Laboratory of Viral Oncology, Department of Dermatology, Division of Immunology, Allergy and Infectious Diseases (DIAID), University of Vienna Medical School,1 Center of Molecular Medicine (CEMM), Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria,2 U385 INSERM, Medical Faculty, Nice, France3
Received 16 June 2003/ Accepted 15 September 2003
| ABSTRACT |
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6 integrin are
permissive for HPV11 infection. These results indicate that several
HSPGs can serve as HPV receptors and support a putative role for
syndecan-1, rather than
6 integrin, as a primary receptor
protein in natural HPV infection of
keratinocytes. | INTRODUCTION |
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8
kb of double-stranded closed circular and histone-associated DNA. Even
in the absence of other viral proteins, the L1 protein self-assembles
into empty capsids or virus-like particles (VLP)
(24). Subunit vaccines
based on VLP have been developed, and prophylactic immunizations have
demonstrated safety and efficacy in preventing papillomavirus infection
and associated neoplasia
(18,
23,
25,
28,
44).
Papillomaviruses
do not complete their life cycle leading to productive infection
without concomitant differentiation of the epithelial cell and thus
there is no efficient system to propagate virions in tissue culture. At
least in part due to these difficulties, the search for the cellular
receptor for papillomaviruses has so far been unsuccessful and the
mechanisms of viral entry into the host cell are unclear. Experimental
models to study early aspects of HPV infection include transient
infection of keratinocytes or epithelial cell lines with authentic
virions (50). Limited
amounts of HPV virions can be isolated from natural lesions, from
foreskin chips propagated in immunocompromised animals or from
keratinocyte raft cultures that have been used to analyze
papillomavirus entry and neutralization
(9,
32). More recently,
infectivity assays have been developed by using pseudovirions that
consist of papillomavirus capsids enclosing a marker genome
(36,
53). In addition, VLP
have been employed to demonstrate that papillomaviruses bind to cells
across many types and species, indicating that the attachment moiety is
proteinaceous and highly conserved
(39,
56). One model suggests
that cell attachment is initiated by interaction of the viral capsid
with a primary receptor of relatively low specificity and proceeds by
binding to a secondary receptor that results in internalization and
infection (21). Infection
with native papillomaviruses or pseudovirions or VLP uptake into
intracellular vesicles has been reported to occur via either clathrin-
or caveolae-mediated endocytosis, with delayed uptake kinetics
(4,
11,
13,
33,
39,
56).
6 integrin
was proposed as a putative papillomavirus receptor based on the
requirement for HPV6 VLP binding to cells, although this has been
questioned (15,
48). However, many models
suffer from the mismatch of virus and host cells and the difficulties
in distinguishing protein uptake from authentic papillomavirus
infection.
Many enveloped and nonenveloped viruses use heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) as primary attachment molecules to enter cells (6, 17, 20, 21, 47). HSPGs also serve as coreceptor molecules mediating binding for numerous viruses, bacteria, and protozoa, e.g., herpes simplex virus (HSV), Neisseria, and Plasmodium. However, the particular HSPG required for infectivity has not been examined for any viruses, with the exception of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (43).
Cell surface heparan sulfates are mostly members of two major gene families of membrane-bound proteoglycans, the syndecans and glypicans (reviewed in reference 2). Syndecans and glypicans bind proteins of the extracellular environment via their heparan sulfate chains, regulating a wide spectrum of biological activities, including cell proliferation and differentiation, morphogenesis, wound repair, and host defense. The syndecans comprise a family of four distinct genes encoding integral membrane proteins. The ectodomains are extended proteins that carry heparan sulfate chains distal from and chondroitin sulfates close to the plasma membrane. The glypicans are a family of at least six different gene products that are linked to the cell membrane via a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor. The glypican core proteins are likely to be globular and place heparan sulfate chains adjacent to the plasma membrane. Other part-time proteoglycans such as CD44 or betaglycan may bear heparan sulfate chains under certain conditions only. Syndecans and glypicans are expressed in a cell-, tissue-, and development-specific fashion. Syndecan-1 is the predominant HSPG in mammary epithelia and its expression is increased during epithelial differentiation and wound healing and decreased during malignant transformation, whereas syndecan-4 is expressed in focal adhesions of adherent cells. The ectodomains of both syndecan-1 and -4 are shed from the cell surface by proteases and released into wound fluids. The glypicans are expressed predominantly in the central nervous system, but glypican-1 is widely expressed in tissues including the epidermis and hair follicles (12, 29).
