Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Journal of Virology, December 2003, p. 13389-13395, Vol. 77, No. 24
0022-538X/03/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.77.24.13389-13395.2003
Copyright © 2003, American
Society for
Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Departments of Medicine, Pathology, and Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110
Received 26 June 2003/ Accepted 3 September 2003
| ABSTRACT |
|---|
|
|
|---|
2a) has beneficial clinical effects on human
T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infection, but its antiviral
mechanism of action is unknown. Antiviral effects of IFN-
2a
were studied in 293T cells expressing HTLV-1 proviral DNA and in
HTLV-1-infected cells (HOS/PL, MT2, and HUT102). In 293T cells, an
50% inhibitory concentration of 10 U of
IFN-
2a/ml was determined by p19 antigen ELISA. Analysis of
IFN-treated cells demonstrated no defect in viral protein synthesis but
did show a decrease in the level of released virus, as determined by
immunoblot assays. Electron microscopy studies of IFN-treated cells
revealed neither a defect in the site of virus budding nor tethering of
virus particles at the plasma membrane, thus arguing against an effect
on virus release. Cell fractionation studies and confocal microscopy
showed no effect of IFN on Gag association with membranes. However, the
level of Gag association with lipid rafts was decreased, suggesting a
role of IFN in inhibiting HTLV-1
assembly. | TEXT |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Recent studies demonstrated HIV-1 Gag association with lipid rafts or raft-like microdomains at the plasma membrane. This interaction plays an important role in virus assembly and release. Lipid rafts are enriched in cholesterol and glycosphingolipid. Depletion of cellular cholesterol significantly reduces HIV-1 particle production and infectivity (19, 20, 23). Rafts provide the platforms for proteins involved in important cellular signaling processes, as well as for assembly and budding of viruses, such as measles and influenza viruses (15, 26, 29). Lipid rafts can be isolated as detergent-resistant microdomains (DRMs) by Triton X-100 extraction at low temperature and by equilibrium flotation centrifugation.
Alpha-2a interferon (IFN-
2a) is a
cytokine with antiviral, antitumor, and immunomodulatory activities.
Several clinical studies demonstrated the therapeutic effect of
IFN-
2a in HTLV-1 infection
(1,
32). Interestingly,
combination therapy with zidovudine and IFN-
2a results in a
high response rate in ATLL patients and significantly improves survival
(2). The mechanism of
action of this combination is not through regulation of cell
proliferation, cell cycle distribution, or apoptosis in
HTLV-1-transformed cells. No cytotoxic effect of zidovudine/IFN was
observed on fresh ATLL cells in vitro
(3). These studies suggest
that IFN-
2a plays an important role in inhibiting HTLV-1 viral
replication.
IFN blocks viral production at each stage of the
replication cycle, i.e., viral entry and uncoating (simian virus 40 and
retroviruses), viral RNA transcription (influenza virus, vesicular
stomatitis virus, and picornaviruses), viral protein translation
(adenovirus, reovirus, and vaccina virus), and particle maturation and
release (vesicular stomatitis virus and retroviruses). In HIV-1
infection, IFN-
blocks proviral DNA and protein synthesis and
late stages of assembly and budding. Few studies have addressed the
activity of IFN in HTLV-1 infection. In the present study, we first
determined that IFN inhibits HTLV-1 virion release into the
extracellular medium but that it has no effect on virus protein
synthesis in cell lysates, demonstrating that IFN induces a defect in
virus assembly and/or release. We focused on several questions
addressing the mechanism of inhibition induced by IFN: (i) Does IFN
inhibit virus budding? (ii) Does IFN block Gag-membrane association?
(iii) Is Gag-raft interaction blocked by
IFN?
IFN-
2a reduces virion
production.
