Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Journal of Virology, June 2004, p. 5564-5575, Vol. 78, No. 11
0022-538X/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.78.11.5564-5575.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
,
Li Liang,
and Joel D. Baines*
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853
Received 18 November 2003/ Accepted 27 February 2004
|
|
|---|
|
|
|---|
The nuclear lamina is composed primarily of type V intermediate filament proteins known as lamins. Lamin structure is conserved in multicellular eukaryotes, and individual lamin filaments consist of multiple coiled-coil dimers linked in a head-to-tail fashion. Lamin filaments are nucleoskeletal components in interphase cells and therefore normally remain insoluble under a variety of extraction conditions. Differentiated mammalian cells express two types of lamins. A-type lamins include lamin A (the full-length product of the Lmna gene) and a smaller RNA splice variant termed lamin C (7, 18, 19). In somatic cells, the second lamin type includes lamins B1 and B2, which are encoded by genes distinct from Lmna (12, 14). Consistent with the canonical structure of cytoplasmic intermediate filaments, A- and B-type lamins consist of a head domain, a central rod domain of about 350 amino acids containing heptad repeats, a tail domain, and a CaaX (where a is an aliphatic amino acid and X is any amino acid) isoprenylation motif at the carboxyl terminus. The final 90 amino acids of lamin A are replaced with six unique amino acids of lamin C and lack the isoprenylation motif.
A remarkable feature of the nuclear lamina is its disassembly during mitosis and reassembly following metaphase. Although the precise mechanism of the breakdown of the nuclear lamina has not been fully delineated, it is known that mitosis-promoting factor kinase p34cdc2 phosphorylates a number of envelope-associated proteins, resulting in disruption of lamin-lamin interactions that are essential for the integrity of the nuclear envelope. Dephosphorylation of lamins is associated with reformation of the lamin filament network following mitosis (10).
Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), like all herpesviruses, assembles nucleocapsids containing DNA within the nuclei of infected cells. The nucleocapsids bud from sites within the inner nuclear membrane to become enveloped viral particles in a process termed primary envelopment. Inasmuch as the insoluble lamina underlying the inner nuclear membrane would be expected to present a barrier to herpesvirus envelopment, it is logical that herpesviruses would modify the nuclear lamina to allow access to primary envelopment sites at the inner nuclear membrane. For example, murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV), a betaherpesvirus, encodes M50/p35, an integral membrane protein, and its MCMV-encoded binding partner M50/p38. Complexes of these proteins recruit protein kinase C to the nuclear lamina to phosphorylate and likely disassemble the nuclear lamina (20). Thus, a mechanism similar to the endogenous mechanism for breakdown of the nuclear lamina during mitosis may have been co-opted by MCMV to allow primary envelopment of viral particles. A protein encoded by equine herpesvirus, IR6, has also been shown to associate with the nuclear lamina and under some conditions promotes egress of nucleocapsids from the nucleus (21).
It has been suggested that HSV-1 utilizes a mechanism similar to that of MCMV, wherein lamins are altered by phosphorylation to ultimately allow egress of nucleocapsids from the nucleus, but others have not detected a difference in phosphorylation of lamins in HSV-infected cells (23, 27).
HSV-1 UL31 protein is a homolog of MCMV M50/p38 and is a nuclear matrix-associated phosphoprotein stabilized by its interaction with an integral membrane protein of HSV-1 encoded by UL34 (the homolog of MCMV M50/p35) (3, 33). The two HSV proteins interact to form a complex targeted to both leaflets of the nuclear membrane, and similar studies have shown that this is also true for pseudorabies virus of swine (9, 24, 25, 32, 34). The UL31 and UL34 proteins are individually required for primary envelopment of nucleocapsids and proper targeting of the complex to the nuclear membrane (25, 26, 32). Based on the data presented herein, we propose that HSV mediates a restructuring of the nuclear lamina and that this restructuring is mediated, at least in part, by physical interaction between the HSV-1 UL31/UL34 protein complex and lamin A/C.
|
|
|---|
Plasmids. A full-length lamin A cDNA construct (kindly provided by David Gilbert, Upstate Medical Center, State University of New York) was amplified by PCR with an upstream primer (5'-CCCGGATCCATGGAGACCCCGTCCCAG) containing a BamHI site, whereas the downstream primer (5' TTGCTCGAGTCATGATGCTGCAGTTCTG) was engineered to contain an XhoI site (restriction sites are in italics). The PCR product was cloned as a BamHI/XhoI fragment into the vector pGEX4T-1 so that the full-length lamin A gene was cloned in frame with the gene encoding glutathione S-transferase (GST). All other lamin A constructs were generated by PCR with the primers shown in Table 1, and the amplicons were cloned into a T/A cloning vector (pCR3.1; Invitrogen). Lamin A sequences were subsequently released by EcoRI digestion and cloned into the EcoRI site of pGEX 2T in frame with the gene encoding GST. The designations of the plasmids and their encoded proteins are indicated in Table 1.
