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Journal of Virology, February 2004, p. 1202-1211, Vol. 78, No. 3
0022-538X/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.78.3.1202-1211.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, University of WisconsinMadison Medical School, University of WisconsinMadison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706
Received 1 July 2003/ Accepted 6 October 2003
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CMV infection renders numerous and rapid changes upon cells. Several signal transduction pathway factors are affected, including the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases, Rel family transcription factors, and phospholipid mediators (1-3, 49-52). Since many of the cellular factors that become activated in response to CMV are transcriptional regulators, it was predicted that cellular gene expression would be altered during infection. Transcriptional profiling studies revealed that the expression of hundreds of cellular genes is altered in cells that are exposed to CMV particles (10, 38, 53, 54). Notably, members of the interferon-stimulated gene (ISG) family are among the transcripts that are most dramatically up-regulated in response to CMV. ISGs are the subset of cellular genes that are strongly induced in response to alpha/beta interferon and are responsible for carrying out the antiviral activities attributed to interferons (41). Alpha/beta interferon is secreted by cells in response to viruses and restricts virus replication at the earliest stages of infection, thereby limiting virus spread while adaptive immune responses are mounted (41). Alpha/beta interferon is also an important component of the cytokine response induced by a vast array of pathogens, both viral and nonviral, that functions to recruit immune cells to the site of infection and promote cell-mediated and humoral immune responses.
Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), a common replicative intermediate for RNA viruses, is typically the molecular trigger that initiates interferon responses (35). Infection by DNA viruses and retroviruses also elicits interferon responses; however, these viruses do not generate cytoplasmic dsRNA intermediates. Thus, DNA viruses and retroviruses likely trigger cellular antiviral responses by alternative means. Viral envelope glycoproteins are one factor that can contribute to interferon induction by viruses. For example, single amino acid changes in the glycoprotein M gene of transmissible gastroenteritis virus, a member of the coronavirus family, severely impairs the ability of the virus to induce interferon secretion (22). In addition, soluble forms of envelope glycoproteins from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and herpes simplex virus type 1 have been shown to elicit interferon secretion from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (4-6).
The observation that transcriptionally inactive CMV virions can induce ISG expression suggests that structural components of the virion are able to initiate these responses (10, 14, 53, 54). Members of our laboratory utilized a recombinant form of envelope glycoprotein B (gB) from CMV to show that gB is one structural factor that can directly induce ISG expression (8, 38). Microarray analysis revealed that cells treated with gB or CMV exhibit a high degree of coregulation, suggesting that much of the transcriptional modulation induced by CMV can be attributed to an interaction between gB and an unidentified cellular receptor(s) (38). Taken together, these studies strongly indicate that envelope glycoproteins represent at least one mechanism by which CMV can elicit interferon responses. However, the cellular factor(s) that initiates host antiviral responses to viral glycoproteins remains unidentified.
While the viral determinants responsible for initiating interferon responses are only beginning to be elucidated, great strides have been made with respect to the identification and definition of the cellular factors and mechanisms that mediate antiviral responses. The emerging model of interferon induction by viruses favors a biphasic response that allows for rapid and robust, yet tightly controlled, interferon production (44, 45). A key event early in the induction of these responses is the activation of interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3), a constitutively expressed protein that resides in the cytoplasm of cells. IRF3 becomes activated via the sequential phosphorylation of serine residues in its carboxy-terminal domain, and recent studies suggest that phosphorylation of IRF3 is carried out by IKK
and TBK1 (19, 36, 37). Once activated, IRF3 forms homodimers and translocates to the nucleus, where it associates with the general transcriptional coactivator p300/CBP (42, 48). Transcription of a subset of ISGs ensues, including one alpha interferon species and the single beta interferon gene (35, 47). This initial burst of interferon acts in an autocrine and paracrine manner through the alpha/beta interferon receptor and Jak-STAT pathway to induce a broader panel of ISGs, including another member of the IRF family, IRF7 (41). Newly synthesized IRF7 becomes activated via phosphorylation and forms heterodimers with IRF3 to promote increased expression of beta interferon and expression of additional alpha interferon genes that cannot be induced by IRF3 alone (33). The activity of ISGs induced by IRF- and interferon-dependent pathways causes cells to become refractory to viral replication.
