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Journal of Virology, November 2004, p. 11583-11590, Vol. 78, No. 21
0022-538X/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.78.21.11583-11590.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Graduate Program in Pathobiology,1 Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island2
Received 4 May 2004/ Accepted 9 July 2004
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5% of renal transplant recipients and results in loss of graft function in 50 to 70% of these patients. The disease is caused by reactivation of the common human polyomavirus BK (BKV) in the transplanted kidney. The early events in productive BKV infection are unknown. In this report, we focus on elucidating the mechanisms of BKV internalization in its target cell. Our data reveal that BKV entry into permissive Vero cells is slow, is independent of clathrin-coated-pit assembly, is dependent on an intact caveolin-1 scaffolding domain, is sensitive to tyrosine kinase inhibition, and requires cholesterol. BKV colocalizes with the caveola-mediated endocytic marker cholera toxin subunit B but not with the clathrin-dependent endocytic marker transferrin. In addition, BKV infectious entry is sensitive to elevation in intracellular pH. These findings indicate that BKV entry into Vero cells occurs by caveola-mediated endocytosis involving a pH-dependent step. |
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Kidney transplant recipients are subjected to a potent immunosuppressive therapy and are thus at a high risk for exacerbated BKV replication (1). Active BKV infection in the renal allograft, known as polyomavirus nephropathy, has been linked to progressive graft dysfunction and ultimate graft loss (13). Sustained high levels of viral replication result in lytic destruction of the host tubular cells and release of BKV progeny to perpetuate the infection (1, 33, 34). BKV, the causative agent of polyomavirus nephropathy, is drawing increasing attention as a significant factor in the failure of renal transplants (48).
Similar to those of the other polyomaviruses, BK virions are small (40.5 to 45 nm in diameter) and consist of a superhelical circular double-stranded DNA genome contained within a nonenveloped icosahedral capsid (18). Though the exact identity of the BK receptor(s) is unknown, evidence suggests that gangliosides type II, GD1a, and GT play important roles in the initial interaction between BKV and the permissive monkey kidney (Vero) cell line, as well as in BKV hemagglutination of human type O red blood cells (54, 59, 60). Following penetration of the target cell membrane and BKV internalization, the viral genome is delivered to the host cell nucleus. There, viral transcription, replication, and assembly take place (55). The exact mechanism through which BKV enters a permissive cell remains unknown. There are two ultrastructural accounts of BK virions localized in membrane-bound cytoplasmic structures reminiscent of caveolae (42). However, there is no comprehensive, conclusive study characterizing the mechanism of BKV endocytosis into permissive cells. Extensive work has been dedicated to elucidating the modes of infectious entry of several other closely related members of the polyomavirus family: simian virus 40 (SV40), mouse polyomavirus (Py), and JCV (2, 15, 16, 40, 41, 43, 44, 47, 51). Despite the high similarity among these viruses (21), they employ different endocytic routes to internalize into target cells. Productive infection by SV40 is facilitated by caveola-mediated endocytosis (2, 40, 41, 51), while JCV uptake occurs through the clathrin-dependent route (43, 44). To invade the host, Py utilizes either caveolar endocytosis (47) or an alternative clathrin-, caveolin-1-, dynamin I-independent pathway (15) as dictated by the target cell type.
In this report, we examine the kinetics and mechanism of BKV infectious entry into Vero cells. By using established techniques for studying virus internalization, we found that BKV enters these cells at a relatively slow rate so that the majority of virus successfully escapes the action of neutralizing sera between 2 and 4 h after entry. Pharmacological depletion of membrane cholesterol, a major component of lipid rafts and caveolae (7, 61), completely inhibited infection. We then analyzed the role of clathrin-dependent or caveola-dependent endocytosis in BKV internalization by expressing mutant forms of specific key proteins and thus selectively perturbing each pathway. BKV readily infected cells that were defective in assembling clathrin-coated pits. In contrast, a reduction in infectivity was observed in cells expressing a mutant construct of caveolin-1. The tyrosine kinase inhibitor genistein inhibited infection at the initial stage of the virus life cycle, suggesting that BKV induces intracellular signaling that is important for productive infection. Additional observations revealed an overlap in cellular localization of BKV with the marker for caveola-mediated endocytosis, cholera toxin subunit B (CT-B). Taken together, these data strongly suggest that during productive infection BKV enters Vero cells through a caveola-mediated pathway of endocytosis.