Heparan sulfate glucosaminoglycans (GAG) have also been proposed as the primary cell surface moieties mediating interaction with papillomaviruses (17, 21, 46). However, the identity of the specific core protein(s) carrying heparan sulfate GAG and its contribution to cellular interaction with papillomaviruses have not yet been identified. Therefore, we wanted to examine these questions for papillomaviruses, in particular which HSPG(s) supports attachment and infection of keratinocytes, the natural host cells for HPV infection.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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6 integrin expression (BOUA-SV) were derived from a patient
with junctional epidermolysis bullosa carrying a homozygous mutation in
the integrin
6 gene
(16), and KH-SV
keratinocytes were derived from a healthy donor. Both cell lines were
immortalized by simian virus 40. Cells were maintained at 37°C
as monolayers in serum-free, low-Ca2+ (0.15 M)
keratinocyte growth medium (KGM) supplemented with bovine pituitary
extract (Clonetics/BioWhittaker). To express
6 integrin
ectopically, BOUA-SV keratinocytes were infected with retroviral
vectors encoding either human
6 integrin (BOUA-SV-
6)
or a neomycin resistance gene only (BOUA-SV-neo)
(54). Cell lines were
selected and passaged in neomycin-containing KGM, and expression of
6 and ß4 integrins was verified by flow cytometry. The
erythroleukemia cell line K562, either wild type (wt) or stably
transfected with expression vectors coding for syndecan-1, syndecan-4,
glypican-1, or empty hygromycin B vector control (pRep4), was
generously provided by Guido David, Louvain, Belgium
(51). Cells were grown as
a suspension culture in RPMI 1640 medium (Gibco) supplemented with
10% fetal calf serum (FCS) (Gibco) and 200 µg of
hygromycin B (Gibco) per ml. Sf-9 insect cells were grown at
27°C as suspension cultures in Grace's insect medium
supplemented with 5%
FCS.
Monoclonal antibodies.
For flow cytometry analysis,
monoclonal antibodies (MAb) against human
6 integrin (CD
49f-FITC; PharMingen) and anti-human ß4 integrin (CD 104-PE;
PharMingen) were used at a 1:20 dilution. Antibodies directed against
betaglycan (TGF-ß RIII; R&D Systems), heparan sulfate
(F58-10E4; Seikagaku), syndecan-1 (B-B4; HybriDomus), syndecan-4
(F94-8G3), or glypican-1 (F48-S1) (the last MAb was kindly provided by
G. David [51])
were used at 2 µg/µl. The nonneutralizing MAb Camvir-1
(Pharmingen) is directed against a linear epitope of HPV16 L1
(31). The neutralizing
mouse MAbs H11.B2 and H16.E70 are directed against conformational L1
epitopes of the HPV11 or HPV16 capsid surface, respectively, and are
capable of preventing VLP from binding to cells
(8,
38,
49).
Baculovirus
expression and purification of HPV16 L1 VLP.
Recombinant baculoviruses were
generated as described previously
(24). Sf-9 insect cells
were infected at a high multiplicity of infection (MOI) of
10
and harvested after 3 days. High-molecular-mass structures were
separated from cell lysates by use of a 35% sucrose cushion
followed by cesium chloride (CsCl) density gradient equilibrium
centrifugation. Visible bands were collected and extensively dialyzed
against phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)-0.5 M
NaCl-0.05% NaN3, and aliquots were examined
by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE)
and Coomassie staining
(26). Purified VLP were
adsorbed on glow-discharged carbon-coated copper grids for 10 min,
dried briefly on filter paper, floated on a drop of glutaraldehyde
(2.5% in 0.1 M sodium cacodylate buffer, pH 7.0), and negatively
stained with uranyl acetate (1% in distilled water). Finally,
grids were dried on filter paper and examined in a JEOL EM 1010 or a
Philips CM 100 transmission electron microscope at 80 kV, with an
objective aperture of 30 µm
(49).