The aim of this study was to further define the mechanism by which gB of CMV activates interferon responses in critical cell types for CMV pathogenesis, such as fibroblasts and endothelial cells. We report that cells exposed to CMV or gB respond by forming a fully functional antiviral state, further demonstrating that infection is not necessary for the induction of antiviral responses. We also show that gB activates IRF3 and ultimately induces secretion of beta interferon from human fibroblasts. Interferon production implies that the establishment of the antiviral state in response to CMV and gB is mediated, at least in part, by the autocrine and/or paracrine activity of interferon. However, the secondary activity of interferon is not required for the establishment of the antiviral state, as cells lacking alpha/beta interferon genes mount a functional antiviral response to both CMV and gB. This indicates that the initial, cell surface-generated induction of ISGs by both CMV and gB is sufficient for the establishment of the antiviral state within cells.
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FIG. 1. Schematic diagram of gB constructs showing the region of wild-type gB represented by each truncation mutant. Constructs are shown with the amino terminus at the left, and prominent structural features are labeled with the corresponding amino acid residue number. The carboxy-terminal fragment comprises amino acid residues 461 to 906. gB1-750 comprises the entire ectodomain, while gB1-460 is truncated at the site of furin cleavage. Each truncation mutant has a six-histidine tag at its carboxy terminus. MSD, membrane-spanning domain; Cyto, cytoplasmic tail.
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VSV plaque reduction assay. Subconfluent NHDF, endothelial cell, or GRE monolayers were washed twice with PBS and then mock infected, treated with recombinant human alpha/beta interferons, infected with live or UV-inactivated CMV (strain AD169), or treated with soluble gB, as indicated. All treatments were performed in serum-free media. Following a 6-h incubation period at 37°C, the cells were washed once with PBS and then infected with 100 PFU of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) (New Jersey strain) per ml. VSV was adsorbed for 1 h at 37°C, the inoculum was removed, and the cells were overlaid with 2 ml of a 60:40 mixture of 2x Eagle's minimum essential medium (BioWhitaker, Walkersville, Md.) and 1% agarose. The cells were incubated at 37°C, and plaques were visualized by crystal violet staining at 48 h postinfection (0.5x PBS, 0.07% crystal violet, 5.5% formaldehyde).
Comparison of soluble and virion-associated gB. A gB1-750 standard curve was prepared via twofold serial dilution. The standard curve and whole-virus preparations were transferred to a membrane (Immobilon-NC; Millipore) by use of a dot blot apparatus (MilliBlot system; Millipore) according to the manufacturer's instructions. gB was detected with gB-specific monoclonal antibody 27-78 (9), a horseradish peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibody, and chemiluminescent developing reagent. gB levels in virus preparations were quantitated by comparison to the gB1-750 standard curve.
Western blot analysis of IRF3 phosphorylation. NHDFs seeded in 100-mm-diameter dishes were washed twice with PBS and then mock infected, infected with CMV (strain AD169; MOI of 0.1 PFU/cell), or treated with soluble gB (1 µg/ml) in the presence of cycloheximide (100 µg/ml). All treatments were performed in serum-free media. At 6 h posttreatment, cells were harvested in lysis buffer (50 mM Tris [pH 7.4], 150 mM NaCl, 5 mM EDTA, 1% Nonidet P-40, 30 mM NaF, 40 mM ß-phosphoglycerate, 1 mM Na3VO4, 10% glycerol, protease inhibitors). After three freeze-thaw cycles, equivalent amounts of total cellular protein from each sample were separated via sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-8% PAGE followed by immunoblotting. IRF3 was detected with an anti-IRF3 antibody (Santa Cruz Biotechnologies), a horseradish peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibody, and chemiluminescent developing reagent.
