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Journal of Virology, December 2004, p. 13370-13375, Vol. 78, No. 23
0022-538X/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.78.23.13370-13375.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Division of Virology, Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Received 26 May 2004/ Accepted 23 July 2004
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Glycoprotein B (gB) plays an important role in the entry of both Epstein-Barr virus and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus virions into cells. Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus gB binds to heparan sulfate (1) and
3ß1 integrin; the latter interaction makes a major contribution to infection (2). The major Epstein-Barr virus receptor binding proteins are gp350/220 (28) and gp42 (15), but Epstein-Barr virus gB is an essential protein (12) and high levels of gB in virions correlate with enhanced infectivity (19). MHV-68 lacks an obvious homologue of gp42, and its positional homologue of gp350/220, gp150, promotes virion release rather than binding (8). MHV-68 gB is therefore likely to play a major role in virion entry even though it lacks the RGD integrin binding motif (32) of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus gB.
MHV-68 gB was originally described as a 110-kDa glycoprotein product of open reading frame 8 that was absent from virions and remained confined to the endoplasmic reticulum during lytic infection (24). A subsequent report identified gB-derived peptides in an 88-kDa virion protein, with the discrepancy attributed to different methods of virion purification (7). Clearly, it is important in defining the molecular basis of MHV-68 tropism to determine whether gB is consistently found in virions, as it is in Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (1, 4) and bovine herpesvirus 4 (16). Our data demonstrate that gB is readily detectable in virions, mainly as 65-kDa and 55-kDa cleavage products of a full-length 120-kDa protein. Cleavage was associated with gB incorporation into virions. The MHV-68 gB is therefore a virion component that is processed very similarly to gB of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (1, 4).
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FIG. 1. Identification of gB-specific monoclonal antibodies. A: The extracellular domain of gB (genomic coordinates 16526 to 18617) was amplified by PCR from MHV-68 DNA, including AvrII and NotI restriction sites in the respective 5' and 3' primers, and linked to the GPI attachment signal of human decay-accelerating factor in the pBRAD mammalian expression vector (23). 293T cells were transfected with gB-GPI (dotted line) or with empty vector (solid line) with Fugene-6 (Roche Diagnostics, Ltd.) and after 2 days stained with rabbit anti-MHV-68 polyclonal antibody (27) followed by fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated swine anti-rabbit immunoglobulin polyclonal antibody (Dako Ltd). B: BALB/c mice were infected intranasally with open reading frame 73-deficient MHV-68 (11). After 3 months, these mice were boosted by intraperitoneal infection with the same virus. After a further 3 days, spleens were harvested and disrupted into single-cell suspensions. These were then fused with NS0 cells and selected with hypoxanthine and azaserine according to established protocols (14). gB-specific monoclonal antibodies were identified on the basis of reactivity against CHO-K1 cells stably transfected with gB-GPI (dotted lines) but not against CHO-K1 cells transfectedwith the empty vector (solid lines). Three examples of gB-specific monoclonal antibodies (T5H1, T1F7, and T7H9) are shown. nil, secondary antibody only. C: The same monoclonal antibodies were used to stain BHK-21 cells that had either been left uninfected (solid lines) or infected overnight with MHV-68 (dotted lines). Dead cells were excluded by propidium iodide staining. D: Four of seven gB-specific monoclonal antibodies identified by reactivity against CHO-gB-GPI cells also detected protein in virus-infected cell lysates by immunoblotting. Supernatants from MHV-68-infected BHK-21 cells were pelleted by ultracentrifugation (35,000 x g, 1 h), boiled in Laemmli buffer, separated by SDS-PAGE, blotted onto polyvinylidene difluoride membranes, and probed with gB-specific monoclonal antibodies as shown, followed by horseradish peroxidase-coupled rabbit anti-mouse immunoglobulin G polyclonal antibody (Dako Ltd). Blots were developed with the ECL detection reagent (Amersham-Pharmacia Biotech).