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Virus purification and labeling. Vero cells were plated and infected with 8,192 hemagglutination units (HAU) of BKV, corresponding to a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 200, for 1 h at 37°C. Four weeks later, the cells were harvested by scraping as they began to exhibit extensive cytopathic effect and were concentrated by centrifugation at 960 x g for 30 min. Following resuspension in 20.0 ml of the supernatant, the pellet comprised of virus-infected cells underwent three freeze-thaw cycles. To ensure further lysis and release of viral particles, the cells were subjected to brief sonication. Deoxycholic acid was added to the lysate at a final concentration of 0.25%, and the mixture was incubated for 30 min at 37°C. The viral particles were isolated from the cellular debris by centrifugation at 1,960 x g. The supernatant containing BK virions was layered over 20% sucrose and pelleted for 3 h at 70,000 x g. Following resuspension in buffer A (1 M Tris, pH 8, 5 M NaCl, 0.1 M CaCl2) supplemented with 0.01% Triton X-100, the viral stock was distributed over a CsCl density gradient (1.35, 1.32, 1.29, 1.26, and 1.23 mg/ml). The virions were allowed to reach their buoyant density of 1.34 mg/ml of CsCl by centrifugation at 120,000 x g for 15 h. The virus band was extracted and dialyzed overnight against buffer A. The protein concentration of the purified virus stock was determined by the Bradford assay. Fluorochrome conjugation of BKV with Alexa Fluor 488 carboxylic acid-succinimidyl ester was performed according to the manufacturer's labeling procedure (MP00143; Molecular Probes, Eugene, Oreg.). Briefly, 5.0 mg of gradient-purified BKV was dialyzed against labeling buffer (0.1 M NaHCO3, pH 8.3) at 4°C overnight. The virus was then incubated for 1 h on a platform rocker at room temperature with 1 µg of Alexa Fluor 488 (AF488) succinimidyl ester (Molecular Probes) in 100 µl of dimethyl sulfoxide. The AF488-labeled virus was extensively dialyzed against two changes of buffer A. The degree of virus labeling was determined as the number of dye molecules per protein molecule and was found to be satisfactory.
Time course of BKV infectious entry into Vero cells. Vero cells that had been seeded on coverslips the previous day were prechilled for 15 min at 4°C and incubated with 123 HAU of cold BKV, corresponding to an MOI of 4, for 45 min at 4°C. The cells were then warmed up to 37°C and incubated in the presence of growth medium. The virus inoculum was removed by washing, and neutralizing anti-BKV serum (1:10, 000) was added to the cells at 0, 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 h post-37°C shift. Two days later, the cells were fixed in 2% paraformaldehyde (PFA), and the number of infected cells was determined by staining for T-Ag expression.
Internalization of CT-B and transferrin and colocalizaion with AF488-BKV. Vero cells were plated on coverslips the day before being used. In the case of AF488-BKV colocalization with endocytic markers, the cells were prechilled and incubated with AF488-BKV in combination with 5.0 µg of Alexa Fluor 594-conjugated cholera toxin subunit B (AF594-CT-B; Molecular Probes)/ml or 7.0 µg of Alexa Fluor 594-conjugated transferrin (AF594-Tf; Molecular Probes)/ml for 30 min in the cold to synchronize entry. The cells were then shifted to 37°C for 4 or 6 h. Unbound virus and endocytic markers were washed off, and the cells were fixed in 2% PFA-PBS and analyzed at a magnification of x63 on a laser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM), (TCS SP2 AOBS; Leica Microsystems, Exton, Pa.). The images were processed with Adobe Photoshop version 6.0. Internalization of AF594-CT-B and AF594-Tf into Cav-1- or Eps15-transfected or methyl-beta-cyclodextrin (MßCD)-treated Vero cells was performed according to the same protocol with the exception of the entry synchronization step, and the incubation times varied as noted for each figure.
Neutralization of intracellular pH. Vero cells were treated with 25 mM NH4Cl (Sigma) or 100 µM chloroquine (Sigma-Aldrich) for 3 h at 37°C. To confirm an elevation in intracellular pH, the cells were incubated with 100 nM LysoSensor Green DND-189 (Molecular Probes) for 30 min at 37°C in the continuous presence of the drugs. The internalization pattern of the pH indicator was analyzed in live cells with an inverted fluorescence microscope (Eclipse TE20000-U; Nikon, Melville, N.Y.). Following the 3-h pretreatment, the Vero cells were challenged with 123 HAU of BKV for 4 h in the continuous presence of the drugs. The virus inoculum and drugs were removed by washing, and infection was allowed to proceed for 48 h in medium containing anti-BKV neutralizing serum. The cells were then fixed and stained for the expression of the early viral protein BKV T-Ag.