|
View this table: [in a new window] |
TABLE 1. Primer pairs used to generate lamin A subclones
|
Expression and purification of lamin-GST fusion proteins. The constructs described above were used to chemically transform Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) codon plus bacteria for expression of protein. For production of lamin A-GST, 10 ml of fresh stationary-phase culture was inoculated into 1 liter of Luria broth (LB) supplemented with ampicillin. To optimize expression and minimize degradation, the bacterial culture was grown at 30°C until the optical density at 595 nm was 0.5, at which time protein expression was induced by the addition of 0.5 mM isopropylthiogalactopyranoside (IPTG). The culture was shaken at 210 rpm at 28°C for 2 h in a 2-liter Erlenmeyer flask. Bacteria were pelleted and lysed as described by Frangioni and Neel (8), except that (i) one tablet of complete EDTA-free protease inhibitor cocktail (Roche; effective for 50 ml of cell culture) was added during bacterial lysis with lysozyme and Sarkosyl and (ii) the bacterial mixture was lysed with approximately 30 strokes with a Dounce homogenizer until the mixture was clear, with minimal foaming. The final supernatant contained 1.5% Sarkosyl and 4% Triton X-100 in cold STE buffer (Tris-HCl [pH 8.0], 1 mM EDTA, 150 mM NaCl). This mixture was incubated at 4°C overnight with glutathione Sepharose 4B beads (Amersham Biosciences). The beads were then pelleted and washed extensively with cold sterile phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). The final mixture was placed in storage buffer (50 mM HEPES buffer [pH 7.4], 150 mM NaCl, 5 mM dithiothreitol, 10% [vol/vol] glycerol) and maintained at 4°C for further experimental use.
Lamin epitope mapping. The BL21(DE3) codon plus strain of E. coli (Stratagene) was chemically transformed with the various plasmids encoding full-length and truncated lamin A sequences fused to GST, and 5 ml of overnight cultures was added to 100-ml aliquots of LB supplemented with ampicillin and 0.5 mM IPTG. After 3 h of vigorous shaking at 30°C, the bacteria in the cultures were pelleted, and the bacterial fusion proteins were purified by affinity chromatography on glutathione-conjugated Sepharose 4B beads as described above. Approximately 1 µg of each fusion protein, as determined by comparison to known protein standards, was electrophoretically separated on a denaturing polyacrylamide gel and transferred to nitrocellulose. The nitrocellulose sheet was probed with a 1:200 dilution of a commercial immunoglobulin G2b monoclonal antibody specific for lamin A/C (Santa Cruz Biotechnology; catalog number sc-7292) or with a 1:500 dilution of rabbit polyclonal anti-lamin serum (Cell Signaling Technologies). Bound immunoglobulin was revealed with an alkaline phosphatase-conjugated donkey anti-mouse immunoglobulin antibody or alkaline phosphatase-conjugated donkey anti-rabbit immunoglobulin antibody as previously described (1).
Indirect immunofluorescence assays of infected cells. HEp-2 cells were seeded at 80% confluency and allowed to adhere to the bottom of the flask 8 or more h before infection. The cells were either mock infected or infected with wild-type HSV-1(F), the UL31 null mutant virus, UL34 mutant deletion virus, or a virus derived from the UL34 deletion virus but bearing a restored UL34 gene (26) at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 5 PFU/cell. At 16 h postinfection, cells were fixed and permeabilized in ice-cold methanol as described previously (24). Cells were then blocked with excess human serum and probed with ICP8 polyclonal antiserum (courtesy of W. Ruyechan, State University of New York at Buffalo) prepared as described previously (24) and with the lamin A/C-specific mouse monoclonal ascites fluid (Santa Cruz Biotechnology). Bound antibodies were visualized with Texas Red-conjugated donkey anti-rabbit immunoglobulin antibodies and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated donkey anti-mouse immunoglobulin antibodies.
In some experiments, rabbit polyclonal lamin antiserum (Cell Signaling Technologies/New England Biotech) was used to stain cells that were costained with monoclonal ICP4 antibodies (Goodwin Institute for Cancer Research). In these cases, bound lamin antibodies were detected with Alexa 488 fluorophore-conjugated secondary antibodies (Molecular Probes), and antibody bound to ICP4 was detected with Alexa 568 fluorophore-conjugated antibodies (Molecular Probes).
In all experiments, stained cells were visualized with a 63x oil objective mounted on an Olympus confocal microscope. Digital images were captured with Fluoview software, and formatting of the images was performed with Adobe Photoshop version 6.0 software.
Extraction and quantification of soluble lamins in cells by immunoblot analysis. To quantify the levels of soluble and insoluble lamin A/C, monolayers of HEp-2 cells were mock infected or infected with wild-type HSV-1(F) at an MOI of 5 PFU/cell. At 16 h postinfection, the monolayer in each flask was washed three times with cold sterile PBS, and the cells were scraped from the flask and pelleted by centrifugation. The pellets were resuspended in equal amounts of cold sterile PBS, and the total protein level per 100 µl of resuspended cells was determined by a modified Bradford assay (Bio-Rad). Cells corresponding to 200 µg of total protein were vigorously pipetted to ensure complete suspension in extraction buffer and extracted for 2 min on ice in a volume equal to that of the cell pellet in buffer containing 0.5% NP-40, 10 mM HEPES-KOH (pH 7.9), 1.5 mM MgCl2, 10 mM KCl, 0.5 mM dithiothreitol, and complete protease inhibitor (Roche). The buffers were supplemented with either 0 mM NaCl, 500 mM NaCl, or 2 M NaCl. The soluble and insoluble fractions were separated by centrifugation at 12,000 x g at room temperature for 15 min and resuspended in 2x sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) loading buffer containing 20% glycerol, 5% SDS, bromophenol blue, 10 mM ß-mercaptoethanol, and 10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0.