Comparison of
viral protein levels in cell lysates and supernatants can be used to
examine the process of viral replication, assembly, and release. For
this purpose, an HTLV-1 proviral DNA plasmid, pACH
(14), was transfected
into 293T cells with or without IFN treatment. HTLV-1 proteins in
supernatants and lysates were assessed by immunoblot and
p19Gag antigen enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Briefly, 293T cells (n = 3 x 105)
were seeded onto six-well plates and were pretreated with various
amounts of IFN-
2a (0, 5, 10, 50, 100, or 500 U/ml) overnight.
Two micrograms of pACH was then transfected into these cells by using
TransIT (Mirus, Madison, Wis.) and was incubated in the presence of IFN
for an additional 72 h. Pelleted viral particles from
supernatants, as well as viral proteins from cell lysates, were
subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-10%
polyacrylamide gels and were then blotted onto polyvinylidene
difluoride membranes. Immunoblot analyses were performed with
monoclonal antibody (MAb) against viral p19Gag (ZeptoMetrix
Corporation, Buffalo, N.Y.), and polyclonal antibody against cellular
actin (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc., Santa Cruz, Calif.). Horseradish
peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibody and an ECL Western blotting
detection system (Amersham, Little Chalfont, United Kingdom) were used
to detect viral Gag protein. Supernatant virion production under
various IFN treatments was assayed by p19Gag antigen ELISA
according to the manufacturer's protocol
(ZeptoMetrix).
Figure 1A and
B demonstrate viral protein expression during IFN-
2a treatment
in both cell lysates and supernatants. With increasing doses of
IFN-
2a treatment, there was a dose-dependent inhibition of
extracellular viral structural protein p19Gag (Fig.
1A). In contrast, viral
structural protein p19Gag and p55Gag levels in
cell lysates were not affected by increasing doses of IFN-
2a
treatment (Fig. 1B). These
findings suggest that IFN-
2a did not affect transfection
efficiency, transcription, or translation. Levels of actin in cellular
lysates were also unaffected by these doses of IFN-
2a (Fig.
1B). To study the effect
of IFN-
2a on extracellular viral production in ACH-transfected
293T cells, p19Gag antigen was quantitated by ELISA. Viral
p19 protein synthesis was significantly reduced with increasing amounts
of IFN-
2a (50% inhibitory concentration = 10
U/ml) (Fig. 1C). This
indicates that the process of viral assembly or budding is impaired,
but earlier steps in virus replication are not affected by
IFN-
2a treatment.
|
2a on HTLV-1 production was also identified by
immunoblot analysis and p19Gag ELISA in other
HTLV-1-infected cells, including HOS/PL, MT2, and HUT102. This
inhibitory effect was reversible after IFN removal in these cells (data
not shown). Because high doses of IFN-
2a inhibit cell growth
(more than 1,000 U/ml), the effect of 5 to 100 U of IFN-
2a/ml
on cell survival was examined in these cell lines by trypan blue
uptake. Cell growth was not affected by IFN at 5 to 100 U/ml (data not
shown).
IFN-
2a has no inhibitory
effect on virus budding.
To
examine whether IFN blocks virus release, we first examined virus
particle formation and budding. ACH-transfected 293T cells were treated
with 100 U of IFN-
2a/ml for 3 days and analyzed by
transmission electron microscopy. As a control, a separate culture of
ACH-transfected 293T cells was treated with 50 µM lactacystin,
a proteasome inhibitor, for 2.5 h prior to harvest, to block
virus release. Cells were fixed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M
sodium cacodylate buffer, washed in the same buffer overnight, and then
postfixed with 1% osmium tetroxide at 4°C for
1 h. Dehydration with graded ethanol was performed. The
samples were embedded, sectioned, and examined with a Zeiss EM 900
electron microscope.
Virus particles were observed in the extracellular medium of cells transfected with pACH in the absence of IFN (Fig. 2A) and also in the presence of IFN, although the levels were decreased (Fig. 2B to D). There was no defect observed in the site of virus budding or increased tethering of virus particles at the plasma membrane after IFN treatment. As a comparison, no virus particles were detected in cells treated with the proteasome inhibitor lactacystin. There was an accumulation of slightly curved, electron-dense thickenings underneath the cell surface, or there was tethering of virus particles at the plasma membrane (Fig. 2E to G). This result suggests that IFN does not inhibit virus budding.
|
2a does not affect
Gag membrane localization.
