficult to discern. Considering that both of these proteins are packaged into the same compartment of the virion, we were intrigued by the contrasts in the subcellular targeting of the two tegument proteins.
To address the question of where in the cell VP22 and VP13/14 may colocalize, we have undertaken a detailed comparison of the localization and trafficking of these proteins in live infected cells. During these studies, we observed that while VP22 localized predominantly to the cytoplasm, it was also possible to detect a minor proportion of the protein in discrete nuclear dots. These dots were similar in appearance to the intense VP13/14-specific dots that have been described previously (4). We went on to construct a virus that expresses both cyan fluorescent protein (CFP)-VP22 and yellow fluorescent protein (YFP)-VP13/14 and showed that it is possible to simultaneously observe the two tegument proteins in live infected cells. The results obtained with this virus indicate that both VP22 and VP13/14 are targeted to the same nuclear dots, with VP22 localizing earlier and in smaller amounts than VP13/14. Furthermore, we showed that these tegument-specific domains are located adjacent to the nuclear dots formed early in infection at nuclear domain 10 (ND10) sites by the immediate-early protein ICP0. Hence, we have identified a novel tegument protein-containing compartment within the HSV-1-infected cell nucleus.
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Fluorescence-tagged viruses. The construction of the GFP-VP22-expressing virus (166v) and the YFP-VP13/14-expressing virus (179v) was described previously (4, 11). The HSV-1 recombinant expressing CFP-VP22 was constructed in the same manner as the GFP-VP22-expressing virus. Briefly, a CFP-UL49 cassette contained on a BamHI fragment was inserted into the BamHI site of plasmid pGE120 (11) to produce plasmid pGE180, which consisted of CFP-UL49 surrounded by the UL49 flanking sequences and hence driven by the UL49 promoter. Equal amounts (2 µg) of plasmid pGE180 and infectious HSV-1 strain 17 DNA were then transfected into 106 COS-1 cells grown in a 60-mm dish by the calcium phosphate precipitation technique modified with N,N-bis(2-hydroxyl)-2-aminoethanesulfonic acid-buffered saline in place of HEPES-buffered saline. About 3,000 PFU of progeny viruses were then plated on Vero cells and screened for possible recombinants by CFP fluorescence. The resulting virus that was chosen for analysis was called 180v. The HSV-1 recombinant expressing capsid protein VP26 fused at its C terminus to YFP (based on strain SC16) was constructed in the same manner as the VP26-GFP-expressing virus described previously (3).
To construct viruses expressing both CFP- and YFP-tagged structural proteins, Vero cells were coinfected with the two singly-tagged fluorescent viruses of interest. The progeny viruses from these coinfections were then screened for the presence of both fluorescent proteins in individual plaques, and the resulting doubly-tagged viruses were plaque purified four times prior to characterization. In this way, viruses 180v and 179v were used in coinfections to produce the CFP-VP22- and YFP-VP13/14-expressing virus 181v, while virus 180v and the VP26-YFP-expressing virus were used in coinfections to produce the CFP-VP22- and VP26-YFP-expressing virus 183v.
Virus genomic DNA screening. Virus DNA for restriction digestion was purified from 5 x 107 infected Vero cells as described previously (11) and digested for 8 h with appropriate enzymes in the presence of RNase A. Electrophoresis was carried out overnight with 0.8% agarose, and the gel was transferred to a nylon membrane by standard procedures. Southern blots were then hybridized with a 32P-labeled DNA probe synthesized by random priming of fragments specific for UL49, UL47, UL35, or GFP.
One-step growth curves. Vero cells grown in a six-well plate (106 cells per well) were infected at a multiplicity of 10 in 1 ml of medium per well. After 1 h (taken as 1 h postinfection), the inoculum was removed, the cells were washed with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), and 2 ml of fresh medium was added to each well. At 1, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 24 h postinfection, one well of infected cells was harvested for both extracellular virus from the cell medium and intracellular virus from the cells scraped into 1 ml of PBS. Each virus sample was then titrated with Vero cells.
SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis. Solubilized proteins were subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), and the gels were either stained with Coomassie blue or transferred to nitrocellulose filters and reacted with the appropriate primary antibody. A horseradish peroxidase-linked secondary conjugate was used, and reactive bands were visualized with enhanced chemiluminescence detection reagents (Amersham).
Antibodies. Polyclonal anti-VP13/14 antibody R220 was kindly provided by David Meredith. Polyclonal anti-VP22 antibody AGV30 was described previously (10). Antibodies against ICP0 (11060) and VP16 (LP1) were kindly provided by Roger Everett and Tony Minson, respectively. A monoclonal anti-GFP antibody was obtained from Clontech.
Live-cell microscopy. Cells for short-term live analysis were plated in coverslip chambers and imaged in one of two ways. For confocal microscopy, the 488 laser on a Zeiss LSM 410 inverted confocal microscope was used to generate z sections through the cell. Alternatively, images were acquired by using a Photometrics Quantix digital camera mounted on a Zeiss Axiovert S100 TV inverted microscope with filter sets specific for CFP and YFP (Chroma Technology Corporation, set 86002), and images were processed by using Metamorph software. The resulting images from both systems were processed by using Adobe Photoshop software.
Immunofluorescence analysis. Cells were either fixed for 20 min in 4% paraformaldehyde followed by permeabilization for 10 min with 0.5% Triton X-100 or fixed in 100% methanol for 10 min. The fixed cells were blocked by incubation for 30 min in PBS containing 10% newborn calf serum, primary antibody in the same solution was added, and the mixture was incubated for 30 min. Following extensive washing in PBS, Texas red-conjugated anti-mouse immunoglobulin G (Vector Labs) was added in the blocking solution described above, and the mixture was incubated for a further 30 min. The coverslips were then washed extensively in PBS and mounted in Vectashield (Vector Labs).
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FIG. 1. A minor population of GFP-VP22 localizes to nuclear dots in HSV-1-infected cells. Vero cells infected with GFP-VP22-expressing virus 166v at a multiplicity of 10 were examined by confocal microscopy at 8 h after infection. Six z sections through an individual live cell are shown. GFP-VP22-containing nuclear dots are indicated by arrows.
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FIG. 2. Nuclear dots containing GFP-VP22 are visible by bright-field microscopy. (A) The infected cells used in the experiment shown in Fig. 1 were examined by both fluorescent microscopy (left panel) and bright-field microscopy (right panel). Corresponding fluorescent and phase-dense dots are indicated by arrows. (B) Vero cells were infected with parental virus s17 at a multiplicity of 10 and examined live by bright-field microscopy. The newly formed phase-dense nuclear dots are indicated by arrows in the 3 h.p.i. image. h.p.i., hours postinfection. (C) Vero cells infected as decribed for panel B were fixed 6 h after infection, and immunofluorescence analysis was carried out with anti-VP22 polyclonal antibody AGV30.
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FIG. 3. Comparison of GFP-VP22- and YFP-VP13/14-specific nuclear dots in infected cells. Vero cells were infected with either a GFP-VP22-expressing virus (166v) or a YFP-VP13/140-expressing virus (179v) at a multiplicity of 10. Representative images of live cells were collected by confocal microscopy at 6, 8, and 10 h postinfection (h.p.i.) and are presented as single z sections. Nuclei containing fluorescent dots are indicated by arrows.
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Although it was previously shown that the incorporation of a single GFP-tagged protein into the tegument of HSV-1 has little effect on virus replication or assembly and maturation, it was possible that the incorporation of two tagged proteins could affect the growth characteristics of the virus. Thus, to assess the replication efficiency of virus 181v, a high-multiplicity time course experiment was carried out. Individual monolayers of Vero cells were each infected at a multiplicity of 10 with either the wild-type parental virus (s17) or 181v, and at various times after infection, total cell lysates were prepared. The samples were analyzed by SDS-PAGE on 10% gels, followed by Western blotting with a range of antibodies (Fig. 4A). Blotting with antibodies against VP22 and VP13/14 demonstrated that the molecular masses of both proteins had increased by about 27 kDa in 181v-infected cells, confirming that both VP22 and VP13/14 were being expressed as fusion proteins (Fig. 4A, VP22 and VP13/14 panels). Furthermore, the new forms of VP22 and VP13/14 also reacted with an anti-GFP antibody (Fig. 4A, GFP panel). These fusion proteins were synthesized at similar rates in both s17- and 181v-infected cells, as were immediate-early protein ICP0 and another tegument protein, VP16 (Fig. 4A, ICP0 and VP16 panels). In addition, one-step growth curves for s17 and 181v demonstrated that the replication efficiencies of both viruses were similar (data not shown).