To facilitate loading of the pelleted material into the wells of the acrylamide gel, the insoluble fraction was briefly sonicated in the 2x loading buffer. After resuspension in SDS-PAGE buffer, all samples were boiled for 5 min, electrophoretically resolved on an SDS-8% polyacrylamide gel, and then electrically transferred from the gel onto a nitrocellulose membrane. The nitrocellulose was blocked for 1 h at room temperature in a 5% (wt/vol) nonfat dry milk-1% (vol/vol) Tween 20 solution of PBS. The blocked membrane was probed with lamin A/C-specific monoclonal antibody and then incubated with goat anti-mouse alkaline phosphatase-conjugated secondary antibody for 1 to 2 h and washed, and excessive moisture was removed. The nitrocellulose was incubated for 5 min with enhanced chemifluorescence (ECF) substrate (Amersham Biosciences), and the membrane was scanned in the blue channel of a Molecular Dynamics Storm 860 PhosphorImager. Chemiluminescent signals from the probed membrane were analyzed with ImageQuant software. The nitrocellulose membrane was then blocked overnight with the 5% milk-PBS blocking mixture and reprobed with adsorbed UL31 polyclonal antiserum prepared as described previously (24). Bound UL31 antiserum was detected by a goat anti-rabbit alkaline phosphatase-conjugated secondary antibody. The membrane was then incubated with a chromogenic substrate, 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolylphosphate (BCIP)/nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) (Bio-Rad) in order to visualize UL31 protein, and a digital representation of the UL31 protein-specific band was generated by scanning the membrane with a Hewlett Packard tabletop scanner.
Analysis of transiently expressed UL31 and UL34 proteins in HEp-2 cells. HEp-2 cells were seeded on sterile coverslips at a density of approximately 30% and allowed to grow at 37°C to a density of approximately 50%. With Superfect transfection reagent (Qiagen), cells were transfected with 4.5 µg of pJB233, which is a full-length UL31/pcDNA3 construct (24), 4.5 µg of pcDNA3 alone, 4.5 µg of pJB234 containing UL34 driven by the cytomegalovirus immediate-early promoter/enhancer, or 2.5 µg of pJB233 together with 2.5 µg of pJB234. At 45 h posttransfection, cells were fixed in ice-cold methanol for 20 min at 20°C and rinsed thoroughly in PBS. The fixed cells were blocked with human serum as previously described (24) and incubated with UL31 protein-specific rabbit polyclonal antiserum and lamin A/C monoclonal antibody. Bound primary antibodies were detected with donkey anti-rabbit immunoglobulin conjugated with Alexa 488 fluorophore and donkey anti-mouse immunoglobulin conjugated with Alexa 568 fluorophore. Fluorescence and Nomarski differential interference contrast digital micrographs were collected with Fluoview software with a 63x oil objective mounted on an Olympus confocal microscope.
In experiments analyzing UL34 expression alone, transfected cells were fixed and blocked with 10% BlockHen II (Aves Lab, Inc.), stained with anti-UL34 chicken antibody (1:4,000) and lamin A/C monoclonal antibody, and detected with Texas Red-conjugated donkey anti-chicken immunoglobulin and FITC-conjugated donkey anti-mouse immunoglobulin.
In cells cotransfected with UL31 and UL34, fixed cells were blocked with 10% human serum, stained with UL31 rabbit antiserum and lamin A/C monoclonal antibody, blocked again with 10% BlockHen II, and reacted with the chicken antibody specific for UL34 protein. Bound primary antibodies were detected with FITC-conjugated donkey anti-rabbit immunoglobulin, Texas Red-conjugated donkey anti-chicken immunoglobulin, and indodicarbocyanine-conjugated donkey anti-mouse immunoglobulin. Indodicarbocyanine staining was pseudocolored blue for illustrative purposes.
GST pulldown assays. UL31-GST fusion protein was prepared as described previously (24). Full-length lamin A-GST was prepared as described above. Full-length lamin A was cloned into pSPORT1 so that transcription was under the control of the bacteriophage T7 promoter in the vector. Lamin A was expressed and radiolabeled with [35S]methionine with this plasmid and a Promega TNT rabbit reticulocyte transcription-translation system in a total volume of 50 µl according to the directions of the manufacturer; 5 µl of the lamin protein reaction mixture was incubated overnight at 4°C with 20 µg of UL31-GST fusion protein conjugated to Sepharose beads in cold PBS supplemented with 1% (vol/vol) Triton X-100 or 20 µg of GST. In the reciprocal reactions, [35S]methionine-labeled UL31 protein expressed in rabbit reticulocyte lysates was reacted with 20 µg of lamin A-GST fusion protein or 20 µg of GST. Following the incubation periods, the beads and bound proteins were washed four times with cold 1% Triton X-100. The washed beads with bound proteins were boiled in 2x SDS loading buffer and electrophoretically separated on an SDS-12% polyacrylamide gel. The gel was soaked for 30 min in 20% sodium salicylate and dried. Fluorography was performed with X-Omat (Kodak) film exposed overnight at 80°C.