Flow cytometry analysis. Keratinocyte cell lines were washed with PBS and incubated for 10 min with 5 mM EDTA-PBS at 37°C for detachment. K562 cells and keratinocytes were washed twice with cold 2 mM EDTA-PBS (Gibco) containing 0.5% bovine serum albumin (MACS buffer). MAbs were used at saturating concentrations of 20 µg/µl. Cells (105) were incubated on ice for 1 h with antibodies in a total volume of 100 µl, washed twice with MACS buffer, incubated with fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled goat anti-mouse immunoglobulin G (Alexa Fluor 488; Molecular Probes), and analyzed on a Becton Dickinson FACScan. Results are expressed in fluorescence units (log scale; experimental result minus isotype control antibody result); experiments were repeated twice independently.
Digestion of cells with heparitinase and PLC. Cells (105) were washed twice with cold PBS, resuspended in digestion buffer (20 mM Tris-HCl, 50 mM NaCl, 4 mM CaCl2, 0.01% bovine serum albumin; pH 7.5), and incubated in a total volume of 100 µl at 37°C for 1 h with (or without) 10 µl of heparitinase (1.9 U/ml) (Seikagaku) or phosphatidylinositol-phospholipase C (PI-PLC) (13 U/ml) (Sigma). Cells were washed with MACS buffer and analyzed.
VLP binding assays.
KH-SV or BOUA-SV keratinocyte lines
were grown as adherent monolayers and, prior to reaching confluence,
were washed once with PBS, detached with 0.25%
trypsin-0.02% EDTA (Gibco), and held in suspension for
120 min at 37°C. K562 cells were grown in suspension culture.
Cells (105) in 50-µl volumes were washed twice with
cold PBS and incubated for 60 min on ice with a 1:10 dilution of
antibody (anti-
6 [CD 49f] or anti-ß4
[CD 104]; 0.5 mg/ml), 30-U/ml heparitinase or 13-U/ml PI-PLC
(Sigma) (27), or no
treatment for 2 h at 37°C. Cells were washed twice
with cold PBS, and HPV16 L1 VLP (125 ng) were added. Following
incubation for 60 min on ice, cells were washed extensively with PBS,
resuspended in loading buffer, boiled for 5 min, and analyzed by
SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. When indicated, HPV16 L1 VLP (125 ng)
were incubated for 60 min with a neutralizing mouse anti-HPV16 L1 MAb
(H16.E70) (8) at a
dilution of 1:10 before they were added to cells. Cell-VLP complexes
were washed three times with PBS, resuspended in loading buffer, boiled
for 5 min, and run on SDS-PAGE gels. Binding of L1 VLP to cells was
detected by immunoblotting using the L1-specific mouse MAb
Camvir-1.
Saturation of HPV16 L1 VLP binding to KH-SV or BOUA-SV cells. Cells (105) were incubated for 1 h on ice with increasing concentrations of VLP (31 to 2,000 ng) in a total volume of 50 µl. Supernatants were separated by centrifugation and cell pellets were washed three times with PBS. Supernatants or cell lysates were loaded onto separate gels, and cell-bound or free VLP were detected with MAb Camvir-1.
Isolation of HPV11 virions
from condylomata acuminata.
A surgically removed large human
genital wart (wet weight,
4 g) was cut into small pieces,
washed twice with PBS and once with extraction buffer (50 mM HEPES
[pH 8], 100 mM NaCl, 0.1 mM CaCl2), and harvested
by centrifugation at 500 x g for 2 min.