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FIG. 4. Characterization of an HSV-1 recombinant expressing CFP-VP22 and YFP-VP13/14. (A) Vero cells infected with either wild-type virus (s17) or the doubly-tagged virus (181v) at 10 PFU per cell were harvested every 4 h after infection up to 24 h. Equal amounts of total cell lysates were analyzed by SDS-PAGE followed by Western blotting with antibodies against VP22, VP13/14, GFP, VP16, and ICP0. Lane M, markers (in kilodaltons). (B) Purified wild-type (s17) and recombinant (181v) virions were solubilized and analyzed by SDS-PAGE followed by either Coomassie blue staining (left panel) or Western blotting with antibodies against VP22, VP13/14, GFP, and VP16 (right panels).
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Simultaneous observation of VP22 and VP13/14 in live infected cells. To determine whether we could examine the subcellular localization of both VP22 and VP13/14 in the same live cells, we infected cells with 181v at a multiplicity of 10 and took representative images at various times after infection. At 2 to 3 h after infection, before YFP-VP13/14 was detectable, CFP-VP22 localized in a diffuse pattern within the cytoplasm of the infected cells (data not shown). As YFP-VP13/14 became visible in a diffuse nuclear pattern, CFP-VP22 began to accumulate in fluorescent particles often located close to the nucleus (Fig. 5, 4 h.p.i., VP22 in green, VP13/14 in red). This particulate cytoplasmic CFP-VP22 material increased in intensity over the next few hours, while YFP-VP13/14 began to accumulate within the replication compartments of the nucleus (Fig. 5, 8 h.p.i.). Of note at this time, however, was the presence of CFP-VP22 in faint nuclear dots (Fig. 5, 8 h.p.i., arrows). This small proportion of nuclear CFP-VP22 was specifically located in these punctate domains, with little CFP fluorescence detectable in the nucleoplasm or replication compartments. As infection progressed, the cytoplasmic CFP-VP22 material increased in intensity, such that the entire cell became highly fluoresecent (Fig. 5, 12 h.p.i.). At the same time, YFP-VP13/14 began to localize in nuclear dots positioned around the replication compartments (Fig. 5, 12 h.p.i., arrows). Thus, CFP-VP22 and YFP-VP13/14 expressed by the doubly-tagged virus localized in the same way as those expressed by the singly-tagged viruses. This report is the first description of a recombinant HSV expressing two fluorescence-tagged structural proteins.
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FIG. 5. Live-cell analysis of Vero cells infected with recombinant virus 181v. Vero cells grown in a coverslip chamber were infected with virus 181v at a multiplicity of 10 and were examined live at various times after infection (h.p.i., hours postinfection). At each time point, images were acquired by using a digital camera and filters specific for CFP and YFP. CFP-VP22 fluorescence is shown in green; YFP-VP13/14 fluorescence is shown in red. Nuclear dots are indicated by arrows.
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FIG. 6. Relative localizations of VP22- and VP13/14-containing nuclear dots. Vero cells were infected with virus 181v expressing CFP-VP22 and YFP-VP13/14 at a multiplicity of 10. At 10 h after infection, the cell nuclei were examined for the presence of CFP-VP22- and YFP-VP13/14-containing dots. (A) In about half the nuclei, the CFP-VP22-specific dots colocalized with those of YFP-VP13/14. (B) In about half the nuclei, the YFP-VP13/14-specific dots were located beside the GFP-VP22-specific dots. Insets show magnified images of individual dots. CFP-VP22 is in green; YFP-VP13/14 is in red.