Production, characterization, and immunostaining with anti-lamin A/C chicken antibody. Full-length lamin A/C fused to GST was purified by affinity chromatography as detailed above. The purified protein was denatured in SDS and electrophoretically separated on a denaturing polyacrylamide gel, and a single band revealed by brief staining with Coomassie blue was cut out of the gel, pulverized with a 21-gauge needle, and submitted for immunization to Aves Labs. Purified immunoglobulin Y from the yolks of chicken eggs obtained from birds before and after immunization was tested for reactivity to lamin A/C on immunoblots of lysates of infected and uninfected cells. The reactivity on immunoblots was identical to that of a commercially available rabbit polyclonal antibody that recognizes lamin A/C (data not shown).
HEp-2 cells were seeded on coverslips and mock infected or infected with wild-type HSV-1(F) virus, UL31 deletion virus, UL31 repair virus, UL34 deletion virus, or UL34 repair virus. Sixteen hours after infection, cells were fixed with ice-cold methanol for 20 min, immersed in 50 mM NH4Cl for 15 min, and blocked with 10% human serum for 1 h. Cells were then washed three times with PBS supplemented with 0.2% Tween 20 for 5 to 15 min each time, stained with ICP4 monoclonal antibody at 1:1,000, and blocked again with 10% BlockHen II (Aves Labs)for 1 h. The cells were then washed in PBS plus 0.2% Tween 20 three times and stained with chicken anti-lamin antibody diluted 1:200 in PBS supplemented with 1% bovine serum albumin. Primary antibodies were recognized by FITC-conjugated donkey anti-chicken (Jackson ImmunoResearch) and Texas Red-conjugated donkey anti-mouse (Jackson ImmunoResearch) immunoglobulins. Coverslips were placed on mounting reagent (Prolong anti-fade kit; Molecular Probes, Eugene, Oreg.) and examined as described above.
|
|
|---|
![]() View larger version (26K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 1. Digital image of monoclonal antilamin A/C staining of HEp-2 cells that were mock infected, or infected with HSV-1(F) (WT), the UL31 deletion virus (31), UL34 deletion virus (34), or virus bearing a restored UL34 gene (34R). Images were acquired at the same microscope settings. Cells were infected at an MOI of 5 and fixed and permeabilized in ice-cold methanol at 16 h postinfection (h.p.i.). Cells were blocked with 10% human serum in cold, sterile PBS supplemented with 1% bovine serum albumin and then incubated with rabbit polyclonal ICP8 antiserum, as an HSV infection marker, and lamin A/C monoclonal antibody. Bound antibodies were visualized with Texas Red-conjugated donkey anti-rabbit antibodies (red, ICP8 staining) and FITC-conjugated donkey anti-mouse antibodies (green, lamin A/C staining). The cells were analyzed with an Olympus confocal microscope with a 63x oil objective. Digital images from a single focal plane were acquired with Fluoview software. In the bottom row, a superimposed image of the optical sections of the cell shown in row 34R is shown to better illustrate the ICP8 staining.
|
![]() View larger version (27K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 2. Digital images of rabbit polyclonal antilamin A/C staining of HEp-2 cells that were mock infected or infected with HSV-1(F) (WT), UL31 null mutant (31), UL34 null mutant (34), or a virus bearing a restored UL34 gene (34R). Cells were infected at an MOI of 5. At 16 h postinfection (h.p.i.), cells were fixed and permeabilized with ice-cold methanol and incubated with rabbit polyclonal antiserum recognizing lamin A/C and ICP4 monoclonal antibody to mark infected cells. Bound antibodies were detected with Alexa 488 fluorophore-conjugated goat anti-rabbit antibody (yielding a green signal for positive lamin staining) and Alexa 568 fluorophore-conjugated goat anti-mouse secondary antibody (yielding a red signal for positive ICP4 staining).
|
In contrast to the results with UL31, the appearance of rabbit polyclonal anti-lamin A/C staining in cells infected with the UL34 deletion virus was indistinguishable from that of mock-infected cells. That this effect was attributable to UL34 was supported by the observation that the lamin A/C staining patterns of cells infected with the HSV-1(F) and UL34 repair viruses were indistinguishable. Taken together, these data indicate that the UL34 gene is required for decreased lamin A/C staining with both polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies, whereas only decreased monoclonal antibody staining is dependent on UL31.
The data presented thus far do not distinguish between the possibilities that UL34 mediates (i) a partial lamina dissolution or (ii) conformational changes that change the reactivity of lamin A/C to the rabbit polyclonal antibody. To attempt to distinguish between these possibilities, a chicken polyclonal immunoglobulin Y anti-lamin A/C antibody was generated as detailed in Materials and Methods. Cells were mock infected or infected with HSV-1(F), the UL31 and UL34 deletion viruses, or the UL34 restored virus. The cells were then fixed and stained with the chicken antilamin antibody.