Warts were resuspended in 20 ml of extraction buffer, homogenized twice
for 1 min each on ice with an Ultra Turax T25, and centrifuged for 10
min at 10,000 x g at 4°C, and the supernatants
were saved. The remaining pellet was sequentially extracted with 10 ml
of extraction buffer containing 1 M NaCl and finally with buffer
containing 0.05% (wt/vol) sodium deoxycholate, incubated at
4°C for 2 h, and then rehomogenized. After a final
centrifugation, the supernatants were combined and run through a
0.2-µm-pore-size filter to remove contaminants, and aliquots
were stored at -70°C. A Hybrid capture II test (Digene)
and DNA sequencing revealed that the virus was HPV11. The concentration
of HPV11 particles in the condylomata extract was calculated from the
number of viral genomes analyzed by quantitative PCR in comparison to a
dilution series of a known amount of cloned HPV11 genomes and was
determined to be 4.5 x 106 particles per
ml.
HPV11 transient infectivity assay (RT-PCR). Keratinocytes (3 x 105 cells) were seeded into 60-mm-diameter tissue culture plates. The next day the culture medium was aspirated and cells were infected with 2 to 4 µl (unless stated differently) of HPV11 stock solution (corresponding to 9 x 103 to 18 x 103 particles) in 1 ml of KBM (Clonetics/BioWhittaker). As a specificity control, virions were incubated with neutralizing MAb H11.B2 before being added to cells as indicated previously (10). Similarly, 3 x 105 K562 cells were suspended in 1 ml of RPMI, seeded into 60-mm-diameter dishes, and infected. Cells and virus were incubated for 1 h at 37°C with gentle rocking every 15 min and then fed with 3 ml of fresh KGM or RPMI-10% FCS, respectively. After 3 days of incubation, total cellular RNA was harvested by using Tri Reagent (Molecular Research Center, Cincinnati, Ohio). For first-strand cDNA synthesis, oligo-p(dT)15 primers were used (Roche). Spliced HPV11 E1-E4 mRNA was detected by two rounds of 30-cycle nested PCR as described previously (50). The expected final sizes of the PCR amplicons were 628 bp for spliced HPV11 mRNA and 429 bp for spliced ß-actin mRNA.
| RESULTS |
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16 µl of HPV11 solution was required
for wt K562 cells to have an infection that was detectable by RT-PCR
(Fig. 2B; note weak band
for K562 vector cells infected with 16 µl of HPV11 and data not
shown). These data are consistent with the K562 attachment assays
described above and suggest that (i) various proteoglycans, i.e.,
syndecans, glypicans, and betaglycan, can confer susceptibility to
HPV11 infection upon K562 cells, while the core protein per se may not
play a decisive role, and (ii) a threshold level of cell surface
heparan sulfate may exist that determines permissiveness for infection,
at least for a low virus
inoculum. Expression of heparan sulfate, syndecan-1, syndecan-4, glypican-1, and betaglycan in human keratinocyte (KH-SV) and K562 cell lines. Basal keratinocytes of stratified epithelia are the assumed target cells in natural papillomavirus infections (35). The simian virus 40-immortalized human cell line KH-SV maintains the phenotype of primary keratinocytes and was used as a convenient surrogate for primary cells. Cells were grown under low-calcium conditions to inhibit differentiation and were analyzed for surface expression of prototype members of the HSPG family by quantitative immunofluorescence flow cytometry, using MAbs against syndecan-1, syndecan-4, glypican-1, and betaglycan-TGF-ß RIII under saturating conditions (20 µg/ml). As shown in Fig. 3B, syndecan-1 was expressed at high levels, indicating that it is the major HSPG of human keratinocytes (3, 51), whereas syndecan-4, glypican-1, and betaglycan are expressed at considerably lower levels. Keratinocyte expression levels of syndecan-1 and syndecan-4 were about 50% compared to the respective transfected K562 cells, whereas glypican-1 and betaglycan expression appeared even lower than that by glypican-1-transfected or wt K562 cell lines, respectively (Fig. 3B). Importantly, heparan sulfate expression of K562 transfectants correlated with the relative expression levels of transfected HSPGs (Fig. 3). These results and previous observations suggest that the high levels of heparan sulfate expression on keratinocytes are predominantly due to syndecan-1 (3, 34).
