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Journal of Virology, January 2004, p. 33-41, Vol. 78, No. 1
0022-538X/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.78.1.33-41.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
and Marie Chow*
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas 72205
Received 3 July 2003/ Accepted 23 September 2003
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Evidence is consistent with the model that the 135S particle is an entry intermediate which becomes an 80S empty capsid upon delivery of the RNA genome into cells. The 135S particle is capable of binding to liposomes upon exposure of the VP1 N termini, possibly in conjunction with the myristoylated VP4 protein (16). In addition, upon interacting with cellular membranes, the 135S particle is able to infect cells in a PVR-independent manner (10, 20). Amino acid substitutions in the VP1 N termini generate viruses with altered RNA delivery kinetics, demonstrating that this VP1 membrane-binding region may also be important in vivo for RNA uncoating and/or penetration (9, 22). Other studies show that upon formation of the 135S particle, exposure of VP4 sequences leads to the localization of VP4 to the membranes of infected cells and that the VP4 sequence also regulates the infectivity of the virus (11). Mutations in the VP4 sequences affect both the ability of the virus to deliver RNA after 135S particle formation and the interactions of the virus with lipid bilayers to form ion channels.
Although the domains of the 135S particle (such as VP4 and N termini of VP1) that mediate these membrane interactions during virus entry have been studied, neither the lipid composition nor the identity of the membrane involved at this stage is known. Recently, the entry of two other picornaviruses, echovirus 1 (25) and echovirus 11 (37), has been shown to require cholesterol-rich detergent-insoluble membrane microdomains (DIMs) at the cell surface. Because the interaction of poliovirus with cellular membranes is important during virus entry, it is of interest to investigate whether DIMs are important for viral entry.
DIMs in the plasma membrane can be disrupted by treatment with agents that bind, sequester, or deplete membrane cholesterol (36). Due to its ability to sequester cholesterol in its hydrophobic pocket, the cholesterol-depleting agent methyl-ß-cyclodextrin (MßCD) disrupts DIMs by removing cholesterol from the membranes (8, 21, 41) and has been used to show that DIMs are important for the entry of other viruses (14, 25, 27, 37). We report here that poliovirus infection is inhibited by treating cells with MßCD. This inhibition can be partially compensated by replenishing cholesterol levels in the cells, suggesting that the effect of MßCD treatment on virus infection is through its ability to remove cholesterol. However, in contrast to echovirus 1 and 11, neither poliovirus nor PVR localize during entry to the DIMs, which would be disrupted upon MßCD treatment. We also demonstrate that MßCD treatment prevents infection by inhibiting RNA delivery into host cells at a stage after the receptor-mediated conformational transition to form 135S particles. These results suggest that poliovirus entry is not dependent on DIM integrity and that the entry pathway(s) leading to cytoplasmic delivery of the viral genome is affected by the cholesterol environment at the cell surface.