Like the commercial monoclonal antibody, the chicken anti-lamin A/C antibody stained the nuclear rim of mock-infected cells. Unlike the commercial rabbit polyclonal antibody, virtually no nucleoplasmic staining was observed. Importantly, the staining intensity of lamin A/C was similar regardless of whether the cells were infected or mock infected (Fig. 3). Taken together, the data indicate that while UL34 is required for HSV-mediated alteration of the conformation of the nuclear lamina, this does not necessarily reflect a gross loss of lamin epitopes from the nuclear rim.
![]() View larger version (60K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 3. Digital images of mock-infected cells and infected cells stained with chicken polyclonal immunoglobulin Y directed against lamin A/C. Cells were mock infected or infected with HV-1(F) (WT), the UL31 and UL34 deletion viruses (31 and 34, respectively), or viruses derived from these two that bore restored UL31 and UL34 genes. Cells were fixed in methanol and stained with purified egg immunoglobulin Y from chickens immunized with a human lamin A-GST fusion protein and a mouse monoclonal antibody against ICP4.
|
To determine the fate of lamin A/C in infected cells under various extraction conditions, HEp-2 cells were either mock infected or infected with HSV-1(F) and harvested at 16 h postinfection. The cells were treated with salt and detergent buffers, and the total protein concentration in the lysates was determined with a modified Bradford assay. A Coomassie gel illustrating the electrophoretic profiles of equivalent levels of total proteins from mock-infected and HSV-1(F)-infected HEp-2 whole-cell lysates is shown in Fig. 4A. Cells were extracted with buffers containing either 0 mM NaCl, 500 mM NaCl, or 2 M NaCl as detailed in Materials and Methods.
![]() View larger version (51K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 4. (A) Electrophoretic profiles of infected and uninfected stained with Coomassie blue. HEp-2 cells were either mock infected or infected at an MOI of 5.0, and equal amounts of total protein, as determined by a modified Bradford assay, were resolved electrophoretically on an SDS-polyacrylamide gel and stained with Coomassie blue. Amounts of protein equivalent to that in each lane were extracted in the experiments shown in panel B. (B) Equal amounts of total protein from mock- and wild-type-infected lysates were harvested at 16 h postinfection and extracted with buffers containing 0 mM NaCl, 500 mM NaCl, or 2 M NaCl as described in Materials and Methods. Denatured soluble and insoluble fractions from the various buffer treatments were separated on an SDS-8% polyacrylamide gel and transferred to nitrocellulose, and the membrane was probed with lamin A/C antiserum. Bound anti-lamin antibody was detected with goat anti-mouse alkaline phosphatase-conjugated secondary antibody, followed by incubation with ECF substrate. The membrane was then scanned with a Molecular Dynamics Storm 860 PhosphorImager. Total counts were quantified with ImageQuant software. To determine the relative fractionation of UL31 proteins in these extractions, the membrane was blocked overnight with 5% nonfat dry milk in sterile PBS and then reprobed with UL31 protein-specific antiserum. UL31 protein was detected with goat anti-rabbit alkaline phosphatase-conjugated antiserum and chromogenic substrates. The displayed image was generated by scanning with a digital scanner.
|
|
View this table: [in a new window] |
TABLE 2. Soluble lamin A/C in infected and uninfected cellsa
|
Sonication of the equilibrated cellular lysates was necessary to separate the soluble and insoluble phases of both infected and uninfected cells extracted with 2 M NaCl. In contrast to the results obtained upon extraction with 500 mM NaCl, the amounts of lamin extracted with 2 M NaCl did not differ significantly between uninfected cells and infected cells. In both cases, approximately 60 to 70% of the total lamins were recovered in the supernatant. We conclude from this set of experiments that a relative increase in lamin A/C solubility in HSV-1(F)-infected HEp-2 cells compared to mock-infected cells is detectable upon extraction at 500 mM NaCl but not upon extraction with 0 or 2 M NaCl.
When the blots were reprobed for UL31 protein, it was observed that UL31 protein solubility correlated with the solubility of lamin A/C. This cofractionation is consistent with the previous observation that UL31 associates with the nuclear matrix (3) and is consistent with the possibility that UL31 protein interacts either directly or indirectly with lamin A/C in infected cells.
In numerous experiments conducted to determine if electrophoretic mobility shifts of lamin proteins occurred during infection, no changes in mobility were noted. These data corroborate the studies of Radsak and colleagues demonstrating that HSV-1 infection does not induce altered electrophoretic mobilities of lamins in human fibroblast cells infected with wild-type HSV-1 (22, 23).