Human
keratinocytes bind HPV16 VLP via HSPGs.
Previous studies have identified HSPGs
as primary attachment structures on HaCaT keratinocytes by using
binding of VLP derived from HPV11 or cottontail rabbit papillomavirus
or HPV33 pseudovirion infection as the readout
(11,
17,
21). Conversely, the
cellular adhesion receptor
6 integrin was implicated in
binding of HPV6 VLP. To examine if high-risk HPV16 capsids bind human
keratinocytes via HSPGs, HPV16 VLP were incubated with KH-SV wt
keratinocytes in the absence or presence of high-molecular-mass (5 to
28 kDa) heparin. Following a wash step, cell-bound VLP were visualized
by Western blotting using the MAb Camvir-1. Increasing concentrations
of heparin (0.25 to 4,000 µg/ml) decreased VLP binding in a
dose-dependent manner, with
50% inhibition observed at
the lowest concentration (0.25 µg/ml) of heparin employed and
complete inhibition detectable at
32 µg/ml (Fig.
4A). The two L1 species (doublet), at 50 to 55 kDa, correspond to
posttranslational modification of L1 expressed in insect cells. The
band at
45 kDa (indicated with a star) represents a cellular
protein cross-reacting with Camvir-1 that serves as a convenient
internal control for equal loading. Extending previous results, these
data implicate HSPGs as primary attachment receptors for HPV16 on human
keratinocytes. Interestingly, binding inhibition occurred at similar
heparin concentrations in the case of the
6 integrin null
keratinocyte line BOUA-SV, which indicates that HPV16 VLP interaction
with human keratinocytes occurs independently from
6 integrin
expression.
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To relate results from infectivity assays obtained with K562 cells to the natural host cells of papillomaviruses, we analyzed susceptibility of keratinocytes to HPV11 virion infection. Because human keratinocytes deficient in syndecans or glypicans do not exist, KH-SV keratinocytes were exposed to heparitinase to remove heparan sulfate GAG or to PI-PLC to remove GPI-anchored glypicans from the cell surfaces. The removal of heparan sulfate or glypican-1, respectively, from the cell surface was verified by flow cytometry (data not shown). Cells were infected with HPV11 virions and cell extracts were analyzed by RT-PCR. Spliced E1-E4 viral mRNA was detected in untreated cells and in KH-SV cells treated with PI-PLC, but not in heparitinase-predigested cells (Fig. 6). Amplicons were absent from cell extracts following mock infection or from PCR control reactions performed in the absence of DNA template, demonstrating specificity. These results imply that syndecans or betaglycans are required for HPV11 infection of human keratinocytes, whereas glypicans do not appear to play a major role.
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6 integrin-deficient
(BOUA-SV) or wt (KH-SV) human keratinocytes.
6 integrin has been proposed
as the binding receptor for HPV6 VLP
(15). However, further
analysis has revealed that
6 integrin is not required for
HPV11 VLP binding, HPV33 pseudoinfection, or BPV type 4 (BPV4)
infection (17,
21,
48). To further address
this issue, we performed attachment assays using VLP of high-risk HPV16
and human epidermal keratinocytes as appropriate target cells. We took
advantage of keratinocytes (BOUA-SV) isolated from a patient with a
blistering skin disease that lacked
6 integrin expression due
to a homozygous deletion
(16). For comparison,
human keratinocytes (KH-SV) isolated from healthy donor skin were used.
Keratinocytes grown to subconfluence were detached by trypsin-EDTA
treatment and held in suspension for 2 h to allow
reexpression of cell surface proteins. Following incubation with 125 ng
of VLP for 1 h, cell-VLP complexes were extensively washed,
lysed in SDS sample buffer, and analyzed by immunoblotting for the
presence of L1, using the MAb Camvir-1 directed against a linear
epitope of HPV16 L1
(15).