Cellular localization of IRF3. NHDFs plated on coverslips were washed twice with PBS and then mock infected, infected with UV-inactivated CMV (strain AD169; MOI of 0.1 PFU/cell), or treated with gB (1 µg/ml). All treatments were performed in serum-free media. At 6 h posttreatment, the cells were fixed in 3% paraformaldehyde and IRF3 localization was visualized by indirect immunofluorescence, as previously described (30), with a primary antibody against IRF3 (Santa CruzBiotechnologies) and fluorescence-conjugated secondary antibody (Molecular Probes).
Beta interferon ELISA. For enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), subconfluent NHDF monolayers were washed twice with PBS and then mock infected, infected with live or UV-inactivated CMV (strain AD169; MOI of 0.1 PFU/cell), or treated with soluble gB (10 or 25 µg/ml). At 18 h posttreatment, the supernatants were harvested and cellular debris was removed by centrifugation at 12,000 x g for 5 min at 4°C. Beta interferon levels were measured by use of a human beta interferon ELISA kit (Fujirebio, Inc., Tokyo, Japan) according to the manufacturer's instructions.
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FIG. 2. Cell response to treatment with CMV, gB, and gB1-460. (A and B) CMV and gB trigger a functional antiviral state in cells. Human fibroblasts were stimulated as indicated (interferon, 100 U/ml). At 6 h poststimulation, the treatments were removed and the monolayers were challenged with approximately 100 PFU of VSV per well. The mock-treated cells were not infected with VSV. Plaque formation was visualized by crystal violet staining at 48 h postinfection. CMV replicates with much slower kinetics than VSV; thus, any visible plaque formation is the result of VSV, not CMV, growth. (C) gB1-460 minimally induces ISG activation. Human fibroblasts were mock treated or treated with gB1-750 or gB1-460 (1 µg/ml). At 8 h posttreatment, total RNA was harvested from cells and subjected to RNase protection analysis with ISG54- and actin-specific probes.
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gB1-460 is a truncated form of gB1-750 that exhibits cell binding activity and is structurally similar to the corresponding region of gB in the context of gB1-750 (Lopper and Compton, unpublished data). In contrast to gB1-750, gB1-460 elicited a minimal antiviral response (Fig. 2B). For gB1-750, complete inhibition of VSV plaque formation was achieved at a concentration of 1 µg/ml; however, at 10-fold higher levels of gB1-460 (10 µg/ml), plaque formation is still apparent, although the plaque number and size are somewhat reduced. The decreased antiviral activity in response to gB1-460 correlates with its reduced ability to induce ISG expression compared to gB1-750 (Fig. 2C). The difference in activity between gB1-460 and gB1-750 implies that the region of gB between residues 461 and 750 is important for the initiation of cellular antiviral responses. Taken together, these observations demonstrate that the induction of ISGs in response to CMV via an interaction between gB and cell surface components results in the activation of a functional cellular antiviral response.
gB activates IRF3 and induces interferon secretion.
IRF3 activation is critical for the induction of cellular antiviral responses. Activated IRF3 becomes localized to the nucleus, wherein it promotes transcription of a number of ISGs, including selected alpha/beta interferon genes. Two laboratories have shown that CMV activates IRF3 (27, 31), and both CMV and soluble gB directly induce transcription of ISGs (8, 10, 53, 54). Based on these similarities, we hypothesized that IRF3 would be activated in response to soluble gB. Because activated IRF3 is phosphorylated within its carboxy-terminal domain, we assessed the phosphorylation status of IRF3 in response to CMV and gB by SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis. In uninfected cells, two species of IRF3 are detectable (Fig. 3A). Form I corresponds to unphosphorylated IRF3 (
55 kDa) and form II is amino-terminally phosphorylated IRF3, whose function has not yet been determined. Forms III and IV, the activated, carboxy-terminally phosphorylated forms of IRF3, are detectable in response to gB as well as CMV, indicating that IRF3 is activated by both stimuli (Fig. 3A).