Transient overexpression of UL31 protein is sufficient to disrupt the nuclear lamina and relocalize lamin A/C into the nucleoplasm. Normally, lamin A/C molecules are translated in the cytoplasm, imported into a soluble nuclear pool, and subsequently incorporated into the nuclear lamina. To determine the effects of UL31 on localization of lamin A/C in the absence of other proteins, the UL31 open reading frame was cloned into the vector pcDNA3.0 so that expression was driven by the human cytomegalovirus immediate-early promoter. HEp-2 cells were transfected with the expression plasmid and fixed with ice-cold methanol at 45 h postinfection at 20°C. Fixed cells were subsequently stained with lamin A/C-specific monoclonal antibody and rabbit polyclonal antiserum directed against the UL31 protein. The results are shown in Fig. 5.
![]() View larger version (49K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 5. (A) HEp-2 cells were transiently transfected with 4.5 µg of pJB233, a full-length UL31/pcDNA3 construct. Cells were fixed and permeabilized at 45 h posttransfection and incubated with UL31/GST-specific rabbit polyclonal antisera and lamin A/C monoclonal antibody. Bound antibodies were detected with Alexa 488 fluorophore-conjugated donkey anti-rabbit antibodies (green, UL31 protein) and Alexa 568 fluorophore-conjugated donkey anti-mouse antibodies (red, lamins A/C). Areas of colocalization of the proteins are indicated by a yellow signal in the merged image. The differential interference contrast (DIC) image shown is of the same transfected cell. Images were acquired with a 63x oil objective. (B) HEp-2 cells were transiently transfected with 4.5 µg of pJB234, a full-length UL34/pcDNA3 construct. Transfected cells were fixed and blocked with 10% BlockHen II (Aves Labs) and reacted with anti-UL34 chicken antibody (1:4,000) and lamin A/C monoclonal antibody. Bound antibodies were detected with Texas Red-conjugated donkey anti-chicken immunoglobulin and FITC-conjugated donkey anti-mouse immunoglobulin. Two different images of the cells are shown: the upper panel shows a cell scored as having cytoplasmic lamin A/C, whereas the lower panel shows a cell having nuclear lamin A/C. Cumulative results are presented in Table 3. (C) HEp-2 cells were cotransfected with 2.5 µg of pJB233 together with 2.5 µg of pJB234. At 45 h posttransfection, cells were fixed in ice-cold methanol for 20 min at 20°C and rinsed thoroughly in PBS. The fixed cells were blocked with human serum and incubated with UL31 protein-specific rabbit polyclonal antiserum, UL34 protein-specific chicken antiserum, and mouse anti-lamin A/C monoclonal antibody. Bound primary antibodies were detected with donkey anti-rabbit immunoglobulin conjugated with Alexa 488 fluorophore, donkey anti-chicken immunoglobulin conjugated with Alexa 568 fluorophore, and donkey anti-mouse immunoglobulin conjugated with indodicarbocyanine. Fluorescence and Nomarski differential interference contrast digital micrographs were collected with Fluoview software with a 63x oil objective. The lamin A/C-specific signal was pseudocolored blue for illustrative purposes.
|
Transient overexpression of the UL34 protein is sufficient to relocalize some lamin A/C into the cytoplasm of some cells. HEp-2 cells transfected with a UL34 expression plasmid were fixed in methanol 24 and 48 h after transfection, and the cells were stained for UL34 protein and lamin A/C. Representative results at 24 h are shown in Fig. 5 and summarized in Table 3. Qualitatively similar results were obtained at 48 h posttransfection except that fewer cells were available for analysis (not shown). As shown previously (24), UL34 protein accumulated in a perinuclear and cytoplasmic reticular pattern reminiscent of the endoplasmic reticulum when expressed in the absence of UL31. Approximately 82% of cells containing detectable UL34 protein contained at least some lamin A/C within the cytoplasm. The cytoplasmic lamin A/C did not colocalize extensively with cytoplasmic UL34 protein. In contrast, only 1.6% of cells that did not contain detectable UL34 protein contained detectable cytoplasmic lamin A/C. We conclude that transient expression of UL34 protein can mediate the relocalization of some lamin A/C into the cytoplasm.
|
View this table: [in a new window] |
TABLE 3. Effects of transient expression of UL34 on localization of lamin A/Ca
|
UL31 and UL34 proteins can interact directly with lamin A in vitro. To investigate whether lamin A physically interacts with the UL31and UL34 proteins in vitro, radiolabeled lamin A expressed in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate was incubated with equivalent amounts of GST or the UL31-GST or UL34-GST fusion protein bound to Sepharose beads. The beads were washed extensively, and associated proteins were eluted in SDS and electrophoretically separated on a denaturing polyacrylamide gel. Analysis with a PhosphorImager indicated that the level of lamin A was approximately 20-fold higher in lanes containing radiolabeled lamin A mixed with UL31-GST than reaction mixtures containing GST alone. In the reciprocal reaction, radiolabeled UL31 protein expressed in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate was incubated with 20 µg of GST or full-length lamin A-GST fusion protein. The amount of UL31 protein associated with lamin A-GST was at least 50-fold higher than the level of UL31 protein bound to GST alone (Fig. 6A). From these data, we conclude that UL31 protein and lamin A interact physically in the context of a rabbit reticulocyte lysate.