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Viruses. Poliovirus serotype 1 Mahoney strain was the parental wild-type virus for all studies. Viral stocks were propagated in HeLa cells as previously described (30). 135S particles were generated from purified 160S particles as described earlier (10). A recombinant poliovirus that expresses EGFP (polio-EGFP) was generated by a strategy similar to those described earlier (1, 26). pPVM1-EGFP cDNA contains the EGFP gene inserted in frame upstream of the P1 region separated by a 3C cleavage site. Seed stocks of polio-EGFP virus were generated from coupled vaccinia virus-poliovirus cDNA transfections using DOTAP transfection methods instead of electroporation (35). Vaccinia virus-T7-infected cells were transfected with 10 µg of pPVM1-EGFP cDNA using 45 µg of DOTAP liposomal transfection reagent (Roche, Indianapolis, Ind.) and transferred to plates (106 cells/ml). Cells were harvested at 12 h posttransfection and lysed in reticulocyte standard buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl [pH 7.4], 10 mM NaCl, 1.5 mM MgCl2)-1% NP-40 at 4°C. Virus was concentrated from the postnuclear supernatant by centrifugation at 50,000 rpm for 1 h at 4°C in a Beckman 70.1 Ti rotor and partially purified by 15-to-30% sucrose density gradients. Fractions constituting the 160S virus peaks were identified using a parallel gradient of [35S]methionine-labeled poliovirus. These fractions were pooled and dialyzed against phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), and the working stocks of polio-EGFP (passage 2 [P2]) were generated from this seed stock in a single low-multiplicity passage. The low-multiplicity-of-infection (MOI) cells were harvested when the majority of cells showed green fluorescence, and virus was released from infected cell pellets by three cycles of freeze-thaw and used without further purification. Typical polio-EGFP stocks had titers of 2 x 108 PFU/ml. Stocks beyond the P2 passage often contained viruses which had lost the EGFP sequence from the viral genome. Therefore, the P2 passage was used for all experiments conducted here. Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and VSV-expressing GFP were obtained from M. Whitt (University of Tennessee, Memphis) and were propagated by low-multiplicity passages on BHK cells.
Measurement of cholesterol levels. HeLa cells (107 cells/200 µl of PBS) were lysed by three cycles of freeze-thaw followed by sonication in a water bath sonicator (3 bursts of 20 s at room temperature). Cholesterol was extracted from cell lysates by adding chloroform (400 µl) and methanol (400 µl) to the sonicated cell lysate (100 µl). The bottom (chloroform) layer was collected and evaporated under vacuum. The residual cholesterol was dissolved in ethanol and assayed using the Infinity cholesterol estimation kit (Sigma Diagnostics, St. Louis, Mo.). Using this colorimetric assay, the absorbance (490 nm) versus cell number is linear with cell numbers varying over 2 orders of magnitude. To determine the percentage of cholesterol remaining after MßCD treatment, the cell number equivalent to the measured absorbance was obtained from a standard curve and divided by the total number of cells used for cholesterol extraction and multiplied by 100.
MßCD treatment of cells. For cholesterol removal, cell monolayers were washed with PBS and incubated for 1 h at 37°C with serum-free DME in the absence (control cells) or presence (treated cells) of 5 mM MßCD (Sigma). For cholesterol replenishment, cholesterol (0.25 mM, final concentration) was added to DME containing 2.5 mM MßCD and was filter sterilized. To replenish cellular cholesterol levels, MßCD-treated cells (see above) were incubated for 1 h in cholesterol-MßCD-containing medium at 37°C. After 1 h, the medium was removed and the cells were washed to remove the MßCD. Following either cholesterol depletion or replenishment, the cells were processed as required for each experiment.
Poliovirus infection of control, MßCD-treated, and MßCD-cholesterol-treated cells. Poliovirus was bound to monolayers of control, MßCD-treated, or MßCD-cholesterol-replenished cells for 30 min at room temperature. Unbound virus was removed by washing with PBS, and the infection was initiated by the addition of serum-free DME, prewarmed to 37°C. Cells were harvested at various times postinfection (p.i.), and the cell pellet was lysed by three cycles of freeze-thaw for plaque assays or used to isolate total RNA for reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) analyses. When viral replication was inhibited, guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl; 200 µg/ml) was added at 30 min p.i. and maintained throughout the course of infection.
Infectious center assays. Control or MßCD-treated cell monolayers were infected with poliovirus (160S or 135S particles) or VSV. At 1 h p.i., the medium was removed and the cells were harvested by trypsinization. Cells were washed twice with DME-5% FCS (prewarmed to 37°C), resuspended in DME-5% FCS, and counted. Known numbers of cells were plated on confluent monolayers of HeLa cells for 2 h, and an agar overlay was added. The resultant number of plaques was counted after 36 to 48 h. The percentage of infected cells was determined as the average number of plaques (in triplicate or more) divided by the theoretical number of cells added to each plate.