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FIG. 3. Effects of CMV and gB on IRF3. (A) IRF3 becomes phosphorylated in response to CMV and gB. Human fibroblasts were mock or CMV infected (MOI = 0.1 PFU/cell) or treated with soluble gB (1 µg/ml) in the presence of cycloheximide for 6 h. Cell lysates were prepared and analyzed via SDS-8% PAGE followed by immunoblotting with an IRF3-specific antibody. The different phosphorylated forms of IRF3 are indicated. (B) CMV and gB induce IRF3 nuclear localization. Human fibroblasts were mock infected, infected with CMV or UV-inactivated CMV, or treated with soluble gB or the gB1-460 truncation in the presence of cycloheximide. At 6 h posttreatment, the cells were fixed and the cellular localization of IRF3 was determined by indirect immunofluorescence.
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Since IRF3 activation results in the expression of a number of ISGs, including selected alpha/beta interferon genes, we predicted that beta interferon secretion would also be induced by soluble gB. Importantly, our virus and soluble gB stocks were found to be free of detectable interferon (data not shown). Figure 4 shows that beta interferon is secreted by human fibroblasts in response to soluble gB; however, the levels of beta interferon secreted in response to intact virus are much greater than those induced by soluble gB. Furthermore, the amount of soluble gB required to elicit measurable interferon secretion is much greater than that needed to trigger the establishment of the antiviral state. The differences between viral and soluble protein are consistent with the results from the antiviral assay, in which soluble gB induces a less potent antiviral response than gB in the context of whole virions.
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FIG. 4. CMV and gB induce beta interferon secretion. Human fibroblasts were mock infected, infected with CMV or UV-inactivated CMV, or treated with soluble gB. At 12 h posttreatment, cell supernatants were assayed for beta interferon by ELISA.
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FIG. 5. Primary induction of ISGs by CMV and gB contributes directly to the antiviral response. GRE cells were treated as indicated (interferon, 100 U/ml). At 6 h posttreatment, the inoculum was removed and the monolayers were challenged with approximately 100 PFU of VSV per well. Plaque formation was visualized by crystal violet staining at 48 h postinfection.
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FIG. 6. Effects of CMV in endothelial cells. (A) CMV induces ISG expression in endothelial cells. Human fibroblasts or endothelial cells were mock infected (M) or infected with CMV (strain AD169 or VHL/E) at an MOI of 2 PFU/cell. At the indicated times postinfection, total cellular RNA was harvested and subjected to RNase protection analysis with OAS- and actin-specific probes. (B) CMV triggers an antiviral state in endothelial cells. HUVEC were stimulated as indicated (interferon, 100 U/ml). At 6 h poststimulation, the treatments were removed and the monolayers were challenged with approximately 100 PFU of VSV per well. Plaque formation was visualized by crystal violet staining at 48 h postinfection.
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FIG. 7. Soluble gB induces ISG expression in endothelial cells. Endothelial cells from three different sources were mock treated (M) or stimulated with soluble gB. At the indicated times posttreatment, total cellular RNA was harvested and subjected to RNase protection analysis with OAS-, ISG54-, and actin-specific probes.