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To examine the nuclear locations of both fluorescent proteins, Vero cells grown in a coverslip chamber were infected at a multiplicity of 10. At 6 to 8 h after infection, the cells were examined live, and representative images of infected cells were collected (Fig. 7A). At this stage of the infection, although the majority of VP22 was present in the cytoplasm, discrete nuclear dots of VP22 could also be seen (Fig. 7A, in green). The majority of VP26 expressed at this stage was also present in nuclear dots (Fig. 7A, in red), as observed previously (3). However, there was no colocalization or overlap between the VP26-specific dots and the VP22-specific dots, suggesting that the nuclear domains represented by these two proteins are different (Fig. 7A, inset).
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FIG. 7. Relative localizations of tegument protein-containing dots with other infected cell nuclear domains. (A) Vero cells were infected with virus 183v expressing CFP-VP22 and VP26-YFP at a multiplicity of 10. At 8 h after infection, the cells were examined live for the presence of CFP-VP22 (shown in green) and VP26-YFP (shown in red). (B) Vero cells were infected with virus 166v expressing GFP-VP22 at a multiplicity of 10. At 6 h after infection, the cells were fixed, and immunofluorescence analysis was carried out with an anti-ICP0 antibody. VP22 is shown in green; ICP0 is shown in red. (C) Vero cells were infected with an HSV-1 recombinant expressing VP26-YFP at a multiplicity of 10. At 6 h after infection, the cells were fixed, and immunofluorescence analysis was carried out with an anti-ICP0 antibody. VP26 is shown in green; ICP0 is shown in red. Insets show magnified images of individual nuclear domains.
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In our laboratory, using a virus expressing major tegument protein VP13/14 fused to YFP, it was recently shown that VP13/14 is another virus-encoded protein that is efficiently targeted to the nucleus throughout infection (4). When in the nucleus, VP13/14 localizes initially to replication compartments and at later times to punctate domains usually located at the edges of these replication compartments. The significance of this characteristic intranuclear localization of VP13/14 is as yet unclear because, like VP16, the nuclear population of VP13/14 could reflect either the site of VP13/14 incorporation into the virion or an additional functional role of VP13/14 unrelated to virus assembly. In this report, we show that the characteristic VP13/14-containing punctate nuclear domains are also a cellular localization site for the tegument protein VP22 in HSV-1-infected cells. In earlier studies on cells infected with a virus expressing GFP-VP22, such nuclear VP22 was not initially obvious (11). This was primarily because the GFP-VP22-specific nuclear population represented only a very small fraction of the overall GFP-VP22 fluorescence within the cell and was easily masked by the high levels of cytoplasmic punctate material. However, here we used confocal microscopy to examine infected cells in more detail and show that while the majority of GFP-VP22 is located in the cytoplasm of infected cells, a small proportion of it localizes specifically to nuclear dots. Furthermore, we also constructed the first-described virus expressing two fluorescent proteins, namely, CFP-VP22 and YFP-VP13/14, to show that both tegument proteins localize to the same small compartments within the infected cell nucleus. Live-cell fluorescence indicated that while VP22 could be detected in these structures at about 5 h after a high-multiplicity infection, VP13/14 could not be detected in them until 10 to 12 h after infection, suggesting that they may play roles within these domains at different times. Nonetheless, it is clear that VP22 and VP13/14 share a common physical target within the nucleus. These nuclear dots may be the same as those defined previously by Morrison and coworkers, when they carried out immunofluorescence analysis of HSV-1-infected cells with an antibody specific for VP22 (30). Moreover, it was recently demonstrated that the PRV homologue of VP22 localizes to multiple punctate dots within the infected cell nucleus early in infection (2). While these nuclear dots represent the predominant localization of PRV VP22 and are more numerous than HSV-1 VP22-specific nuclear dots, the spatial organization of PRV VP22-specific dots outside of virus replication compartments may imply that they represent the same virus-induced domains (2).