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FIG. 2. MHV-68 gB is a disulfide-linked virion protein. A: Monoclonal antibody T7H9 was used to detect gB in either reduced (with ß-mercaptoethanol) or unreduced (without ß- mercaptoethanol) infected cell lysates. Monoclonal antibody T1A1 recognizes gp150 (8). B: Uninfected cells (UI), ultracentrifuged infected cell cultures (inf), and purified virions (vir) were immunoblotted for gB (T7H9) or gp150 (T1A1) as indicated. To prepare MHV-68 virions from infected BHK-21 cells, cell debris was pelleted by centrifugation (1,000 x g, 10 min). Virus was then pelleted from the supernatant (30,000 x g, 90 min). The supernatant virus was resuspended in phosphate-buffered saline, sonicated, layered over 5 to 15% Ficoll gradients, and centrifuged again (30,000 x g, 90 min). Virions were recovered as a distinct band, resuspended in phosphate-buffered saline, pelleted (30,000 x g, 90 min), sonicated, aliquoted, and stored at 70°C. The presence of infectious virus in virion preparations was confirmed by plaque assay. C: Three independent virion preparations, from infected BHK-21 cells (vir1) or murine embryonic fibroblasts (vir2 and vir3) were analyzed in parallel by immunoblotting with gB-specific monoclonal antibody T1F7 or by Coomassie staining of all protein. The Coomassie-stained bands corresponding to those detected by monoclonal antibody T1F7 are indicated by arrowheads. Those corresponding to uncleaved gB were difficult to discern. D: Virions purified on Ficoll density gradients were adsorbed to carbon-coated grids and then stained with secondary antibody alone or specifically for gp150 (monoclonal antibody T4G2) or gB (monoclonal antibodies T7H9 and T1F7). Bound antibody was detected with gold-labeled goat anti-mouse immunoglobulin G. Grids were washed in phosphate-buffered saline, rinsed briefly in water, and counterstained with uranyl acetate. The images shown are each representative of at least 50 virions analyzed. Arrows indicate examples of gold particles.
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Immunoelectron microscopy provided further evidence that gB is a virion protein (Fig. 2D). Only small numbers of gold particles were detected, but these were found consistently, and the staining for gB was comparable to that achieved with a gp150-specific monoclonal antibody (T4G2).
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FIG. 3. MHV-68 gB retains immature N-linked glycans. A: Lysates of infected cells (inf) or purified virions (vir) were treated with endoglycosidase H (EH) or peptide N-glycosidase F (PF) according to the manufacturer's instructions (New England Biolabs) or left untreated (nil). After separation by SDS-PAGE, samples were blotted onto polyvinylidene difluoride membranes and probed for gB with monoclonal antibody T1F7 or monoclonal antibody T7H9 as indicated. B: CHO cell, CHO-gB cells, uninfected MEF-1 cells, and MHV-68-infected MEF-1 cell lysates were immunoblotted for gB with monoclonal antibody T7H9. C: BHK-21 cells were infected overnight (3 PFU/cell) and then labeled with [35S]cysteine-methionine (30 min), followed by a variable chase in the presence of excess unlabeled cysteine-methionine (6). CHO-gB-GPI cells were labeled and chased in parallel. All samples were then lysed on ice for 30 min in 1% Triton X-100-50 mM Tris-Cl (pH 7.4)-150 mM NaCl-5 mM EDTA-1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, with complete protease inhibitors (Roche Diagnostics Ltd.). Lysates were cleared by centrifugation (13,000 x g, 15 min) and incubation (2 h, 4°C) with protein A-Sepharose (Sigma Chemical Co.). For immunoprecipitation, we added T1A1 (anti-gp150) or T7H9 (anti-gB) hybridoma supernatant to the cleared supernatants at a final concentration of 10 µg/ml (1 h, 4°C), followed by protein A-Sepharose (2 h, 4°C). Control lanes show immunoprecipitates of uninfected BHK-21 cells and untransfected CHO cells. All immunoprecipitates were left undigested or digested with endoglycosidase H (EH) before SDS-PAGE and exposure to X-ray film. The prominent 45-kDa band coprecipitating with gB from infected cells, presumably a component of the viral tegument, has been observed previously (24). Similar data were obtained with radioimmunoprecipitation assay buffer lysates (1% Triton X-100, 1% deoxycholate, 0.1% SDS) (data not shown).