The amount of
HPV16 VLP that attached to the integrin
6 null keratinocyte
line BOUA-SV (105 cells) appeared similar to that binding
KH-SV keratinocytes (105 cells) (Fig.
8, compare lanes 2 and 6 [arrow]), suggesting that
6
integrin expression on the keratinocyte surface is not required for
initial HPV16 L1 capsid binding. MAb H16.E70 blocks both surface
binding and infection by HPV16
(39). Preincubation of
VLP with H16.E70 prevents binding to keratinocytes to a large extent
when compared to VLP binding in the presence of a control MAb directed
against heterologous type HPV6 L1 VLP (
90% reduction in
L1 immunoreactivity) (Fig.
8, lanes 3, 4, 7, and 8),
indicating that the assay specifically detects cell binding of
assembled particles. In addition, when increasing amounts (31 to 2,000
ng) of HPV16 VLP were incubated with a constant number (105)
of cells, the amount of cell-bound VLP increased initially and remained
constant at
500 ng for KH-SV cells and
250 ng for
BOUA-SV cells (Fig. 9B and
D). Concomitantly, the amount of unbound VLP increased in the supernatant
fraction (Fig. 9A and C),
indicating that the number of cell surface receptors promoting VLP
attachment are limited
(56). The amount of L1
capsids bound to BOUA-SV cells appeared comparable over the whole range
of input VLP to that in complex with KH-SV cells, suggesting that
6 integrin expression by keratinocytes does not play a major
role in attachment of HPV16 VLP to their natural host cells (compare
Fig. 9B and D; note that
the signal for the 45-kDa cellular control protein is stronger for
BOUA-SV than for KH-SV cells).
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6 integrin-deficient keratinocytes that
overexpressed
6-integrin (BOUA-SV-
6) from a
retroviral expression vector or the neomycin resistance gene alone as a
control (BOUA-SV-neo). The level of HPV16 VLP binding to
BOUA-SV-
6 cells was similar to that for the BOUA-SV-neo line
(data not shown). These results confirm that under our conditions
6 integrin expression does not contribute to HPV16 VLP binding
to their natural host cells.
6
integrin-deficient (BOUA-SV) keratinocytes are susceptible to infection
with authentic HPV11 virions.
For early events of papillomavirus
infection, attachment of virions to the cells is necessary but may not
be sufficient for subsequent steps such as internalization, uncoating,
and early gene transcription that precede productive infection. To
further examine a possible postattachment role for
6 integrin
in HPV infectivity pathways, we used authentic HPV11 virions in an in
vitro infectivity assay to directly determine whether capsid binding
translates into infectious events. With viral early transcription as
the readout, we examined whether
6 integrin-deficient
keratinocytes were resistant to HPV11 infection compared to wt
keratinocytes. Importantly, spliced viral RNA was detectable in
extracts from HPV11-infected BOUA-SV and KH-SV cells, but not from
mock-infected cells (Fig.
10).
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6
integrin surface expression. These data are in agreement with previous
results from HPV33 pseudoinfection and BPV4 infection
(48,
53) and strongly suggest
that independence of papillomavirus infection from keratinocyte
6 integrin expression is not restricted to a limited number of
animal or human types. | DISCUSSION |
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6 integrin is required for HPV binding to and
infection of human keratinocytes. To evaluate attachment of the viral
capsid to cells, we used baculovirus-expressed VLP of HPV16, the type
most commonly associated with genital cancer. Although VLP share many
immunologic and structural aspects with infectious HPV in initial cell
binding, they may not accurately mimic later aspects of HPV infection.
Thus, we examined subsequent steps of papillomavirus infection by using
authentic infection with native HPV11 virions, as this mucosal type can
be readily isolated from human genital warts.