Pharmacological treatment of Vero cells during BKV infection. Vero cells that had been seeded on coverslips the previous day were exposed for 45 min to MßCD (5 mM in water) or for 1 h to genistein (100 or 200 µM in dimethyl sulfoxide) at 37°C. The cells were then challenged with 123 HAU of BKV for 4 h in the continuous presence of the drugs. At the end of the 4 h, the cells were washed twice with 5% EMEM and incubated with 5% EMEM containing anti-BKV neutralizing serum for 48 h. The cells were then fixed and stained for expression of early BKV T-Ag.
Indirect immunofluorescence analysis of viral infection. To detect expression of early T-Ag or late V-Ag, BKV-infected Vero cells were fixed in 2% PFA at the end of a 48- or 72-h incubation period, respectively, after BKV infection. In the case of SV40, T-Ag expression was analyzed 24 h postinfection using the same protocol as for BKV. Following three washes in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) (137 mM NaCl, 2.682 mM KCl, 8.1 mM Na2HPO4, 1.47 mM KH2PO4, pH 7.2), the cells were incubated with a 1:20 dilution of PAb 416 or a 1:15 dilution of anti-JCV/BKV for 1 h at 37°C. The cells were then washed three times in PBS, followed by a 45-min incubation at 37°C with a 1:150 solution of goat anti-mouse immunoglobulin G F(ab')2 fragments conjugated to Alexa Fluor 488 or Alexa Fluor 594 (Molecular Probes). After that, the cells were extensively rinsed in PBS and counterstained with Evan's Blue solution (red cytoplasmic dye). The coverslips were mounted on glass slides with glycerol-PBS (9:1). Cells expressing T-Ag or V-Ag were visualized with a Nikon epifluorescence microscope (Eclipse E800; Nikon, Inc.). A minimum of eight fields were counted for each sample from three or more independent experiments.
Transfection of Eps15 and caveolin-1 plasmid constructs.
The GFP-Eps15 constructs D3
2, DIII, and E
95/295 were a generous gift from A. Benmerah (5, 6). Briefly, Eps15 is composed of three structural domains designated DI, DII, and DIII in N- to C-terminal sequence (6). We obtained two dominant-negative mutant constructs: E
95/295, an Eps15 deletion mutant lacking the second and third EH domains, which constitute the protein-protein interaction module of the intact protein, and DIII, a truncated form of Eps15 which spans the carboxyl-terminal domain responsible for interaction with the plasma membrane adaptor complex, AP2. The DIII
2 control deletion construct lacks DI, DII, and the AP-2 binding portion of DIII and therefore does not interfere with clathrin-dependent endocytosis (6, 8). The wild-type and F92A-V94A Myc-tagged caveolin-1 constructs were generous gifts from M. J. Quon (35). For all plasmid transfections, Vero cells were seeded on glass coverslips at 5 x 105/per well of a six-well dish the day before the procedure. For all wells, equal amounts of DNA (1.6 µg) were precomplexed with Plus reagent and then combined with Lipofectamine reagent (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) according to the manufacturer's instructions. The DNA complexes were added to the cells in serum-free EMEM for 6 h at 37°C. After the incubation period, the transfection complex was washed off and the cells were refed with fresh 5% EMEM. At 24 h posttransfection, the cells were infected with BKV, or SV40 in the case of the Cav-1-transfected cells. One (SV40) or 2 (BKV) days later, the cells were fixed and stained for T-Ag as described above. Green fluorescent protein (GFP) activity was indicative of Eps15 construct expression. As for the Cav-1 constructs, expression was detected with a 1:50 dilution of rabbit anti-Myc antibody (Sigma-Aldrich) for 1 h at 37°C, followed by a 45-min incubation with a 1:150 dilution of goat anti-rabbit AF-488 secondary antibody (Molecular Probes).
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FIG. 1. Time course of BKV infectious entry into Vero cells. Prechilled Vero cells were inoculated with BKV for 1 h at 4°C. The cells were then warmed to 37°C, and regular medium (dark bars) or medium containing preimmune serum (grey bars) or anti-BKV serum (open bars) was added at the indicated time points and left on for the duration of the infection. The percentage of infected cells was scored at 48 h postinfection by indirect immunofluorescent staining of T-Ag-expressing cells. The value of each bar in the graph represents the percentage of infected cells per field and was calculated as the average of at least eight nonoverlapping random fields of cells from each of three independent experiments. The error bars represent the standard deviation.
