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Journal of Virology, October 2005, p. 12969-12978, Vol. 79, No. 20
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.79.20.12969-12978.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Institute for Molecular Virology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706-1596,1 Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095,2 Howard Hughes Medical Institute University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706-1596,3 Infectious Disease Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California 920374
Received 9 May 2005/ Accepted 26 July 2005
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and the barrier-to-autointegration factor (9, 11, 14, 28, 40). A putative serine kinase that phosphorylates murine leukemia virus (MLV) p12 has also been implicated in cytoplasm-to-nucleus transport of that virus (44, 45). Yet other cellular factors, including Fv-1, Trim-5
, and APOBEC3G, act to restrict the early steps of retroviral replication (3, 4, 36, 38). It is likely that other, as-yet-unidentified cellular factors contribute to other steps of retroviral replication. Indeed, a recently described cell-free uncoating assay has implicated cellular factor involvement in the uncoating step of retroviral infection which occurs immediately after membrane fusion and leads to the formation of an active reverse transcription complex (31). Moreover, the involvement of multiple cellular factors is consistent with the dynamic nature of the reverse transcription complex during the progression of infection (12, 13). Genetic studies have also implicated cellular factors as playing a positive role in early stages of retroviral infection. Two lines of chemically mutagenized Rat-2 fibroblast cell lines (R3-2 and R4-7) were identified under negative selection conditions following multiple rounds of challenge with a mixture of amphotropic and ecotropic MLV vectors (17). Cell line R3-2 was approximately 1,000-fold resistant to infection by these vectors, a defect that mapped to a stage following reverse transcription but before nuclear localization (17). Cell line R4-4 was approximately 100-fold resistant to infection by these vectors, and the block in this cell line occurred before the earliest step of reverse transcription (17). The defects in cell lines R3-2 and R4-4 were judged to be common to all retroviruses, since these cell lines restricted the early steps of entry by MLV and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) vectors (17). Two cDNAs that complement the defect in cell line R4-4 have been isolated. One cDNA represents an antisense transcript to the transcriptional coactivator CAPER, and the other is a sense transcript of the central portion of the VL30 endogenous retrovirus-like element. Since neither of these cDNAs is predicted to give rise to a protein product, it is not yet clear how they exert their complementing effects (16).
In an attempt to identify other cellular factors that participate in the early steps of retroviral replication, we have employed a high-throughput somatic cell mutagenesis-based approach. This approach involved mutagenizing Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1) cells with the frameshift mutagen ICR-191 and subjecting the cells to multiple rounds of challenge with an MLV vector that was pseudotyped with the vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSV-G). After each round of infection, the cells were subjected to either fluorescent or magnetic sorting, leading to single-cell cloning. This screening led to the isolation of two classes of mutant cell lines that have a defect that lies either upstream of reverse transcription or appears to lie downstream of nuclear localization but before proviral DNA establishment. These data suggest a role for novel cellular proteins in facilitating MLV-specific early steps of replication.
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Plasmids. The MLV genome plasmids pMMP-nls-LacZ (encoding ß-galactosidase), pCMMP-eGFP (encoding the enhanced green fluorescent protein [eGFP]), and pCMMP-IRES-GFP and the subgroup A ASLV (ASLV-A) genome plasmid RCASBP(A)-AP (encoding alkaline phosphatase) have been previously described (5, 15, 29). To construct the pCMMP-CD4-eGFP vector, a NotI-to-PstI fragment with the CD4 gene deleted for the cytoplasmic tail from pMACS4.1 (Miltenyi Biotec Inc., Auburn, CA) was inserted into the NotI/PstI sites downstream of the viral long terminal repeat (LTR) and upstream of the encephalomyocarditis virus internal ribosome entry site (IRES) in pCMMP-IRES-GFP. The HIV-1 vectors were derived from the pLenti6/V5-GW/lacZ vector (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA). The HIV-HcRED vector was constructed by inserting into the BamHI/EcoRV sites of pLenti6/V5-GW/lacZ the multiple cloning site and IRES from pCMMP-IRES-GFP as a BamHI/BspEI fragment upstream of an AgeI/StuI fragment containing the HcRED coding sequence from pHcRED1 (Clontech, Palo Alto, CA). To generate the pHIV-TVA800-hcRED vector, the coding sequence of TVA800 was excised from pCMMP-TVA800 (30) as a PmlI/SalI fragment and inserted into the EcoRV/SalI sites of the HIV-HcRED vector upstream of the IRES.