It was previously shown that VP13/14 contains an efficient nuclear localization signal at its amino terminus that targets the protein to the nucleus even in the absence of other virus proteins (5). VP22 does not contain a recognizable nuclear localization signal and, when expressed in isolation from other virus proteins, tends to concentrate initially in the cytoplasm of expressing cells (8-10). Thus, when expressed during virus infection, it is likely that a small proportion of VP22 enters the nucleus by an indirect mechanism, such as interaction with a second protein, or by a virus-induced modification required for its nuclear import. It was also previously shown that VP13/14 has the ability to shuttle between the nucleus and the cytoplasm (5). More recently, a domain in the C terminus of VP22 that causes a heterologous protein to accumulate in the cytoplasm has been characterized in our laboratory, a feature that would also be consistent with a nuclear export signal in this region of VP22 (25). Hence, it is possible that both tegument proteins shuttle between the cytoplasm and nuclear dots in infected cells, with VP13/14 exhibiting a nuclear steady-state localization and VP22 exhibiting a cytoplasmic steady-state localization.
A number of characterized nuclear compartments, of both cellular and viral origins, exhibit a punctate appearance similar to that of VP22 and VP13/14. The tegument-containing nuclear dots described here appeared in the nucleus as new phase-dense structures at about 2 to 3 h after infection, several hours before GFP-VP22 was detectable in them, suggesting that they had been induced by other virus-encoded proteins. Infection with HSV-1 has been shown to result in a number of different nuclear punctate domains, including those formed early in infection by ICP0 when it localizes to cellular ND10 sites (12); dense bodies described previously as the nuclear sites of localization for virus proteins ICP22, UL3, and UL4 (16, 22, 24); and domains termed assemblons that are formed slightly later by capsid proteins (3, 43). Our studies with a doubly-tagged virus expressing CFP-VP22 and capsid protein VP26 tagged with YFP showed that the tegument protein and the capsid protein compartments were not related. However, immunofluorescence analysis of ICP0 in cells infected with the GFP-VP22-expressing virus indicated that while the tegument-containing domains did not colocalize with the ICP0-containing domains, in almost all instances the GFP-VP22-specific dots were located exactly beside the ICP0-containing domains, suggesting a relationship between these two sites. It was previously shown that incoming virus genomes are deposited adjacent to the ND10 sites to which ICP0 localizes (15). Furthermore, it has also been suggested that both virus transcription and DNA replication are initiated from these original deposition sites next to ND10 sites (27). Thus, it is possible that these sites of genome deposition are the precursors of the phase-dense domains that we observed in infected nuclei and that the targeting of both VP22 and VP13/14 to these sites may be related to their as-yet-undefined roles in virus replication. Interestingly, members of our laboratory have previously suggested that VP13/14 may play a role in the trafficking of viral RNA, based on both its ability to shuttle between the nucleus and the cytoplasm and the similarity of its nuclear targeting signal to that of the HIV-1 RNA binding protein Rev (5).
The presence of two tegument proteins in the same discrete domains within the nucleus raises the alternative possibility that these domains are involved in tegument assembly into the virion. While we cannot rule out an involvement of these nuclear domains in tegument assembly, the low levels of VP22 in these sites compared to the high levels of VP13/14 do not reflect the relative concentrations of the two proteins within the assembled virus, in which they are almost equivalent. In addition, for PRV-infected cells, it has been demonstrated that there is no detectable VP22 on virions located in the perinuclear space, suggesting that in this virus at least, VP22 is assembled into the tegument at a site downstream in the assembly pathway (13). With the recent characterization of a range of VP22 and VP13/14 mutants in transient expression assays (5, 25), it should now be possible to transfer the mutations to the HSV-1 genome and investigate the relationship between targeting to nuclear domains and incorporation into the virus tegument.
I.H. and A.W. were funded by the Community Fund (previously the National Lotteries Charity Board). G.E. was funded by Marie Curie Cancer Care. H.B. was funded by the Welcome Trust, UK, and an MRC Cooperative Group award.
Present address: School of Animal and Microbial Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AJ, United Kingdom. ![]()
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deenvelopment
reenvelopment pathway. J. Virol. 75:5697-5702.
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