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Several 35S-labeled proteins coprecipitated with gB from MHV-68-infected cells (Fig. 3C). Sensitivity to endoglycosidase H digestion suggested that the bands at 55 kDa and 42 kDa were glycoproteins. The 55-kDa band seen here was unlikely to be a gB cleavage product, since we could precipitate 120-kDa but not 65-kDa gB. Further analysis with additional MHV-68 glycoprotein-specific monoclonal antibodies established that the 55-kDa band was a product of viral open reading frame 4 and the 42-kDa band was a product of viral open reading frame 27 (data not shown). These glycoproteins matured to endoglycosidase H resistance over a 5-h chase, whereas the coprecipitating gB did not. GPI-linked gB, which is abundant on the cell surface (Fig. 1), also acquired only partial endoglycosidase H resistance over a 5-h chase. Thus, although gB was apparently passing through the trans-Golgi network, some of its N-linked glycans remained inaccessible to modifying enzymes. Consequently, endoglycosidase H sensitivity did not provide a reliable indicator of gB location within the secretory pathway.
High-mannose glycans are not uncommon on viral glycoproteins (5, 13, 18) and provide a potential target for virion neutralization (3). Whereas macrophages are nonpermissive cells, macrophage lectin binding to viral mannose residues can also limit infection (20). However, lectins represent a possible route to productive infection for a macrophage-tropic virus such as MHV-68. Human immunodeficiency virus gp120 exploits terminal mannose residues to bind to dendritic cells via dendritic cell-specific ICAM-grabbing nonintegrin (31). A similar pathway may allow MHV-68 virions to infect dendritic cells and macrophages.
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To directly compare the gB in virions and cells, we pulse-labeled infected cells 6 h postinfection, chased the label overnight, and recovered gB separately from the cell and supernatant fractions (Fig. 4A). The supernatant gB was entirely in the smaller, cleaved form, whereas the cell-associated gB was predominantly uncleaved. The cleavage of gB was therefore associated with its incorporation into virions. Labeled gp150 was largely in the supernatant fraction but retained its full-length form.
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FIG. 4. Analysis of gB cleavage products. A: BHK-21 cells were infected for 6 h with MHV-68 (3 PFU/cell), labeled for 30 min with [35S]cysteine-methionine, and chased overnight with an excess of unlabeled cysteine-methionine. Virions were recovered from cell supernatants by ultracentrifugation. Cells and virions were then separately lysed and immunoprecipitated for gB (monoclonal antibody T1F7 or monoclonal antibody T7H9) or gp150 (monoclonal antibody T1A1). B: gB was immunoprecipitated from ultracentrifuged virions plus infected cells (vir) with monoclonal antibody T7H9. Samples were then reduced, denatured, and separated by SDS-PAGE. A representative Coomassie-stained gel of immunoprecipitates is shown. The control lane (cont) is immunoprecipitated antibody only. The higher-molecular-weight, virus-specific bands were not analyzed but presumably represent uncleaved gB. C: The two lower-molecular-weight forms of gB indicated in B were excised and analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight fingerprinting. The gB amino acid sequence is shown, with the predicted signal sequence and transmembrane domain in lowercase type. The consensus furin cleavage site is underlined. Peptides identified in the 55-kDa gB band are shown in bold type; peptides identified in the 65-kDa band are in bold italic type.
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Human cytomegalovirus gB is cleaved by furin in the trans-Golgi network (30), close to the site of virus assembly. MHV-68 gB has a furin consensus cleavage sequence at amino acids 424 to 427 (RRKR), which would fit well with the size of the smaller gB products and the peptides derived from them. Rapid virion shedding probably removed the 65-kDa and 55-kDa forms of gB from infected cells soon after cleavage. The full-length gB that was retained in cells (Fig. 4A) may represent a distinct pool, for example, one targeted to the inner nuclear membrane (17). The fact that the bulk of the MHV-68 gB was processed and incorporated into virions very similarly to the gBs of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (2) and human cytomegalovirus (33) suggests that is likely to have a similar role in cell binding and entry.
F.B.L. was the recipient of a Leonardo da Vinci scholarship. P.G.S. is an MRC/Academy of Medical Sciences Clinician Scientist (G108/462). This work was supported by an MRC cooperative group grant (G9800903).
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-herpesvirus-68 lacking gp150 shows defective virion release but establishes normal latency in vivo. J. Virol. 78:5103-5112.
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