Mutagenesis of CHO-K1 cells. Ten pools of 1 x 106 CHO-K1 cells were mutagenized by ICR-191 treatment (10 µg/ml) as described previously (6). Each pool was subjected to three rounds of mutagenesis before screening.
Isolation of MLV-resistant cells by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). Two pools (numbers 1 and 4) of 1 x 106 mutagenized CHO-K1 cells were infected with CMMP-eGFP[VSV-G] at an approximate MOI of 3 to 5 GFP transducing units (GTU) for 2 h at 37°C in the presence of 4 µg/ml Polybrene (Sigma-Aldrich, Inc., St. Louis, MO). The virus-containing medium was then removed and replaced with fresh medium. Forty-eight hours postinfection (hpi), the cells were trypsinized and resuspended in medium, and GFP-negative cells were isolated using a FACSvantage high-speed cell sorter (Becton Dickinson, San Jose, CA). Cells were allowed to recover (typically for 24 to 48 h) and expanded as necessary to a level that was greater than or equal to 1 x 106 cells. The viral challenge and sorting was repeated until there was an observable resistance to infection in the sorted pools based on the level of GFP fluorescence obtained relative to a control population of unmutagenized cells. This required seven rounds of selection for pool 1 and six rounds of selection for pool 4. Once resistance was observed, a final infection and sorting was performed, and GFP-negative cells were single-cell cloned. Each of these clonal cell lines was then divided into two aliquots; one was uninfected, and the other was infected with CMMP-EGFP[VSV-G] at an approximate MOI of 3 to 5 GTU. The virus-resistant clones were identified as GFP negative following viral challenge, and the corresponding cell clone in the uninfected plate was expanded for further characterization.
Isolation of MLV-resistant cells by magnetic cell sorting (MACS). Eight pools (pools 2, 3, and 5 to 10) of 2 x 107 mutagenized CHO-K1 cells were infected with CMMP-CD4-EGFP[VSV-G] at an approximate MOI of 1 GTU for 2 h at 37°C in the presence of 4 µg/ml Polybrene. Unbound viruses were then removed, and fresh medium was added. At 48 h postinfection, the cells were removed from the plate with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) containing 5 mM EDTA. Cells were pelleted (200 x g, 5 min), resuspended in 500 µl of PBS containing 2 mM EDTA and 2% bovine serum albumin (BSA) (Sigma-Aldrich, Inc., St. Louis, MO), and incubated with anti-human CD4 iron-conjugated antibody (Miltenyi Biotec Inc., Auburn, CA) at 20 µg/107 cells for 15 min at 4°C. Large-cell columns (Miltenyi Biotec Inc., Auburn, CA) were applied to a magnetic field and washed with 2 ml PBS containing 2 mM EDTA and 2% BSA. Cells were filtered through a 30-µm mesh (Miltenyi Biotec Inc., Auburn, CA) and applied to the large-cell column. Cells were washed twice with 2 ml PBS containing 2 mM EDTA and 2% BSA. Column flowthrough and washes were collected, and the cells were pelleted, resuspended in medium, and replated. Cells were allowed to recover for at least 16 h before the next viral challenge. When necessary, the cells were expanded between each round of virus infection to a minimum of 5 x 105 cells per sort. The infection and selections were repeated until there was an observable resistance to infection based on eGFP fluorescence in the selected cells relative to a control population of unmutagenized CHO-K1 cells. This varied from five to seven rounds depending on the pool. Once resistance in a pool was observed, the population was infected a final time with CMMP-CD4-EGFP[VSV-G], and the GFP-negative cells were single-cell cloned after high-speed FACS.
Screening MLV-resistant clones. Single-cell clones from pools 2, 3, and 5 to 10 were plated on duplicate plates and incubated for 2 h with pMMP-nls-LacZ [VSV-G] at an approximate MOI of 1 LacZ transducing unit (LTU) in the presence of 4 µg/ml Polybrene. Unbound virus was then removed, and fresh medium was added. At 48 h postinfection, one plate was assayed for ß-galactosidase activity with a Galacto-Star chemiluminescent kit (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA) according to the manufacturer's instructions, and the other plate was assayed for cell number and cell viability by using CellTiter-Glo reagent (Promega, Madison, WI) following the manufacturer's instructions.