We
next tested whether IFN has an effect on membrane association and
localization of HTLV-1 Gag. Forty thousand HeLa cells were seeded onto
a glass chamber slide (Lab-Tec; Nunc, Inc.) overnight in
the presence of IFN-
2a. pACH was transfected into HeLa cells,
followed by 2 days of IFN treatment. Cells were then fixed with
4% paraformaldehyde in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) for 20
min at room temperature. After three washes with PBS, cells were
permeabilized with PBS containing 0.01% Triton X-100 for 20 min
at room temperature, washed with PBS, and then blocked in PBS
containing 10% normal goat serum. Immunostaining was performed
with a primary antibody against p19Gag, and with goat
anti-mouse immunoglobulin G (IgG) conjugated with fluorescein
isothiocyanate. The stained cells were observed with a confocal laser
scanning microscope (MRC-1000; Bio-Rad Laboratories, with a 60x
objective; Nikon). As depicted in Fig.
3A,
membrane localization of p19Gag was detected in
ACH-expressing cells both in the absence and in the presence of 100 U
of IFN/ml. The punctate fluorescence pattern of p19Gag was
unchanged after treatment with IFN, demonstrating that IFN has no
inhibitory effect on Gag membrane localization. Similar results were
abtained in pACH-transfected 293T cells (not shown).
|
2a/ml for three days. Cells were rinsed with PBS, scraped,
pelleted by centrifugation at 1,000 x g for 10 min,
and resuspended in ice-cold hypotonic buffer (1 mM MgCl2, 10
mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.4, 1 mM EDTA) containing protease inhibitors. Cells
were then broken with 45 strokes of a Dounce homogenizer with a Teflon
pestle to release cytoplasmic proteins. Postnuclear supernatants were
obtained by removal of the nuclei and unbroken cells with
centrifugation for 10 min at 1,000 x g after adjusting
the final salt concentration to 0.15 M NaCl. The soluble cytosol
fractions were separated from the membrane fractions by adjusting the
postnuclear supernatant to 80% (wt/vol) sucrose in Tris-EDTA
(TE) on the bottom of a centrifuge tube. On the top of this mixture was
layered TE containing 55% (wt/vol) sucrose and 5%
(wt/vol) sucrose. The gradients were centrifuged at 45,000 rpm for
18 h at 4°C in a Beckman SW55 rotor. Ten fractions
were collected from the top of the centrifuge tube. Fractionated
samples were analyzed by Western blotting
(21,
24) with
anti-p19Gag MAb. Figure
3B shows the levels of
p19Gag in membrane fractions (fractions 1 to 3) and cytosol
fractions (fractions 8 to 10). IFN-
2a (100 U/ml) did not alter
the p19 levels in membrane or cytosol fractions, indicating that
IFN-
2a does not inhibit Gag membrane
binding.
IFN-
2a blocks Gag-raft
association.
Rafts or
raft-like microdomains that are enriched in cholesterol and
glycosphingolipids have been shown to be required for HIV-1 Gag
assembly (19,
23). Raft-associated
proteins are resistant to extraction with nonionic detergents, such as
Triton X-100. In order to determine whether IFN increases the
sensitivity to Triton X-100 extraction through effects on Gag-raft
interaction, confocal microscopy analysis was used to determine
p19Gag expression, which was compared to that
of a lipid raft-specific ganglioside, GM1. HeLa cells, grown on chamber
slides, were pretreated with 100 U of IFN/ml overnight, and transfected
with pACH for an additional 2 days. Cells were washed with PBS and were
extracted with PBS containing 0.5% Triton X-100 for 20 min on
ice and then were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde in PBS for 20
min at room temperature. For detecting Gag-raft association,
ACH-expressing cells were immunostained with either anti-p19 MAb,
followed by goat anti-mouse IgG-fluorescein isothiocyanate,
or with rabbit anti-GM1 antibody (CalbioChem, San Diego,
Calif.), followed by goat anti-rabbit IgG-phycoerythrin.