Flow cytometry. Polio-EGFP-infected control or MßCD-treated cell monolayers were harvested at 5 to 6 h p.i. by trypsinization. The infected cell pellets were washed with PBS and fixed in PBS containing 2% paraformaldehyde. Parallel cultures of uninfected MßCD-treated and untreated cells were used as negative controls. Fixed cells were analyzed for EGFP fluorescence using a Becton-Dickinson FACSCalibur. For analysis of cells infected with 135S virus, the fixed infected cells, after saponin-mediated permeabilization, were stained with anti-3D monoclonal antibodies (1:100 dilution) and goat anti-mouse secondary antibodies conjugated to fluorescein isothiocyanate (1:200 dilution; Caltag). Infected cells, stained similarly with an isotype control primary antibody and fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated goat anti-mouse secondary antibodies, were used as negative controls.
RNA extraction and RT-PCR. RNA was isolated from harvested cells using RNAZol B (Tel-Test, Friendswood, Tex.) according to the manufacturer's instructions. RNA from 105 cell equivalents was analyzed by RT-PCR using a MasterAmp RT-PCR kit (Epicentre Technologies, Madison, Wis.). Random hexamers were added to prime the reverse transcription reaction, and resultant cDNAs were PCR amplified using primers E1 and E2 specific for the 5' untranslated region of poliovirus (13) or using primers specific for human ß-actin (Stratagene, Palo Alto, Calif.). PCR products were resolved on 1.5% agarose gels.
Binding assays. 35S-labeled poliovirus was bound to control or MßCD-treated cell monolayers at various multiplicities for 60 min at 4°C. The cells were washed with chilled PBS to remove unbound virus and harvested by scraping into PBS, and the cell-associated radioactivity was quantitated by scintillation counting.
Fractionation of detergent-insoluble and -soluble membranes. Cells were fractionated into detergent-soluble and -insoluble fractions as described previously (32). Briefly, control or MßCD-treated HeLa or similarly treated PVR-EGFP-expressing CHO cells (107 cells/150-mm plate) were infected with poliovirus (MOI = 5). At various times p.i., the cells were harvested by scraping into PBS (at 4°C) and centrifuged at 1,000 x g. Cell pellets were lysed in 500 µl of TNE (10 mM Tris, 150 mM NaCl, 5 mM EDTA)-1% TX-100 at 4°C. The cell lysate was fractionated by centrifugation at 13,000 x g for 10 min at 4°C. The resultant pellet contained DIMs. The supernatant contained the cytosol and detergent-soluble membranes. The pellet was resuspended in 500 µl of TNE-0.5% sodium dodecyl sulfate. Fractions were analyzed for the presence of various viral and cellular proteins by Western blot analysis.
Western blot analysis. Fractions were resolved on 12.5% polyacrylamide gels and were transferred to nitrocellulose or polyvinylidene difluoride membranes. The membranes were blocked in TBST (10 mM Tris-Cl [pH 7.5], 150 mM NaCl, 0.1% Tween 20) containing 5% nonfat milk (TBST-milk) for 1 h at room temperature. CD55 and EGFP were detected as follows. The membranes were incubated overnight at 4°C with CD55 (1:5,000 dilution; Santa Cruz Biotechnology Inc., Santa Cruz, Calif.) or EGFP (1:250 dilution; Clontech, Palo Alto, Calif.) antibodies in TBST-milk. Horseradish peroxidase-conjugated goat anti-rabbit secondary antibodies (1:20,000 dilution; Gibco) were added for 1 h at room temperature. After washing the membranes with TBST for 10 min after each antibody incubation, the blots were developed using the Renaissance Western Blot Chemiluminescence Reagent Plus (NEN, Boston, Mass.). VP1 and VP4 were detected as follows. VP1 (1:10,000 dilution) and VP4 (1:2,000 dilution) polyclonal primary antibodies were incubated overnight with the membranes in TBST-milk (7, 24). Blots were washed with TBST and were subsequently incubated with alkaline phosphatase-conjugated goat anti-rabbit secondary antibody (1:7,500 dilution; Boehringer Mannheim) for 30 min at room temperature. The blots were developed using Nitro Blue Tetrazolium and 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolylphosphate (Fisherbiotech, Fair Lawn, N.J.). GM1 was detected as follows: horseradish peroxidase-labeled ß-subunit of cholera toxin (10 µg/ml; Sigma) was added for 1 h at room temperature in TBST-milk. The blot was developed using Renaissance Western Blot Chemiluminescence Reagent Plus (NEN).
