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Journal of Virology, March 2005, p. 2988-2997, Vol. 79, No. 5
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.79.5.2988-2997.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Cell Biology,1 Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois,3 Department of Biochemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah2
Received 7 September 2004/ Accepted 13 October 2004
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Several types of late domains which have distinct amino acid sequences have been characterized. P(T/S)AP late domains were found initially in the p6 region of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Gag protein (6, 12). A second type of late domain with core sequence PPxY was subsequently identified in the p2b region of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) Gag protein (48, 49), and a third late domain type having the sequence YP(x)nL was identified in the p9 region of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) Gag protein (32). Additionally, a YRKL sequence has been identified in the matrix protein of influenza virus that has been proposed to act as a late budding domain (13). Each of these late-domain sequences likely functions to bind with a different host factor to facilitate virus budding. P(T/S)AP late domains mediate binding to TSG101 (5, 22, 43), and the host partner protein for YP(x)nL late domains appears to be AIP1 (21, 40, 44, 46). Both TSG101 and AIP1 are part of the cellular vacuolar protein sorting (VPS) pathway that allows formation of multivesicular bodies (MVBs), an observation that is significant owing to the fact that virus budding and vesicle budding into MVBs are similar processes in which cytoplasmic cargo is packed into vesicles that bud outward from the cytoplasm. Although the partner proteins for PPxY and YRKL late domains that are relevant to virus budding have not yet been defined unequivocally, PPxY-type late domains have been shown to interact with WW domains from a variety of proteins, such as Nedd4-related E3 ubiquitin ligases (9, 17, 42). It has been proposed that recruitment of Nedd4 family members may allow indirect recruitment of other host proteins, including those involved in MVB formation (40).
Matrix proteins of the negative-strand RNA viruses vesicular stomatitis virus (2, 9, 15) and Ebola virus (8, 19, 20, 22) contain the same P(T/S)AP and PPxY late-domain sequences that were defined originally in retroviruses, and these late domains have been found to be important for the budding of these viruses (8, 15, 19, 20). This suggests that the strategy of recruiting host machinery via late domains is conserved even among distantly related viruses. Other negative-strand RNA viruses, including many of the paramyxoviruses, lack recognizable late-domain sequences in their matrix proteins and, consequently, very little is known for these viruses about how events leading up to membrane fission and particle release occur.
Paramyxovirus particles contain a core of genomic RNA that is encapsidated by nucleocapsid (NP) protein and associated with an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase composed of large (L) and phosphoprotein (P) subunits. This core is surrounded by a lipid envelope that is acquired by progeny virions from host cells during budding. The inner surface of this virion envelope is coated with the soluble matrix (M) protein, which is the most abundant protein in virions and plays key roles in virus assembly and budding (reviewed in reference 35). The virion envelope also contains viral glycoproteins (HN and F, mediating attachment and membrane fusion, respectively).
Here, we present evidence that a late budding domain exists within the M protein of the prototype paramyxovirus, parainfluenza virus 5 (SV5). This late domain, which has the core amino acid sequence FPIV, functioned to allow efficient VLP budding of HIV-1 Gag protein lacking its natural PTAP late domain. We show that this new late-domain sequence is important for efficient budding of SV5 particles and is important for replication of a recombinant virus. We also characterize adapted variants (second-site revertants) of this virus that appear to restore late budding function as a result of proline residues introduced into other regions of the M protein.
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FIG. 2. Identification of a segment of the SV5 M protein that can function as a late budding domain. (A) Candidate segments of the SV5 M protein were fused to a defective HIV-1 Gag protein that lacks its natural late-domain sequence PTAP, and Gag proteins expressed in VLPs were purified by sedimentation centrifugation and analyzed as described in Materials and Methods. Budding efficiency was calculated as the amount of Gag protein detected in the culture medium/(amount in culture medium + amount in cell lysate) and normalized relative to the value obtained with control Gag protein appended with a segment containing the Ebola virus late-domain sequence. (B) Amino acid sequences of candidate segments that were screened. Eb wt and Eb mut are segments derived from Ebola virus VP40 that contain intact or disrupted versions of the PTAPPEY late domain. HIV-1 wt is a segment derived from HIV-1 Gag protein p6 that contains the late-domain sequence PTAP. (C) Amino acid sequence of SV5 segment B in comparison to corresponding regions of other paramyxovirus M proteins. Full-length paramyxovirus M proteins were aligned using the CLUSTAL W program, version 1.82, with default settings.