In the
absence of IFN, the punctate fluorescent staining pattern for
p19Gag (green) was largely preserved after Triton X-100
extraction (Fig.
4A), suggesting Gag-raft association. However, with IFN treatment, the
majority of the signal was lost after Triton X-100 extraction,
indicating that IFN reduced Gag-raft association by increasing the
solubility of Gag to detergent (Fig.
4B). GM-1 and Gag
colocalized, confirming Gag-raft interaction (Fig.
4C, upper panel).
Interestingly, the majority of Gag expression after IFN treatment was
not colocalized with GM1 (Fig.
4C lower panel),
consistent with IFN-
2a inhibition of Gag-raft
association.
|
Without
detergent treatment, both the raft-associated proteins caveolin-1 and
flotilin-1 and non-raft-associated protein TfR were recovered in
membrane fractions 1 to 4. After detergent treatment, TfR was detected
predominantly in detergent-sensitive cytosol (fractions 7 to 10),
whereas caveolin-1 and flotilin-1 distribution remained in DRM
fractions (Fig.
5C). A similar result was observed in human influenza virus
hemagglutinin-expressing cells when human influenza virus hemagglutinin
was used as a raft marker (data not shown). In the absence of detergent
treatment, p19Gag expression and distribution, detected by
ELISA, were not affected by IFN treatment (Fig.
5A). About 50% of
p19Gag was recovered in DRMs in the absence of
IFN-
2a, but with IFN-
2a treatment, only 15% of
p19Gag was detected in DRM fractions (Fig.
5B).
|
2a on HTLV-1 virion production,
focusing our studies on the late stages of virus replication, including
viral release, Gag-membrane binding, and Gag-raft interaction. The
results show that IFN reduces HTLV-1 virion production in
ACH-transfected 293T cells and in other HTLV-1 cell lines (Fig.
1). There was no defect in
the process of virus budding after IFN treatment, suggesting that IFN
impairs viral assembly (Fig.
2). We also determined
that IFN has no effects on virus entry and reverse transcription (M.
Wielgosz, personal communication). Further studies revealed that IFN
treatment has no effect on Gag-membrane localization (Fig.
3) but rather that IFN
affects a late stage of virus assembly by blocking Gag-raft association
(Fig. 4 and
5). Several lines of evidence demonstrate that HIV-1 assembly takes place at the plasma membrane and that virus particles selectively bud from areas rich in raft-associated proteins. First, HIV-1 matrix protein (MA) and transmembrane protein (TM) interact with DRMs in infected Jurkat cells (20). Second, the Gag protein mediates HIV-1 virus assembly, and Gag-raft association is critical for assembly. Gag-raft association, mediated by the N terminus of Gag, occurs after Gag binds to the membrane (23). Gag multimerization enhances its association with raft-like membrane microdomains, which are denser complexes designated "barges" that are resistant to Triton X-100 extraction and are segregated from lipid raft markers (19). Ding et al. (7) recently confirmed earlier work of Ono and Freed, as well as Lindwasser and Resh, who showed cosedimentation of Gag on gradients with raft markers. In addition, they further demonstrated that the I and M domains of Gag combine to mediate Gag-raft interaction under similar gradient conditions. However, by altering the gradient conditions, using graded step iodixanol gradients, they found that Gag protein complexes are denser than typical lipid rafts, which interact with DRMs at the plasma membrane.