![]() View larger version (9K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 6. (A) Scanned digital image of GST pulldown reactions. Full-length UL31 protein and lamin A were expressed and radiolabeled with [35S]methionine in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate. The radiolabeled proteins are indicated to the left. Radiolabeled UL31 protein was reacted with lamin-GST fusion protein or GST alone bound to glutathione-Sepharose beads (left lanes), and radiolabeled lamin A was reacted with UL31-GST or GST alone bound to glutathione-Sepharose beads (right lanes). After extensive washing of the beads with cold PBS supplemented with 1% Triton X-100, associated proteins were eluted, denatured, and electrophoretically separated on a 10% polyacrylamide gel. The gel was impregnated with sodium salicylate, dried, and fluorographed. The developed radiographic film was then digitally scanned. (B) Experiments were performed as in panel A except that GST-UL34 was reacted with radiolabeled lamin A and radiolabeled UL34 protein was reacted with lamin A-GST.
|
Mapping of sites within lamin A that interact with UL31 protein. Based on the distribution of lamin A/C in infected cells stained with monoclonal antibody versus the appearance obtained with polyclonal antibodies, we hypothesized that some lamin A/C epitopes were partially masked in HSV-infected cells. Under the reasoning that the masked lamin A/C epitope would be located near the domain responsible for interaction with the UL31/UL34 protein complex, the relevant epitopes were mapped as follows. Small, overlapping domains (illustrated in Fig. 7A) of lamin A were amplified by PCR and cloned in frame with the gene encoding GST. Equal amounts of the resulting GST fusion proteins were electrophoretically resolved by SDS-PAGE and transferred to nitrocellulose. The nitrocellulose sheet was then reacted separately with the rabbit polyclonal and mouse monoclonal antibodies directed against lamin A/C. The results of this experiment, shown in Fig. 7B to D, definitively indicated that the lamin A/C-specific monoclonal antibody bound to lamin A residues contained in the GST/Tail 1 fusion protein (lamin A amino acids 369 to 519), whereas the rabbit polyclonal antibody recognized the GST/Rod1 fusion protein (containing lamin A amino acids 117 to 239) and to a lesser extent the GST/Rod2 fusion protein (containing lamin A amino acids 216 to 384).
![]() View larger version (19K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 7. (A) Schematic drawing illustrating the amino acids contained within the lamin subdomains designated GST/Head, GST/Rod1, GST/Rod2, GST/Tail1, and GST/Tail2. The regions encoding these domains were PCR amplified with the primers shown in Table 1. These domains were cloned into pGEX2T for expression and purification. (B) Digital image of purified lamin-GST fusion proteins diagrammed in panel A. Purified proteins were electrophoretically separated on a denaturing gel and stained with Coomassie blue. Protein designations are indicated above the figure. (C) Scanned digital image of an immunoblot of the indicated lamin-GST fusion proteins probed with rabbit polyclonal anti-lamin A/C antibody. (D) Scanned digital images of GST fusion proteins with lamin head, rod 1, rod 2, tail 1, and tail 2 electrophoretically resolved, transferred to nitrocellulose, and probed with the commercial lamin A/C monoclonal antibody. (E) Fluorographic images of lamin-GST pulldowns reacted with full-length UL31 protein. 35S-labeled UL31 protein was expressed in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate and reacted in cold PBS supplemented with 1% Triton X-100 with equal amounts of GST or one of several GST fusion proteins bearing regions of lamin A bound to glutathione Sepharose beads. After extensive washing with the Triton X-100 buffer, the protein mixture was resolved on a 10% acrylamide gel, and fluorographic images were obtained as described in the legend to Fig. 6.
|
|
|
|---|
We have also shown that overexpression of UL31 protein can mediate lamin A/C displacement from the nuclear rim into nucleoplasmic aggregates, whereas overexpression of UL34 can mediate limited displacement of lamin A/C into the cytoplasm. The location of displaced lamins reflects the localization of each HSV protein when overexpressed in the absence of the other. Thus, UL31 protein localizes in the nucleoplasm, whereas UL34 redistributes partly to the nuclear rim but also to the cytoplasm (24). The appearance of lamin A/C distribution and lamina disruption induced upon UL31 overexpression is reminiscent of overexpression of dominant negative lamin A/C lacking either the head or tail domain (15). It is currently unclear whether this observation reflects a role for UL31 in localized lamina disruption in HSV-infected cells or simply reflects the fact that the protein binds lamin A/C and, when overexpressed, competes destructively for lamin-lamin or lamin-lamin receptor interactions. Because the tail regions of lamin A/C shown to be sufficient to bind UL31 protein are not those that normally mediate lamin-lamin interactions, it seems more likely that UL31 protein acts to disrupt the lamina indirectly rather than through a strict competition between UL31 and lamin-lamin interactions. On the other hand, UL34 protein does decrease the reactivity of lamin rod epitopes in HSV-infected cells, and such domains likely mediate lamin-lamin interactions. Although UL34 protein can interact with lamin A/C in vitro, preliminary evidence does not indicate that UL34 interacts with lamin A/C rod domains directly (not shown). Thus, it is likely that UL34 may serve to alter lamin A/C rod domain epitopes indirectly.