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FIG. 1. MßCD treatment inhibits the kinetics of poliovirus growth. (A) MßCD treatment reduces cellular cholesterol levels. Cholesterol levels were measured from equal numbers of untreated HeLa cells or HeLa cells after one or two cycles of MßCD treatment. (B) Effects of MßCD treatment on cellular cholesterol levels are long lasting. Cholesterol was extracted from equivalent numbers of untreated cells, MßCD-treated cells, and MßCD-treated cells that were grown for 12 h in serum-free medium. (C) Virus infection (MOI = 5) of MßCD-treated ( ) and untreated control ( ) HeLa cells. Infected cells were harvested at the indicated times, and viral titers were measured by plaque assays.
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FIG. 2. MßCD treatment reduces the frequency of poliovirus-infected cells. MßCD-treated or control cells were infected at high multiplicities (MOI = 5) with either poliovirus (A to D) or VSV (E and F) and analyzed in infectious center assays (A, C, and E) or by flow cytometry (B, D, and F). For flow cytometry, histograms shown are of poliovirus-infected untreated (no fill) and MßCD-treated (grey filled) cells. The percentage of cells with fluorescent intensities above those of uninfected, MßCD-treated, or untreated cells is indicated in the insert table. (A and B) Poliovirus-infected HeLa cells; (C and D) poliovirus-infected Hep2c cells; (E and F) VSV-infected HeLa cells.
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50% of the original value (Fig. 3A). To determine whether the increased cholesterol levels had an effect on viral infection, virus yields from infected MßCD-cholesterol-treated cells were compared with those from infected MßCD-treated and untreated cells (Fig. 3B). The effect of the partial cholesterol replacement on virus titers was to partially restore the yield of virus to
50% of that from untreated control cells. To determine if this effect was due to increased burst sizes from the 10 to 15% of MßCD-treated cells that remained permissive for viral infection or due to an increased numbers of cells able to support infection, the infected cells were analyzed by flow cytometry (Fig. 3C). Upon cholesterol replenishment, the percentage of GFP-positive cells in the infected population increased. The increased percentage of permissive cells was also confirmed by infectious center assays (data not shown). These results strongly suggest that increasing cellular cholesterol levels resulted in increased numbers of cells permissive to poliovirus infection and that MßCD-mediated reduction of cellular cholesterol levels leads to inhibition of virus infection.
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FIG. 3. Cholesterol replenishment reverses the effects of MßCD treatment. (A) Cholesterol levels were measured from equal numbers of control cells, MßCD-treated cells, or MßCD-treated cells which were subsequently incubated with MßCD-cholesterol (MßCD-Chol) complexes. (B) Control, MßCD-treated, and MßCD-cholesterol-treated cells were infected with poliovirus (MOI = 5) and harvested at 6 h p.i. Titers were measured, and percentage yields were determined with titers from infected untreated (control) cells normalized to 100%. (C) Flow cytometry analysis of infected untreated control (dotted line), MßCD-treated (solid line), and MßCD-cholesterol complex-treated (grey filled) cells. Cells were infected with polio-EGFP (MOI = 5), harvested at 5 h p.i., and analyzed by flow cytometry. The range of positive fluorescent intensities above that of uninfected cells is shown. The percentage of GFP-positive cells is shown in the insert table.