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FIG. 2. MßCD inhibits BKV infection. Vero cells grown on coverslips were mock treated or treated with 5 mM MßCD for 30 min at 37°C. The cells were then incubated with AF594-CT-B (top) for 1 h at 37°C in the continuous presence of the drug. The cells were washed and fixed in 2% PFA. CT-B internalization was observed using an LSCM with a 63x objective. Alternatively, following pretreatment, the cells were incubated with BKV (bottom) for 4 h in the absence or presence of the drug. The treatment medium and viral inoculum were removed by washing. The cells were refed with fresh medium containing anti-BKV serum to neutralize the remaining extracellular virus, and infection was allowed to proceed for an additional 48 h. Infected cells were visualized by staining for expression of the early viral protein T-Ag.
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2) and two dominant-negative (DIII and EH
95/295) GFP-Eps15 fusion constructs to transiently transfect Vero cells (Fig. 3, top). To ensure disruption of the clathrin-dependent endocytic pathway, we allowed 24 h for maximal plasmid expression and then incubated the cells with AF594-transferrin. As expected, the DIII and EH
95/295 constructs, but not the DIII
2 Eps15 mutants, successfully inhibited transferrin uptake (Fig. 3, middle). At 24 h posttransfection, Vero cells expressing the Eps15 constructs were infected with BKV. Infection was scored 72 h later by indirect immunofluorescence analysis for V-Ag expression. The results from our single-cell infectivity assay revealed that cells double positive for dominant-negative-Eps15 and V-Ag expression were readily detectable in the presence of the control, as well as the two mutant constructs (Fig. 3, bottom). These findings indicate that BKV infection proceeds successfully in the absence of clathrin-coated pit assembly.
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FIG. 3. BKV infects Vero cells expressing Eps15 constructs. Vero cells seeded on coverslips were transfected with GFP-tagged control (D3 2) or dominant-negative (DIII and E 95/295) Eps15 constructs (top). After 24 h, the cells were incubated with AF594-Tf (middle) for 45 min at 37°C, washed, and fixed, and the Tf internalization pattern was observed by confocal microscopy. Transfected cells were also infected with BKV (bottom). Infection was scored 72 h later by staining with an anti-V-Ag monoclonal antibody (red) that detects the late viral capsid protein VP1. The GFP-expressing cells were directly visualized under an epifluorescence microscope. Green, cells positive for expression of Eps15 constructs; red, cells positive for V-Ag expression.
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FIG. 4. BKV infection is reduced in Vero cells expressing F92A-V94A caveolin-1 construct. (A) Vero cells were transiently transfected with equal amounts of either wild-type or mutant caveolin-1 plasmid DNA. Twenty-four hours later, construct expression was detected by staining the cells with anti-Myc tag antibody (rows 2 and 4). Cells were incubated with AF594-Tf (row 1) or AF594-CT-B (row 3) for 1 h at 37°C as controls and then fixed in 2% PFA. The internalization patterns of the endocytic markers were visualized using a confocal microscope. (B) Alternatively, transfected cells were infected with BKV or SV40; fixed 48 or 24 h later, respectively; and stained for both Myc tag and T-Ag expression (bottom). Each bar of the graph represents the mean number of double-positive cells contained on a 22-mm2 glass coverslip in each of three independent experiments. The error bars refer to the standard deviation. Shaded bars, Vero cells expressing wt Cav-1; open bars, Vero cells expressing mut Cav-1.
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FIG. 5. Genistein inhibits BKV infection of Vero cells. (A) Vero cells seeded on coverslips were mock treated (top row) or pretreated with 100 or 200 µM genistein (bottom row) for 1 h at 37°C. The cells were then incubated with BKV for 4 h at 37°C with or without drug. After removal of the viral inoculum, the cells were refed with fresh medium supplemented with anti-BKV serum. The cells were fixed 48 h later, and infection was scored by indirect immunofluorescent staining for T-Ag. Fields of cells representing each experimental condition are shown. (B) Each bar of the graph indicates the percentage of infected cells per field and represents the mean of at least eight random fields from each of three independent experiments. The error bars refer to the standard deviation value. Gen, genistein; +, present; , absent.