In vitro attachment
assays using
6 integrin-deficient human keratinocytes or
revertants ectopically overexpressing the integrin from a retroviral
vector demonstrated that
6 integrin expression is not required
for HPV16 VLP binding. The reasons for the divergent results in binding
requirements for HPV6
(15) and HPV16 L1 (this
report) VLP are unclear, as both types have similar tropism for genital
tissues, but they may be explained if HPV16 follows a different entry
pathway and/or use of human keratinocytes herein as appropriate natural
target cells (4). More
importantly, following infection with authentic HPV11 virions, E1-E4
spliced viral transcripts are detected in keratinocyte lines that
either express or do not express
6 integrin. These results
unambiguously establish that expression of
6 integrin is not
essential for authentic HPV11 infection of human keratinocytes in
vitro. These findings are in agreement with previous reports
demonstrating that
6 integrin is not a necessary receptor for
infection by BPV4 virions or HPV33 pseudovirions. These results also
argue against a major role of
6 integrin in papillomavirus
infection in vivo, although more subtle effects, e.g., on the kinetics
of virion uptake and/or transcription, have not been ruled out by the
experimental protocols we used.
Because the specific heparan sulfate-carrying cellular receptor protein(s) has not yet been identified, we examined the role of prototype members of two major families of HSPGs, syndecans and glypicans, in papillomavirus infection. Two processes were studied: (i) initial VLP-cell binding and (ii) authentic HPV11 virion infectivity as measured by expression of viral spliced transcripts. We took advantage of K562 erythroleukemia cells stably transfected with syndecan-1, syndecan-4, or glypican-1 cDNA. Transgene expression results in increased levels of heparan sulfate GAG moieties on their cell surfaces in addition to the low levels of HSPG on their parental or vector-transfected cells that are primarily due to endogenous betaglycan expression.
K562 cells that expressed either of the transfected HSPGs promoted HPV16 VLP binding, as measured by the increase in immunoreactive L1 in complex with the cells. Binding was strongest to syndecan-1-transfected K562 cells compared to syndecan-4- and glypican-1-transfected or vector-transfected lines and correlated with expression levels of heparan sulfate. In comparison to vector-transfected cells, all HSPG transfectants demonstrated increased susceptibility to transient HPV11 infection, as determined by the appearance of spliced viral mRNA. Interestingly, in viral titration experiments HPV11 infection of wt K562 cells was observed when the viral inoculum was increased 16-fold over the dose used in typical experiments. In addition, the dosage of virions required to detect infection in syndecan-1 lines was eightfold lower than that for syndecan-4 and glypican-1 lines. This indicates that the level of cell surface heparan sulfate rather than the specific core protein of the transfected HSPG determines the susceptibility of K562 lines to infection. These results differ from those reported for human immunodeficiency virus infection, in which the syndecans as a single family of HSPGs mediate virus attachment to macrophages (43).
Binding was strongly reduced when heparan sulfates were removed from the K562 cell surfaces by heparitinase treatment. Similarly, inhibition of capsid binding and loss of HPV11 infectivity were observed when keratinocytes were treated with heparitinase or when VLP or virions were exposed to heparin. Interestingly, human keratinocytes treated with PI-PLC did not show reduced VLP binding or elimination of infectivity. These results indicate that the integral membrane proteins of the syndecan and/or betaglycan families, rather than GPI-linked glypicans, mediate papillomavirus infection of natural host cells.
The initial interaction of HPV with cells appears to occur by binding to cell surface heparan sulfate GAG. Several viruses, including HSV, use multiple receptors sequentially. Indeed, binding to HSPGs on the cell surface is often only the first step in a series of events between the virus and the cell that is required for virus entry and the initiation of infection (47). For papillomaviruses, these steps may involve other cell surface proteins, i.e., a secondary receptor, and interaction with the minor capsid protein L2 in addition to L1 (22, 40).
Syndecan-1 is the most abundant heparan-sulfated protein expressed on epithelial keratinocytes, whereas syndecan-4, glypican-1, and betaglycan expression levels are an order of magnitude lower (Fig. 3A) (2, 34). As the magnitude of VLP binding and the particle-to-infectivity ratio tend to correlate with heparan sulfate expression levels on the cell surface, it appears plausible that syndecan-1 serves as a primary HPV receptor on human keratinocytes. Several criteria are fulfilled in support of this hypothesis. The absence of syndecan-1 reduces VLP binding and renders K562 cells resistant to a low virus inoculum, whereas its stable expression increases binding and allows permissiveness for low levels of HPV11, similar to the case for keratinocytes. Importantly, removal of GPI-anchored glypicans abolished infection of glypican-1-transfected K562 lines, but not permissiveness of syndecan-1-transfected K562 or KH-SV keratinocytes expressing high levels of endogenous syndecan-1.