Chemiluminescent assay of viral infection. Eight wells of a 96-well plate were seeded at 1 x 104 cells/well for each cell line tested. The cells were incubated for 2 h with an approximate MOI of 1 LTU of either MMP-nls-LacZ[VSV-G], MMP-nls-LacZ[EnvA], or Lenti6/V5-GW/lacZ [VSV-G], or an MOI of 1 alkaline phosphatase transducing unit of RCASBP(A)-AP, in the presence of 4 µg/ml Polybrene. Unbound virions were removed, and fresh medium was added. At 48 h postinfection, four wells were assayed for either ß-galactosidase activity as described above or for alkaline phosphatase activity [in the case of RCASBP(A)-AP infections] by using a Phospha-Light kit (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA) according to the manufacturer's instructions. The other four wells were assayed for cell number and cell viability using CellTiter-Glo reagent (Promega, Madison, WI) as described above. In these experiments, the ratio of ß-galactosidase or alkaline phosphatase to luciferase activity was calculated in each case and compared to that seen with a control population of unmutagenized CHO-K1 cells to determine level of the resistance to viral infection. Under these conditions, the control cells exhibited an approximately 50-fold increase in ß-galactosidase:luciferase or alkaline phosphatase:luciferase ratios following infection.
To determine the absolute level of resistance to viral infection, X-Gal (5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indoyl-ß-D[SCAP]-galactopyranoside) staining was performed with cells that were infected with serial dilutions of viruses. For these experiments, cells were seeded at 2 x 104 cells/well in triplicate rows for each cell line tested. The cells were then infected for 2 h with 10-fold serial dilutions of MMP-nls-LacZ[VSV-G] in the presence of 4 µg/ml Polybrene as described before, and the cells were subsequently stained with X-Gal as previously described (1). The blue cells contained in wells that had between 20 and 200 ß-galactosidase-positive cells were counted to give an accurate measure of the viral titer.
TVA-expressing cell lines. Cells (1 x 106) were seeded in a 6-cm dish and infected with HIV-1-TVA800-HcRED[VSV-G] at an approximate MOI of 0.5 hcRED transducing units for 2 h. Cells infected with this virus express TVA800, HcRED, and the blasticidin S resistance gene. Infected cells were selected for 2 weeks in the presence of 3 µg/ml blasticidin (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA). Blasticidin-resistant clones were pooled, and TVA800 expression was confirmed by staining cells with an ASLV-A SU-immunoglobulin G immunoadhesin followed by flow cytometric analysis as previously described (47).
Real-time QPCR. To measure the amounts of reverse transcription intermediates in infected cells, cells were seeded in triplicate wells at 5 x 105/well in a six-well plate and then infected at 4°C on a rocking platform at an MOI of 1 GTU for 2 h with an MLV vector (pLEGFP; Clontech, Palo Alto, CA) pseudotyped with VSV-G that was treated with DNaseI as described above. DNA was harvested from infected cells at 24 hpi by using a DNeasy kit (QIAGEN, Valencia, CA). For the nuclear fractionation studies, nuclei were harvested from infected cells 24 hpi using a Nuclei EZ Prep kit (Sigma-Aldrich, Inc., St. Louis, MO) following the manufacturer's instructions, and DNA was isolated from nuclei as described above. To measure integrated proviral DNA copy number, cells were seeded and infected as described above and then passaged for 10 days. DNA was then harvested from 1 x 106 infected cells as described above. To measure the number of two-long terminal repeat (2LTR) circles, 1 x 106 cells were infected as described above at a MOI of 10 GTU. DNA was harvested 24 h postinfection. DNA concentration was calculated by measuring the A260 on a SPECTRAmax Plus 96-well UV spectrophotometer (Molecular Devices, Sunnyvale, CA). Quantitative, real-time PCR (QPCR) was performed on an ABI 9600 (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA) using the standard cycling conditions of 50°C for 10 min and 40 cycles of 95°C for 30 s and 60°C for 2 min. DNA (10 µl/25-µl reaction) was amplified in TaqMan Universal PCR Mastermix (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA) with 1 µM concentrations of each primer and 0.1 µM 5' 6-carboxyfluorescein (6-FAM), 3' 6-carboxytetramethylrhodamine (TAMRA)-labeled probe. Each primer probe set was tested on each cell line in a minimum of three independent experiments. The number of molecules in each reaction was determined by a comparison to standard curves generated from amplification of plasmid DNA containing the target sequence. The primer probe set used to determine if the screen virus had integrated into cells is OJWB7 (5'-GAACAGATGGTCCCCAGATGC-3'), OJWB8 (CGGTGGAACCTCCAAATGAA), and OJWB21 (5'-6-FAM-AAAAGAGCCCACAACCCCTCACTCGG-TAMRA-3'). Since the 3' LTR is replaced with the cytomegalovirus promoter in pCMMP-based vectors, this primer probe set will detect only reverse-transcribed viral genomes and does not detect pCMMP genome plasmids or reverse-transcribed viral genomes derived from pLEGFP. Primers and probes used to identify specific reverse transcription intermediates are given in Table 1.