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FIG. 4. MßCD inhibition of virus infection is multiplicity dependent. Control and MßCD-treated cells were infected with polio-EGFP at varying multiplicities, and the percentages of GFP-positive cells were measured by flow cytometry. Because the fraction of infected cells in the control untreated population changed with MOI, the percentage of infected cells is the percentage of GFP-positive cells in MßCD-treated samples divided by the percentage of GFP-positive cells in the control untreated samples.
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FIG. 5. PVR and poliovirus localize to the detergent-soluble membrane fractions. (A) Detergent-soluble (S) and -insoluble (I) membranes were isolated from MßCD-treated (+) or untreated (-) cells and analyzed by Western blotting for the presence of CD55 and the ganglioside GM1. (B) Detergent-soluble (S) and -insoluble (I) membranes were isolated from MßCD-treated (+) or untreated (-) infected cells expressing the EGFP-tagged PVR at 0 and 30 min p.i. Similar membrane fractions were also isolated from infected MßCD-treated cells. The isolated fractions were analyzed by Western blotting to detect capsid proteins VP1 and VP4 using capsid-specific polyclonal antibodies or to detect PVR using anti-EGFP antibody.
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Analyses of the location of the viral capsid proteins in these fractions yielded similar results. At the start of infection when virus was bound to cells via its receptor, the poliovirus capsid proteins, VP1 and VP4, localized to the soluble membrane fractions from both control and MßCD-treated cells. These proteins remained associated with the soluble membrane fractions throughout the early times p.i. after 135S particle was formed and insertion of VP4 into the membranes had occurred (11). Similar fractionation of cells infected with 35S-labeled poliovirus indicated that only background levels (1 to 3% of total cell-associated radioactivity) of the input virus were associated with DIM fractions from untreated control cells, and this fraction of the cell-associated label was unchanged after MßCD treatment (data not shown). Collectively, these results suggested that neither the PVR nor the poliovirus capsid proteins selectively localize to DIMs during infection. Thus, it is unlikely that MßCD inhibits viral infection by disrupting DIMs.
MßCD treatment inhibits poliovirus entry after formation of 135S particles. MßCD inhibited viral infection in the majority of the cells. Consequently, although a fraction of the cell population (<20%) remained permissive to poliovirus infection after MßCD treatment, it was possible to determine the stage of virus infection that was affected by MßCD treatment in the majority of the cells. Virus yields were maximally reduced when cells were treated with MßCD prior to the start of infection; the percentage of infected cells and total virus yields were reduced by 80 to 90% (Fig. 6A). Interestingly, addition of MßCD at 10 min or later after the start of infection had little to no effect on virus yields or the frequencies of infected cells. Because MßCD was only effective in inhibiting infection when added prior to or at the start of infection, these data suggest that a very early stage in the virus infection process was sensitive to MßCD treatment.