However, because of the absence of suitable experimental systems (i.e., specific HSPG knockout human keratinocytes or production of functionally blocking antibodies), we cannot exclude that HPV infects keratinocytes via other syndecan heparan sulfates. Other members of the syndecan family, e.g., syndecan-4, or other HSPGs that are expressed at lower levels, e.g., betaglycan, may play a minor role and synergize with or complement syndecan-1. This possibility is raised by the observations that syndecan-4-transfected K562 cells are susceptible to transient HPV11 infection (Fig. 2A and B) and that K562 wt cells (expressing betaglycan) can bind low levels of VLP (Fig. 1) and are permissive for infection with a high virus inoculum. Nevertheless, taken together these results, albeit indirectly, argue that quantitatively syndecan-1 may serve as a primary attachment receptor for HPV in natural infection.
In contrast to many other viruses, HPVs do not induce lytic infection, and the mechanisms for release of HPV virions from the cornified cell envelopes of terminally differentiated keratinocytes (corneocytes) are unknown. It has been suggested that HPV11 infection may occur with cell-free as well as cell-associated virions and that their mechanisms of cellular uptake and receptor usage may differ (5). Because we have prepared wart extracts by differential centrifugation and a final 0.2-µm-pore-size filter sterilization step to remove contaminants, the presence of subcellular components associated with virions is unlikely but cannot be ruled out. However, VLP attachment and HPV infectivity were inhibited by neutralizing antibodies (37), strongly suggesting that primary cell interaction occurred via L1 capsid determinants. Neutralizing antibodies that inhibit virion-cell interaction recognize nonlinear epitopes on L1 capsid surface loops, and footprints of such antibodies bound to the capsid surface have been determined by cryo-electron microscopy and mutational analysis (7, 30, 38, 49, 52). However, the heparan sulfate binding site of the capsid is not necessarily identical to or even overlapping with neutralization determinants, since antibodies decorating the capsid surface may sterically hinder interaction to an adjacent receptor binding structure (that may even be inaccessible to antibodies).
Heparan sulfates are widely expressed on cells, extracellular matrices, and basement membranes. In addition, HSPGs are shed from the cell surface and are detectable in wound fluids (3). Thus, papillomavirus binding of heparan sulfate or free heparin can either enable the virus to bind cells bearing entry receptors or prevent the virus from reaching the target cell. Interestingly, skin lesions produce a high number of infectious virions, which may be necessary to accomplish transmission, whereas fewer virions present in genital warts appear sufficient for spread by intimate contact.
Papillomaviruses need to infect basal (stem) cells exposed by minor abrasion to establish latent or long-lasting infection, whereas infection of suprabasal or transient amplifying cells may lead to transient infection that resolves when cells are shed from the surface by epithelial turnover (55). Under normal conditions, syndecan-1 expression is modest in basal keratinocytes and induced in suprabasal layers during differentiation (19, 42). Importantly, syndecan-1 is strongly upregulated during wound healing and widely expressed by migrating and proliferating keratinocytes and on adjacent hair follicles (14). Interestingly, hair follicle stem cells have been implicated as primary target cells of the high-risk cottontail rabbit papillomavirus (45). Thus, basal keratinocytes exposed by minor trauma or abrasion, in addition to suprabasal (transient amplifying) cells, overexpress syndecan-1 and thus may strongly upregulate the ability to attach and internalize papillomaviruses in vivo. Permissiveness for HPV infection by epithelial stem cells appears crucial for establishing a persistent infection, a requirement for efficient viral propagation and carcinogenesis.
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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This study was supported by a grant to R.K. from the Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (FWF; P13365-B01).
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