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TABLE 1. Quantitative real-time PCR primer and probe sets for the detection of reverse transcription intermediates
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Pools 1 and 4 of the mutagenized cells were challenged with VSV-G-pseudotyped pCMMP-eGFP (CMMP-eGFP[VSV-G]), an MLV vector that encodes the eGFP, and the eGFP-negative population (enriched for uninfected cells) was then collected by FACS (Fig. 1A). This procedure was repeated until there was an observable resistance to virus infection, and single cell clones were isolated as described in Materials and Methods. The most resistant clone from pool 1 (designated mutant cell line 1 [MCL1]) and the most resistant clone from pool 4 (designated MCL4) were characterized further (see below).
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FIG. 1. Two approaches used to isolate mutagenized CHO-K1 cell lines resistant to retroviral infection. (A) Isolation of MLV resistant cells by FACS. CHO-K1 cells mutagenized with ICR-191 were infected with a VSV-G-pseudotyped MLV vector that encodes eGFP, and the resultant eGFP-negative cells were collected by FACS. After a minimum of five rounds of infection and sorting, the eGFP-negative cells were single-cell cloned, expanded into 12-well plates, and assayed for resistance to infection by infection by the pseudotyped MLV vector. (B) Isolation of MLV-resistant cells by MACS. CHO-K1 cells mutagenized with ICR-191 were infected with a VSV-G-pseudotyped MLV vector that encodes both CD4 and eGFP. Infected cells were depleted from the population by magnetic sorting with an iron-conjugated anti-CD4 antibody. After a minimum of five rounds of infection and sorting, the eGFP-negative cells were single-cell cloned, expanded, and seeded into duplicate assay plates. The assay plates were infected with another VSV-G-pseudotyped MLV vector that encodes ß-galactosidase. One plate was then assayed with a chemiluminescent assay for ß-galactosidase, and the other plate was assayed with a luciferase-based chemiluminescent viability assay.
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Characterization of the resistance to MLV infection in isolated clones. To measure the defects in infection seen with the mutant cell lines, MCL1 to MCL10 were challenged with VSV-G-pseudotyped pMMP-nls-LacZ (MMP-nls-lacZ[VSV-G], an MLV vector that encodes ß-galactosidase, and assayed 48 h later for the virus-encoded ß-galactosidase activity. Since these studies involved a direct comparison between the levels of virus infection seen in mutagenized versus nonmutagenized CHO-K1 cells, it was important to correct the data for any differences in either the relative plating efficiencies or the growth rates of the mutant cell types. This was accomplished by incorporating a luciferase-based cell viability assay during the analysis. Reconstruction experiments performed with increasing numbers of CHO-K1 cells showed that the ß-galactosidase and luciferase signals that were obtained increased linearly with the number of input cells (Fig. 2A and 2B). Therefore, in the experiments described below, the data were normalized to the number of cells in each population by dividing the ß-galactosidase signal by the luciferase signal (to give a ratio of the amount of viral infection to relative cell number).
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FIG. 2. The ß-galactosidase-based infection assay and the luciferase-based cell viability assay display a linear dependence upon cell number. Cells were plated for 24 h and then challenged with 8 x 104 LTU of MMP-nls-lacZ[VSV-G]. The cells were assayed 48 h postinfection with (A) a CellTiter-Glo kit (Promega, Madison, WI), which measures the viability of infected cells by measuring cellular ATP as a substrate for luciferase, or (B) a Galacto-star chemiluminescent ß-galactosidase assay (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA). Uninfected controls were assayed 72 h after plating. The data shown are the average mean values obtained in an experiment with quadruplicate samples and are representative of results of three independent experiments. Error bars indicate the standard deviations of the data.
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40-fold resistant to infection (defined as background levels for this assay) and were characterized further. MCL5 was 10-fold resistant to MLV, infection, but this phenotype spontaneously reverted to WT after several weeks in culture and therefore, given its instability, this cell line was not further characterized.