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FIG. 6. MßCD inhibition occurs during early stages of poliovirus infection. (A) MßCD (5 mM) was added to HeLa cells at the indicated times before or during the course of viral infection (MOI = 5) for a period of 1 h. The percentage of GFP-positive cells ( ) was measured by flow cytometry at 5 h p.i. Viral titers ( ) or MßCD-treated ( ) and plaque assays on HeLa cells (
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Formation of the 135S particle is followed by delivery of RNA into the host cells. Viral RNA delivery was examined in MßCD-treated and untreated cells at various times p.i. by RT-PCR (Fig. 7A). Consistently, strong positive signals were seen at times later in MßCD-treated cells than in control cells. The strength of the signal is dependent on RNA replication as well as RNA delivery. Thus, the presence of RNA signals in MßCD-treated cells was clearly due in part to viral replication, which was occurring in the small fraction of MßCD-treated cells that remained permissive for viral infection. However, the issue is whether, in the majority of cells which were MßCD responsive, MßCD affected RNA delivery and/or RNA replication. To distinguish between its potential effects on RNA delivery versus RNA replication, MßCD was added at 30 min p.i., a time when RNA delivery should have already occurred in all cells but viral replication would be initiating (Fig. 7B). No significant delays in the appearance of RT-PCR signals were detected between MßCD-treated and control cells. In contrast, when GuHCl, a known inhibitor of polioviral RNA synthesis, was added at 30 min p.i., no RNA products were obtained. These data indicate that MßCD treatment does not inhibit overall viral RNA replication or translation but inhibits delivery of the viral genome into the cell. Consistent with RNA delivery being inhibited is the fact that the majority of MßCD-treated cells when infected with polio-EGFP failed to express EGFP by flow cytometry (Fig. 2 and 3). Using MßCD-cholesterol complexes to replenish cellular cholesterol levels in MßCD-treated cells caused a partial restoration of RNA signals to earlier times (Fig. 7C) and was consistent with data (Fig. 3) showing that an increased fraction of cells becomes permissive when cholesterol levels are replenished. Thus, cytoplasmic delivery of the viral genome during entry appears to be affected by the cholesterol status of the cell.
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FIG. 7. MßCD inhibits RNA delivery during virus entry. (A) RNA was extracted at various times p.i. from control cells or cells pretreated with MßCD and analyzed by RT-PCR using primers specific for viral RNA or ß-actin mRNA sequences. (B) MßCD or GuHCl was added to infected cells at 30 min p.i. RNA was extracted at various times and analyzed by RT-PCR. (C) Control cells or cells pretreated with MßCD or MßCD-cholesterol complexes were infected with poliovirus (MOI = 5). At various times p.i., RNA was extracted and analyzed by RT-PCR to detect viral RNA or ß-actin mRNA.
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2ß1 integrin, CD55, and major histocompatibility complex class I, respectively, all localize to cholesterol-rich DIM domains prior to or as a result of virus attachment. These receptors therefore enable the viruses to access caveolin-dependent endocytic pathways which occur from these domains. Removal of cholesterol by MßCD disrupts these pathways, thereby affecting entry of these viruses. We show here that PVR and poliovirus do not localize to DIMs during virus entry. Therefore, in contrast to these other nonenveloped viruses, disruption of the integrity of DIMs by cholesterol depletion is unlikely to explain the inhibitory effects of MßCD on poliovirus entry. In addition, other data indicate that poliovirus infection can still occur even in the presence of a dominant-negative dynamin (12; E. S. Mittler, J. M. Bergelson, and J. M. Hogle, personal communication), which inhibits both caveolin- and clathrin-dependent endocytosis (18, 19, 33). These data collectively argue that poliovirus can enter cells via DIM-independent, caveolin-independent pathways. Potential effects of cholesterol on virus entry. Inhibition of viral infection occurs as cholesterol content decreases due to MßCD treatment. This correlation, coupled with the ability to reverse this inhibition by increasing cellular cholesterol levels, strongly suggests that it is the effects of cholesterol depletion per se which inhibit poliovirus entry. Consistent with this view, modulation of cellular cholesterol content by inhibiting cholesterol biosynthesis (rather than removal by MßCD) also negatively impacts poliovirus infection (31).
During poliovirus entry, the interaction of the virus particle with cellular membranes is critical (11). Being a key component of the host cell membranes, cholesterol could inhibit RNA delivery potentially by several different mechanisms. Although poliovirus entry does not require localization to DIMs on the cell surface, cholesterol may affect virus entry by altering the interaction of the virus particle with host cell membranes. Cholesterol levels are important for maintaining membrane fluidity, and its removal can reduce lateral diffusion within the membrane. This reduction in fluidity could perhaps affect migration of PVR within the membranes. During virus infection, the data here show that PVR and PVR-virus complexes do not migrate to DIMs during virus entry. However, the in vivo stoichiometry of PVR binding to 160S particles is not known. Thus, upon initial virus binding to a single PVR on the cell surface, local recruitment of additional PVR molecules may possibly be required to catalyze the 160S-to-135S conformational transition. Although the kinetics of 135S formation appear to be similar overall in MßCD-treated and control cells (data not shown), decreases in membrane fluidity may inhibit this local recruitment of additional PVR molecules and thus contribute to the MßCD-mediated inhibition seen when infection is initiated using 160S virus particles. However, differences in receptor recruitment resulting from cholesterol-mediated alterations in membrane fluidity cannot explain the MßCD-mediated inhibition of infection by 135S particles (Fig. 6C), which is PVR independent.