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FIG. 6. BKV colocalizes with CT-B, a marker of caveola-mediated endocytosis. Vero cells seeded on coverslips were incubated with AF488-labeled BK in combination with either AF594-labeled CT-B or AF594-labeled Tf for 30 min at 4°C. Synchronized entry was initiated by shifting the cells to 37°C. The cells were washed and fixed in 2% PFA at the indicated time points. Internalization of the markers and the virus was analyzed using an LSCM with a 63x objective. Overlap (yellow) between BKV and CT-B, but not between BKV and Tf, is seen in the merged images.
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FIG. 7. Neutralization of pH in cellular acidic compartments decreases BKV infection of Vero cells. Vero cells were treated with 100 µM CQ or 25 mM NH4Cl for 30 min at 37°C. The cells were then incubated with 100 nM LysoSensor solution for 30 min at 37°C in the continuous presence of the drugs. Internalization and activity of the LysoSensor probe was analyzed in live cells using an inverted fluorescence microscope (top). Following pretreatment, Vero cells were infected with BKV for 4 h in the continuous presence of the drugs. The cells were then washed and incubated in medium containing neutralizing BKV serum for the duration of the infection. The cells were fixed 48 h later and stained for T-Ag expression (middle). The results from three independent experiments were calculated and are displayed in the bar graph (bottom). The error bars represent standard deviations of the mean values.
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This internalization pathway is defined by its cholesterol sensitivity, clathrin independence, and caveolin-1 and dynamin dependence (29). In addition, ligand internalization through caveolae, although very efficient, is a slower process than other equally well-characterized uptake mechanisms (14, 64).
First, we examined the kinetics of BKV infectious entry into Vero cells. Our results show that BKV is unlike the rapidly internalizing JCV but is similar to SV40, which enters the cells at a lower rate (43). The majority of BK infection-competent virions reached an antibody neutralization-resistant compartment between 2 and 4 h after the initiation of synchronized infection. Delayed internalization kinetics has been ascribed to SV40, which enters the cell via caveola-mediated endocytosis (2, 43). In contrast, the clathrin-dependent uptake of JCV allows the virus to escape the action of the neutralizing sera as early as 30 min after the start of active endocytosis (43).
Next, we evaluated the need for intact cell surface cholesterol composition during the early steps of BKV infection. The inhibitory effect of the cholesterol-depleting agent MßCD on BKV infection suggested the involvement of cholesterol-rich membrane subdomains, such as lipid rafts and/or caveolae, in virus internalization. Infection of susceptible cells by SV40 is also highly sensitive to disruption of caveolar function resulting from alterations in the cholesterol content of the target membrane (16). In the case of Py, both cholesterol-dependent and -independent entry pathways have been described depending on the target cells (16, 47). As expected, cholesterol is indispensable for successful internalization through the caveolar mechanism (47), while Py infection via the clathrin-, caveolin-1-, and dynamin I-independent pathway does not display the same requirement (15, 16).
Ligand internalization through caveolae or lipid rafts may share cholesterol dependence, yet other pathway-defining components determine the subsequent intracellular fate of the cargo (30, 39). To better understand the uptake of BKV into Vero cells, we asked whether clathrin pit assembly was necessary for BKV infection. Dominant-negative constructs of Eps15, a protein required for the early steps of clathrin-dependent endocytosis (6), were introduced into Vero cells to disrupt internalization through this mechanism. BKV was able to establish infection in cells expressing the mutant forms of Eps15, suggesting that virus entry occurred independently of the clathrin-dependent route. Similarly, endocytosis and infection by SV40 were found to be insensitive to perturbation of the clathrin-dependent route (41). In contrast, JCV infection was blocked by the transient expression of dominant-negative Eps15 mutants, supporting earlier pharmacological data that proposed clathrin-dependent endocytosis as the uptake mechanism for the virus (43, 44).