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FIG. 3. Resistance of isolated cell lines to infection by a VSV-G-pseudotyped MLV vector. (A) Cells (1 x 104/well of a 96-well plate) of the indicated cell lines were infected with 5 x 104 IU of MMP-nls-lacZ[VSV-G] and assayed 48 h postinfection with chemiluminescent assays for ß-galactosidase and viability as described for Fig. 2. (B) Cells (1 x 104/well) of the indicated cell lines were infected with different concentrations of MMP-nls-lacZ[VSV-G] and stained 48 h postinfection with X-Gal. The data shown are the average mean values obtained in an experiment with triplicate samples and are representative of results of three independent experiments. Error bars indicate the standard deviations of the data.
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Resistance to infection is specific to the MLV core. We next asked if the resistance was specific to MLV or common to other retroviruses. To address this question, cells were infected with MMP-nls-LacZ[VSV-G] or with Lenti6/V5-GW/lacZ[VSV-G], an HIV-1 vector encoding ß-galactosidase. As expected, MCLs 1, 3, 4, 7, and 9 were at least 40-fold resistant to MLV infection, as seen before (Fig. 4A). However, each of these cell lines showed no obvious defect in their susceptibility to infection by the HIV-1 vector (Fig. 4A). Since both the MLV and the HIV-1 vectors used in these experiments contained VSV-G, these data demonstrated that the defects in these cells are not linked to the viral glycoprotein but instead map specifically to the core of the MLV vector. To address this issue more thoroughly, the MCLs were engineered to express TVA800, the cellular receptor for ASLV-A (2, 43). The TVA800-expressing cells were resistant to infection by MLV vectors pseudotyped with VSV-G or with the ASLV-A Env (EnvA) (Fig. 4B). However, the TVA-expressing cells were fully susceptible to infection with an ASLV-A vector that encodes heat-stable alkaline phosphatase (Fig. 4B). These data confirmed that the resistance in these cell lines is independent of viral envelope/receptor interactions and is specific for MLV cores.
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FIG. 4. Resistance to retroviral infection is specific to the MLV core. (A) Cells (1 x 104/well of a 96-well plate) of the indicated cell lines were infected with either 5 x 104 IU (LTU) of MMP-nls-lacZ[VSV-G] or 5 x 104 IU of a VSV-G-pseudotyped HIV-1 vector that encodes ß-galactosidase (Lenti6/V5-GW/lacZ [VSV-G]) and assayed 48 h postinfection with chemiluminescent assays for ß-galactosidase and for viable cells as described for Fig. 2. (B) Cells (1 x 104/well of a 96-well plate) of WT CHO-K1 or the indicated cell lines engineered to express TVA800 were infected with either 5 x 104 IU (LTU) of the MLV vectors MMp-nls-LacZ[VSV-G], 5 x 104 IU of pMMp-nls-LacZ[envA], or the ASLV-A vector RCASBP(A)-AP and assayed 48 h postinfection with chemiluminescent assays for cell viability and either ß-galactosidase or alkaline phosphatase. TVA-expressing cell lines are designated with a T after the line name. The data shown are the average mean values obtained in an experiment with quadruplicate samples and are representative of results of three independent experiments. Error bars indicate the standard deviations of the data.
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FIG. 5. Production of reverse transcription intermediates in resistant cell lines. (A) DNA was harvested from infected and uninfected cells (5 x 105/well of a six-well plate) of the indicated cell lines. QPCR was performed using a primer/probe set that recognizes the first-strand transfer (+SSS) reverse transcription intermediate of the MLV genome that was used in the initial screen. (B to E) Cells (5 x 105/well of a six-well plate) of the indicated cell lines were infected with 5 x 105 IU of LEGFP[VSV-G] at 4°C for 2 h. Total DNA was harvested at 0 hpi and 24 hpi. DNA concentration was quantitated by A260, and QPCR was performed using primer/probe sets that recognize the (B) minus-strand strong stop, (C) minus strand, (D) first-strand transfer (+SSS) products, and (E) second-strand transfer (plus strand) reverse transcription intermediates. The numbers of DNA molecules were determined by comparison to a standard curve generated from serial dilutions of plasmid DNA. The data shown are the average mean values obtained in an experiment with triplicate samples and are representative of results of three independent experiments. Error bars indicate the standard deviations of the data.