Consistent with this conclusion is the observation that when UL31 and UL34 proteins are coexpressed, the two proteins colocalize at the nuclear rim, and in these cells, lamin A/C is not dramatically displaced from the nuclear rim, nor is lamin A/C staining decreased. Other HSV-encoded proteins that accumulate at the inner nuclear membrane would be logical candidates to contribute to the alteration of lamin epitopes. Such proteins include glycoproteins B and D and the product of UL11 (2, 31).
Just as UL31 and UL34 are coexpressed in the absence of other HSV proteins, gross mislocalization of lamin A/C to areas other than the nuclear rim does not occur in the context of a viral infection (Fig. 5). It is logical to propose that coexpression limits the diffusion of the UL31/UL34 protein complex to the nuclear membrane, precluding obvious lamin A/C displacement to regions other than the nuclear rim. Limiting any potential destructive effects on the lamina would be expected to preserve functions of the nucleus that are necessary for viral replication. At the same time, localization of UL31 and UL34 in specific regions of the nuclear membrane might concentrate any capacity of the complex to conformationally alter the lamina in localized regions.
Taken together, the current data suggest that the lamina is only locally disrupted or perhaps thinned, a possibility that was originally suggested by Scott and O'Hare (27). Data supporting this conclusion is the observation that only limited differences in the amount of total extractable lamin A/C were noted between mock-infected cells and those infected with wild-type virus. Thus, whereas 25% of lamins A and C were extracted from uninfected cells at 500 mM NaCl, 40 to 55% of total lamins were extracted from infected cells, depending on whether sonication was performed during extraction. In contrast, no significant differences in lamin A/C solubility were observed in uninfected versus. infected cells that were extracted with 0 or 2 M NaCl. It is also noteworthy that we did not identify experimental conditions resulting in 100% solubilization of lamin protein, in contrast to the findings of others (27).
Potential differences between the previous study and the current one include the following. First, whereas the previous study used COS-1 cells for their assays, HEp-2 cells were used in the current study. However, we performed similar experiments with COS-1 cells and obtained results comparable to those reported upon extraction of HEp-2 cells (data not shown). Second, the previous study discussed equilibration of total cellular protein based on the appearance of the electrophoretic profiles as revealed by Coomassie blue staining of SDS-polyacrylamide gels. In the current study, the total protein concentrations of the cellular lysates were equilibrated before extraction with a modified Bradford assay. Finally, given the variability of the amounts of lamins extracted under various salt conditions, variations in extraction technique might alter the results obtained.
It has been proposed that MCMV recruits isoforms of protein kinase C to the nuclear lamina and exploits this as a mechanism to dissociate lamins from the inner nuclear membrane (20). In the absence of any obvious electrophoretic differences in lamins A and C from infected and uninfected cells as found in this study and as described previously (23), we propose different mechanisms to explain how the HSV-1 UL31 and UL34 proteins might facilitate the egress of nucleocapsids.
Our favored hypothesis is that the UL31- and UL34-mediated alteration of lamin A/C reflects a local thinning or conformational modification that promotes access of nucleocapsids to the inner nuclear membrane. The data suggest that this is a consequence of direct or indirect interaction of these proteins with lamin A/C in the nuclear lamina. Although the data indicate that HSV induces conformational changes in lamin A/C, models proposing roles for the UL31 and UL34 proteins in the egress of nucleocapsids must also account for the fact that in infected cells stained with at least one lamin A/C-specific antibody, the intensity and overall distribution of lamin A/C are similar in infected and uninfected cells. Given the fact that HSV capsids are only 120 nm in diameter, however, light microscopy might easily overlook effective permeabilization or localized thinning of the lamina that would allow capsids access to the nuclear membrane. More thorough investigation of this question by immunoelectron microscopy seems warranted.
It is also possible that interaction of UL31 protein with the lamin tail domain competes with lamin A/C for interaction with chromatin. Less chromatin in regions of the nucleus could conceivably enhance exposure of the nucleoplasmic face of the inner nuclear membrane and thereby facilitate the egress of nucleocapsids. Since amino acids 411 to 553 of lamin A/C comprise a globular DNA binding domain that helps mediate association with chromatin (5, 13, 17, 28, 30), it was of interest that, through epitope mapping and GST pulldown reactions, we have determined that amino acids in or near the lamin A tail domain (amino acids 369 to 519 and 490 to 660) are sufficient to interact with UL31 protein.
A third, nonexclusive possibility is that the UL31 and UL34 proteins may simply exploit binding to lamin A/C as a means to target the proteins to the nuclear lamina and nuclear membrane. Interaction with lamin A/C would potentially facilitate the interaction of the UL34 and UL31 proteins as they become concentrated at the nuclear membrane in regions containing lamin A/C. Once properly localized, the complex could then serve other functions that promote nucleocapsid envelopment, such as recruitment of other proteins to specific sites in the nuclear membrane or facilitating budding by interacting with nucleocapsids.
These studies were supported by NIH R01 grants GM50740 and AI52341 to J.D.B. and National Research Service Award F32 GM20448 to A.E.R.
A.E.R. and L.L. contributed equally to this work. ![]()
Present address: Deptartment of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544. ![]()
|
|
|---|
This article has been cited by other articles:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology. For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»