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For the present report, we further characterized the cellular antiviral response to envelope gB from CMV and defined components of the pathway that propagate the response to gB. We showed that a functional antiviral response can be induced in human fibroblasts and in endothelial cells by CMV virions as well as by a soluble form of gB (Fig. 2A and 6B). The ability of soluble gB to induce these responses is consistent with the hypothesis that cell contact, but not necessarily virus entry, is required to elicit a coordinated cellular antiviral response. We also showed that soluble gB activates IRF3 (Fig. 3), a key component of the cellular machinery that mediates antiviral responses. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a viral glycoprotein that activates IRF3. Both CMV virions and soluble gB elicit beta interferon secretion from fibroblasts (Fig. 4), implying that the functional antiviral state induced in response to CMV and soluble gB (Fig. 2A) is mediated, at least in part, by the autocrine and paracrine activity of secreted interferons. Since the activation of IRF3 can result in transcription of ISGs independent of interferon secretion, it is possible that direct ISG induction by CMV and soluble gB contributes to the antiviral response. To assess the involvement of primary gene induction by CMV and soluble gB in the absence of interferon feedback, we employed GRE cells, which lack the alpha/beta interferon loci (Fig. 5). The ability of CMV virions and soluble gB to establish an antiviral state within these cells revealed that direct ISG induction by CMV virions and soluble gB is sufficient to confer the antiviral state.
The VSV plaque reduction experiments (Fig. 2A; data not shown) and beta interferon ELISAs (Fig. 4) suggested that virion-associated gB is a more potent inducer of cellular antiviral responses than soluble gB. One possible explanation is that additional viral components contribute to the activation of interferon responses to CMV. Alpha/beta interferon is generated via an amplifiable loop requiring activation of IRF3, as well as IRF7 (34). The dramatic differences in beta interferon secretion between CMV virions and soluble gB (Fig. 4) may indicate that the entire activation loop is engaged upon infection with CMV, whereas only the initial events are triggered by soluble gB. Failure to comprehensively activate the loop could lead to a lesser degree of interferon secretion. Since transcriptionally inactivated virions elicit interferon secretion to levels comparable to those by replication-competent virions (Fig. 4), it follows that additional virion constituents are necessary to generate a comprehensive antiviral response to CMV; however, the identity of these factors remains to be identified.
Alternatively, soluble gB may not be presented to the cell in the same manner as gB within the context of the virion. During the course of virus binding and entry into cells, multiple gB molecules are likely to contact the cell surfaces. Consequently, virion-associated gB will assume a higher local valence than soluble gB will be able to achieve. gB clustered in this manner may be able to more effectively trigger the antiviral response. A detailed investigation of these possibilities is currently under way.
Within the context of the virion, gB is proteolytically processed by the host cell endoprotease furin immediately after amino acid residue 460 into two fragments that remain associated via disulfide linkages (24). The carboxy-terminal fragment is anchored within the viral envelope and possesses features shared by a number of viral fusion proteins (Lopper and Compton, unpublished data). Conversely, the amino-terminal fragment is predicted to possess the receptor binding activity of gB. gB1-750 comprises the entire ectodomain of gB and is processed by furin in a manner similar to membrane-anchored gB into amino- and carboxy-terminal fragments; the carboxy-terminal fragment is no longer embedded in a lipid bilayer. gB1-460 corresponds to the amino-terminal fragment resulting from furin cleavage and retains cell binding activity and structural features similar to that region in the context of gB1-750 (Lopper and Compton, unpublished data). Interestingly, gB1-460 is significantly less effective at triggering interferon responses than gB1-750 (Fig. 2). Furthermore, gB1-460 has a reduced ability to induce ISG expression (Fig. 2C), whereas gB1-750 is a potent inducer of ISGs (38). The fact that gB1-460 is significantly less efficient at inducing these responses is intriguing because this region of gB possesses cell binding activity and is predicted to interact with a cellular receptor(s) (Lopper and Compton, unpublished data). The reduced capacity of gB1-460 to elicit ISG induction indicates that the region of gB between residues 461 and 750 is important for the activation of cellular antiviral responses. In addition, previous studies from our laboratory have shown that a soluble gB construct comprising amino acids 1 to 692 is capable of inducing ISG expression, further reducing the region of gB responsible for triggering the antiviral response to lie between amino acids 461 and 692, a region thought to contribute to fusion (8). This suggests that components of the viral fusion machinery may be responsible for activating cellular antiviral responses to CMV and gB. Studies are under way to more precisely define the region of gB that induces interferon responses as well as the role that the viral fusion machinery plays in the response.