We then turned our attention to the role of caveola-mediated endocytosis as a mechanism of BKV internalization into host cells. Infection of CV1 and Vero cells by SV40 was significantly inhibited when preceded by the transfection of a caveolin mutant lacking the scaffolding domain of the protein. In cells transfected with wild-type caveolin, SV40 infection levels remained the same as those of untransfected cells (51). In our investigations, reduced susceptibility to BKV infection was observed in Vero cells transfected with the F92A-V94A caveolin-1 mutant, while cells expressing the wild-type construct remained targets for the virus. The substitution mutations in the scaffolding region of the mut Cav-1 construct were designed to compromise the direct binding of caveolin-1 to the
X
XXXX
(
is an aromatic amino acid, Trp, Tyr, or Phe, and X is any amino acid) caveolin-1 binding motif present on many caveola-associated proteins, such as G proteins, Src-like kinases, eNOS, protein kinase C
, MAPK, EGF receptor, and PDGF receptor (4, 53). Binding to the scaffolding domain is considered to provide the mechanism for caveolin-1 not only to nucleate and incorporate relevant signaling molecules within caveolae, but also to regulate their activation upon ligand binding (4). Indeed, SV40 binding to caveolae is followed by a virus-induced signal for tyrosine phosphorylation of proteins sequestered within caveolae (38, 41). Furthermore, only virion-loaded caveolae immunostained positive for phosphotyrosines and subsequently internalized. Caveolae which did not contain SV40 particles remained at the cell membrane (38, 41). Given this model, the inhibition of BKV infection seen in cells expressing the mut Cav-1 constructs could be attributed to the inability of F92A-F94A caveolin-1 to bind and cluster key receptor and/or signaling molecules required for BKV-triggered internalization of caveolae. In support, exposing the cells to the tyrosine kinase inhibitor genistein during the initial 4 h of infection was sufficient to block productive entry by BKV. These results are suggestive of underlying signaling events necessary for BKV uptake into the host cell. As mentioned earlier both SV40 and JCV induce signaling events required for their own endocytosis (9, 41, 44).
Monitoring the fate of BKV inside the cells revealed overlap between endocytosed CT-B and fluorochrome-labeled virions. No colocalization was observed between internalized transferrin and BKV. Although a few studies have reported partial uptake of CT-B via the classic clathrin pathway in cells with low expression of caveolin-1, such as HeLa and Calu-6 cells, this bacterial toxin is endocytosed through the caveola-mediated route in most of the other cell types analyzed (52, 58). CT-B internalization in Vero cells, rat fibroblasts, human skin fibroblasts, and Cos-7, NIH 3T3, MDCK, and Calu-1 cells was shown to be unaffected by the action of nystatin, genistein, K+ depletion, hypertonic treatment, or dominant-negative Eps-15, all inhibitors of the clathrin-dependent pathway (24, 52, 58). The observed colocalization between BKV and CT-B inside Vero cells implies similarity, at least in part, between the uptake mechanism and intracellular targeting of the two ligands. In addition, incubation of cells with both SV40 and CT-B revealed colocalization of the two markers within caveolin-1-positive discreet compartments (31). Conversely, analysis of the intracellular fate of Hantaan virus, which enters host cells via the clathrin-dependent mechanism, demonstrated extensive overlap between endocytosed virions and transferrin and clear segregation in the localization of Hantaan virus and that of CT-B (19).
The results from our final experiment demonstrate that infection by BKV is sensitive to elevation of the pH in intracellular acidic compartments. Traditionally, viral entry thorough caveolae is considered to occur in a pH-neutral setting, bypassing the acidic endosomal route (3, 40). Nonetheless, newly recognized nonclassical caveolin-1-positive endosomes have been shown to deliver caveola-internalized cargo to the Golgi complex, an organelle with acidic pH ranging form 6.0 to 6.7 trans to cis (24, 31). The active retrograde transport from the cis-Golgi back to the endoplasmic reticulum, an organelle intimately connected with the nucleus, point to the Golgi complex as a potential site for viral uncoating, an event facilitated by low pH (65). Interestingly, a recent ultrastructural analysis of sample tissues from patients with BKV allograft nephropathy demonstrated aggregates of BK virions contained within an elaborate tubular network that was in close proximity to and/or continuous with the Gogli complex in infected cells (12). Taken together, these findings hint at a possible involvement of the Golgi complex in the cytoplasmic traffic of BKV to the site of viral replication and multiplication, the nucleus of the host cell.
Finally, the data presented here suggest that BKV internalization during productive infection occurs through the caveolar mechanism. Our results are consistent with previous morphological observations implicating caveolae in the cellular uptake of BKV (12, 42). The detailed mechanism through which BKV targets its genome to the nucleus remains to be elucidated. Present and future studies in our laboratory are focused on describing early cytoplasmic transport and signaling events responsible for BKV internalization.
Work in our laboratory was supported by a grant from the National Cancer Institute, R01 CA71878, and by a grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, R01 NS43097. W.Q. is supported by a GAANN training grant from the Department of Education, P200A030100.
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