This is the first report of Gag-membrane association and Gag-raft interaction in HTLV-infected cells. Our observations are consistent with the studies by Ono and Freed (21-24), as well as those of Resh and colleagues (12, 19). The punctate fluorescence pattern of Gag proteins was localized at the plasma membrane, and Gag also was colocalized with a raft marker, GM1. IFN treatment disrupted Gag interaction with lipid rafts, as determined by Triton X-100 extraction and confocal image analyses, and flotation assays (Fig. 4 and 5). The punctate staining pattern was retained in IFN-treated cells, suggesting that IFN did not interfere with Gag multimerization. Our data suggest that IFN inhibition of Gag-raft interaction is the underlying mechanism in blocking HTLV-1 assembly. Gag multimerization and association with lipid rafts may occur sequentially or independently. Although cholesterol extraction by methyl-ß-cyclodextrin mßCD) in HIV-1 infection results in significant reduction in virion production and Gag-raft interaction, it is difficult to repeat this experiment in HTLV-1 infected. HTLV-1 virion production is 1,000-fold lower than that of in HIV-1, and mßCD treatment is toxic to cells; thus, we were unable to assess the effects of cholesterol extraction on HTLV-1 assembly (not shown).
Virion production from ACH-transfected cells is significantly reduced by IFN, whereas viral protein synthesis from cell lysates remains unchanged (Fig. 1). It is possible that IFN alters co- or posttranslational modifications of viral proteins by affecting Gag protein myristoylation, RNA association, or Gag protein conformational changes. However, Gag-membrane targeting appears to be unaffected by IFN, based on the results from both immunostaining and subcellular fractionation experiments (Fig. 3). This indicates that IFN has no effect on Gag modifications, including N-terminal myristoylation of the Gag protein.
It is also possible that IFN blocks virus release by altering the function of the L domain, which is required for Gag budding (17), or by inhibiting ubiquitin ligase-like cellular proteins involved in retrovirus release, such as vacuolar protein sorting proteins (Vps) and tumor susceptibility gene 101 (Tsg 101) (11, 18, 25). However, no inhibitory effect by IFN on virus budding was detected in pACH-transfected 293 T cells compared to the cells treated with proteasome inhibitor. Although the amounts of virus particles were significantly reduced, virus particles were detected in IFN-treated cells (Fig. 2). This indicates that IFN has no effect on virus budding.
The composition of plasma membrane lipid rafts may be altered by IFN treatment. Therefore, there could be altered affinity of Gag with other raft-associated proteins. To examine this possibility, various raft or non-raft-associated markers were used during flotation assays and immunostaining. The raft-associated markers, caveolin-1, flotilin-1, and influenza virus hemagglutinin, remained in the DRMs in the absence or the presence of IFN treatment. As expected, a nonraft marker, TfR, redistributed into detergent-sensitive fractions with or without IFN treatment, following Triton X-100 extraction. However, the amount of Gag protein in the DRMs was significantly reduced (Fig. 5C). These data indicate that IFN does not affect the distribution of most raft-associated markers but does modify Gag-raft association.
There are several
possible explanations for the inhibitory effect of IFN on Gag-raft
association and virus assembly. IFN may inhibit Gag oligomerization,
preventing formation of the Gag complexes that promote Gag-raft
association. Secondly, following Gag-membrane targeting, Gag protein
binds to nonraft domains and moves laterally to rafts. IFN may block
the Gag distributions to rafts. It is possible that IFN-
2a
inhibits Gag-raft interaction by decreasing membrane fluidity
(6,
8). Finally, IFN may alter
specific cellular proteins that are responsible for Gag-raft
association. Future studies will focus on determining whether IFN
affects Gag multimerization and Gag redistribution at the plasma
membrane and will further define the IFN-dependent cell mediator for
this effect.
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
|---|
This study was supported by PHS grants and the AIDS Malignancy Consortium.
| FOOTNOTES |
|---|
| REFERENCES |
|---|
|
|
|---|
This article has been cited by other articles:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| J. Bacteriol. | Mol. Cell. Biol. | Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. |
|---|
| Clin. Vaccine Immunol. | ALL ASM JOURNALS |
|---|