Reports indicate that CMV encodes one or more gene products that act to dampen cellular antiviral responses that are likely detrimental to viral replication. This hypothesis is rooted in the differential ISG expression levels between replication-competent CMV and UV-inactivated virus at later times postinfection. For replication-competent CMV, ISG expression begins to decline between 6 and 24 h postinfection; however, ISG levels are sustained in response to UV-inactivated virus (10). Figure 6A shows that the expression of OAS is high at 8 h postinfection and is notably diminished by 24 h postinfection. Consistent with these results, in VSV plaque reduction assays UV-inactivated CMV consistently confers a higher level of protection than replication-competent virus (Fig. 2A, compare the MOI of 0.001 PFU/ml for CMV and UV-CMV treatments). The down-regulation of ISG expression by live CMV likely allows replication of the indicator virus (VSV), whereas sustained levels of ISGs in response to UV-inactivated CMV limits VSV growth to a greater extent. Thus, our results are consistent with the notion that a CMV-encoded gene product attenuates the antiviral effects triggered during infection.
We also demonstrated that CMV and gB activate antiviral responses in endothelial cells. We assessed the antiviral response of human endothelial cells to two distinct CMV strains. The fibroblast-adapted AD169 strain is highly attenuated in humans and contains a large genomic deletion compared to clinical isolates (13, 17). In contrast, the endothelium-tropic VHL/E strain has been maintained exclusively in endothelial cells and is predicted to retain a higher degree of genetic similarity to CMV clinical isolates than to AD169 (46). Both AD169 and VHL/E induce ISG expression in endothelial cells as well as in fibroblasts; however, in each cell type VHL/E up-regulated ISG expression with slower kinetics and lower peak intensities than did AD169 (Fig. 6A). Many of the open reading frames that are missing from AD169, but present in clinical isolates, are hypothesized to play crucial roles in CMV clinical pathology. Thus, it is possible that the differential ISG induction by AD169 and VHL/E correlates with the ability of virulent CMV isolates to more adeptly avoid host immune responses than their attenuated counterparts.
An important area of interest is the identification of the cell membrane component(s) that detects viral glycoproteins and relays this information to the interior of the cell. One family of cell surface molecules that detect extracellular pathogens and activate host innate immune responses, such as interferon responses, is the Toll-like receptors (TLRs). TLRs are type I transmembrane proteins expressed predominantly on macrophages and dendritic cells, although many other cell and tissue types also express TLRs (43). TLRs function to detect bacteria, fungi, and viruses based on unique structural motifs present on these pathogens, and TLR activation results in a broad range of cellular responses, including secretion of inflammatory cytokines, expression of immune costimulatory molecules, and induction of antiviral responses. TLR2 was recently identified as a cell surface receptor that activates inflammatory cytokine secretion in response to CMV (15). Based on the connection between TLRs and the interferon pathway, an attractive hypothesis is that stimulation of TLR2 by CMV results in the activation of interferon responses. To date, only TLR3, TLR4, and TLR7 have been linked to interferon responses; however, studies to assess the contribution of TLR2 to antiviral responses have been performed with nonviral TLR ligands. We are actively pursuing whether TLR2 activation by CMV contributes to CMV-elicited antiviral responses.
The results described here further clarify the cellular events that are initiated upon interaction of CMV virions with the host cell membrane. These studies highlight the notion that interactions between the virus and cell surface components during virus entry can contribute to the induction of antiviral responses. The identification of viral determinants responsible for eliciting interferon responses to CMV, as well as of cellular factors that mediate these responses, is of paramount importance in efforts to understand CMV's immunomodulatory abilities.
This work was supported by NIH grants R01 A134998 and R21 A154915 (to T.C.). K.W.B. was supported by NIH training grant T32 GM 072 15. S.T.P. is supported by NIH training grant T32 CA 09135-27.
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B activity by transactivating the NF-
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