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MCL4 and MCL7 support movement of the MLV reverse transcription complex to the nucleus but fail to integrate MLV. To determine if viral DNA is localized to the nucleus for either cell line, MCL4 or MCL7, infections were performed, nuclei were isolated, DNA was extracted, and QPCR was performed. Late reverse transcription products were detected in the nuclei of these cells at levels equal to or greater than the levels detected for WT CHO-K1 cells (Fig. 6A). By contrast, no nuclear reverse transcription products were detected with MCL1, as predicted, since this cell line does not give rise to reverse transcription products. The reason for the increase in reverse transcription products in MCL4 and MCL7, which was observed with all primer/probe sets (Fig. 5 and 6A), is unknown, but the increase is highly reproducible, suggesting that it is caused by the mutation which blocks MLV infection. It may be that the incoming genome is trapped in the nucleus in a form that is slightly more stable than in WT cells.
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FIG. 6. Nuclear localization and integration of reverse transcription intermediates in resistant cell lines. (A) Cells (5 x 105/well of a six-well plate) of the indicated cell lines were infected as described for Fig. 5, and nuclear DNA was harvested at 0 hpi and 24 hpi. QPCR was performed using a primer/probe set that recognizes the second-strand transfer reverse transcription intermediate. (B) Cells (5 x 106/6-cm dish) of the indicated cell lines were infected with 5 x 106 IU of LEGFP[VSV-G]. DNA was harvested 24 hpi, and QPCR was performed with a primer/probe set that recognizes 2LTR circles. (C) Cells (5 x 105/well of a six-well plate) of the indicated cell lines were infected with 5 x 105 IU of pLEGFP[VSV-G]and passaged for 10 days postinfection. Total DNA was isolated, and QPCR was performed using a primer/probe set that recognizes the first-strand transfer (+SSS) and subsequent reverse transcription intermediates. DNA concentration was quantitated by A260, and number of DNA molecules was determined by comparison to a standard curve generated from serial dilutions of plasmid DNA. The data shown are the average mean values obtained in an experiment with triplicate samples and are representative of results of three independent experiments. Error bars indicate the standard deviations of the data.
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Members of the first group, consisting of MCL1, MCL3, and MCL9, appear to have a defect in uncoating, since they are impaired in supporting the earliest steps of MLV-specific reverse transcription. Indeed, the impairment in initiating reverse transcription is sufficient to explain the MLV resistance in MCL3 and MCL9. In the case of MCL1, the cell line exhibits an
1,100-fold resistance to MLV infection, and at least 50-fold of this effect is due to impaired reverse transcription. The discrepancy between results of the reporter gene assay used to determine infectivity and the QPCR results may be due, in part, to an approximately sevenfold defect in this cell line in transcription from the MLV LTR (data not shown). This transcriptional defect, while not specificit was also noted with the cytomegalovirus promoterlikely contributes to the MCL1 resistance phenotype.
The second group, consisting of MCL4 and MCL7, contained even higher levels (three- to fivefold) of reverse transcription products relative to WT CHO-K1 cells. In these cells, viral DNA was associated with the nucleus and 2LTR circular viral DNA forms were produced, indicative of nuclear translocation. However, the viral DNA genomes failed to integrate in these cells. The defects observed in the two distinct classes of mutant CHO-K1 cells are also clearly different from those described for two Rat-2 cell lines (R3-2 and R4-7) (17). Like MCL1, MCL3, and MCL9, the R4-7 cell line exhibits a block to initiation of reverse transcription. However, this defect is not MLV specific, since a similar block to infection was seen with an HIV-1 vector (17). Unlike MCL4 and MCL7, the R3-2 cell line exhibits a block to nuclear translocation of viral DNA-containing complexes, and again this effect is not MLV-specific, since it was also observed with an HIV-1 vector (17). It is unlikely that the MLV-specific defects in MCL4 and MCL7 can be explained by mutations in the cellular factors barrier-to-autointegration factor or HMGa1, since these factors support MLV and HIV-1 DNA integration (7, 22-24, 27, 37, 39, 40). Given these novel features, we anticipate that further characterization of the mutant cell lines that are described in this study will provide new insights into the role of viral-host cell factor interactions in promoting the early steps of retroviral replication. Moreover, the high-throughput MACS assay that is described in this report should prove useful for screening for cellular factors that help facilitate the early replication events for a number of different viruses.
This work was supported by NIH training grant T32 CA009075 and by NIH grants CA70810 (J.A.T.Y.) and CA22443 (P.A.)
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restricts HIV-1 infection in Old World monkeys. Nature 427:848-853.[CrossRef][Medline]
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