Poliovirus interactions with lipid bilayers also lead to the formation of ion channels, and the ability of the virus to form ion channels in lipid bilayers correlates with its ability to deliver RNA during entry into host cells (11, 39). The lipid environment, including cholesterol levels, is known to affect the electrical properties of other ion channels (3, 23; reference 2 and references therein). Although the virus is able to form ion channels in non-cholesterol-containing lipid bilayers (11, 39), the cholesterol content of membranes could affect the electrical properties of these virus-induced ion channels, or the channels formed on cellular membranes during entry may require the presence of cholesterol for successful cytoplasmic delivery of the genome.
Cholesterol depletion by MßCD treatment also could affect poliovirus entry by affecting cellular signaling pathways. MßCD treatment of several cell lines, such as Cos-1 cells and NIH 3T3 cells, results in the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways through activation of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (4). Removal of cholesterol in these cell types also causes activation of the epidermal growth factor signaling pathway due to ligand-independent dimerization of the epidermal growth factor receptor (5). It is possible that such signaling pathways are also induced as a result of MßCD treatment in the cell types used in this study. Other studies have indicated that cholesterol removal results in an inhibition of cellular signaling pathways (38). Modulation of these or other unknown signaling pathways may be deleterious to the process of viral RNA delivery.
MßCD-resistant subpopulation of cells.
A small population of cells (
15%) remains infectible after MßCD treatment. For a number of reasons, we feel that this population is not due to a technical artifact. The size of the MßCD-resistant population does not decrease after repeated treatments with MßCD, suggesting that the existence of this population is not due to incomplete removal of cholesterol during the initial treatment with MßCD. Although infection at high multiplicities (MOI > 6) can overcome the inhibitory effects of MßCD treatment, approximately 15% of the cells are MßCD resistant even when cells are infected at low multiplicities (MOI = 0.4). Thus, it is unlikely that this resistant cell population represents the small fraction of cells at each MOI which statistically might be infected at high multiplicity. Although the number of GFP+ events is significantly lower in MßCD-treated cells, the range of fluorescent intensities seen in this population is similar to that in infected control cells (Fig. 2). Similarly, the size of the plaques from MßCD-treated and untreated control cells seen in the infectious center assays are similar (data not shown). These latter sets of data suggest that the susceptible subpopulation present in the MßCD-treated samples appears to be fully permissive for viral infection and that the burst size from the infected MßCD-treated cells is similar to that from control cells. Several other explanations are possible in accounting for the existence of this MßCD-nonresponsive fraction. There appears to be a threshold level of cellular cholesterol (approximately 10 to 15% of original) which remains even after repeated MßCD treatments. Therefore, it is possible that a certain fraction of cells (comprising 10 to 15% of the total population) is resistant to the action of MßCD, retaining most of its cholesterol and consequently remaining susceptible to virus infection. An equally possible alternative explanation may be that multiple virus entry pathways exist within the cell which can be distinguished by their sensitivity to MßCD. In this latter scenario, the virus gains entry into the resistant cells by employing alternative, MßCD-insensitive pathways that are yet to be deciphered.
We thank X. Ning for providing the CHO-PVR-EGFP cells and pPVM1-EGFP cDNA.
Present address: Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232. ![]()
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