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FIG. 3. Mutagenesis to define a functioning late-domain sequence from SV5 M protein. (A) Scanning mutagenesis of segment B was performed, and the segments were tested for the ability to restore budding to late-domain-defective HIV-1 Gag protein. Budding efficiency was calculated as the amount of Gag protein detected in the culture medium/(amount in culture medium + amount in cell lysate) and normalized relative to the value obtained with control Gag protein appended with wt segment B peptide. (B) VLP budding efficiencies for Gag proteins appended with peptide segments having various modifications in the region 20-FPIV-23.
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FIG. 8. Alterations to SV5 M protein found on adaptation of rSV5 M.P21A result in improved late-domain function in HIV-1 Gag protein. Segments of SV5 M protein containing the alterations observed in adapted viruses were fused to late-domain-defective HIV-1 Gag protein. (A) Amino acid sequences of adapted versions as well as the corresponding wt (unadapted) versions of peptide segments that were fused to Gag protein. (B) 293T cells were transfected to express the modified Gag proteins, and VLP budding was measured. Budding efficiency was calculated as the fraction of total Gag protein detected in VLPs, normalized to the value obtained with Gag protein appended with the FPIV-containing segment B peptide.
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At 16 h postinfection (p.i.) or posttransfection (p.t.), the culture medium was replaced with DMEM containing 1/10 the normal amount of methionine and cysteine and 50 µCi of [35S]Promix (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Piscataway, N.J.)/ml. At 40 h p.i or p.t., cells and culture media were collected. For experiments with proteasome inhibitor treatments, cells were pretreated for 30 min with MG-132 at 24 h p.i. or p.t. and then incubated with MG-132 together with Promix for 16 h. For experiments in which VPS4A protein was expressed in virus-infected cells, virus was added to cells at the same time as addition of VPS4A plasmid DNA.
Media fractions containing virions or VLPs were centrifuged at 5,000 x g for 5 min to remove cell debris and then layered onto 20% sucrose cushions and centrifuged for 2 h at 186,000 x g. For Gag budding experiments, the VLP pellets were analyzed by immunoprecipitation. For experiments measuring budding of SV5 or SV5 VLPs, particles were further purified by flotation on sucrose gradients as described previously (36).
Immunoprecipitation analysis of proteins was performed as described previously (36). Antisera used were as follows: for SV5 M, HN, and NP proteins, monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) M-h, HN1b, and NP-a (33); for HIV-1 Gag protein, rabbit anti-p24 polyclonal antiserum (Advanced Biotechnologies, Inc., Columbia, Md.); for GFP-VPS4A, Living Colors A.v. polyclonal antibody (Clontech, Palo Alto, Calif.). Polypeptides were analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) on 10% gels as described elsewhere (28). Quantification was performed using a Fuji BioImager 1000 (Fuji Medical System, Stamford, Conn.). Pulse-chase analysis was performed as described previously (34). Budding efficiency was calculated as the M protein-specific counts in culture media/(counts in culture media + counts in cell lysate) and normalized relative to values obtained in control experiments.
Generation of recombinant viruses from cloned DNA, RNA isolation, and RT-PCR. Recovery of infectious virus from DNA using BSR T7/5 cells was performed as described elsewhere (10) with modifications to avoid use of helper vaccinia viruses (47). The parental virus designated rSV5 and used here as a wild-type (wt) control is recombinant virus generated from plasmid rSV5 M.NS. This virus replicates with the same efficiency as wt SV5. Reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) and nucleotide sequencing of the rSV5 M gene were performed as described previously (10).
Measurements of virus replication kinetics. LLC-MK2 cells in 0.8-cm-diameter wells were infected with viruses at the indicated multiplicity of infection (MOI). After incubation for 1 h at 37°C, the inocula were removed, the cells were washed three times with phosphate-buffered saline, and cultures grown in 0.5 ml of DMEM were supplemented with 2% fetal bovine serum for various periods (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 days) at 37 or 33°C, as indicated. Culture media were harvested from the cells, and virus titers were measured by plaque assay on BHK-21F cells as described elsewhere (28).
Immunoblotting and electron microscopy (EM). 293T cells in 6-cm-diameter dishes were infected with virus at an MOI of 1.0 PFU/cell. At 48 h p.i., cells and culture media were collected. Virions were purified from media fractions as for VLPs (see above). Virion polypeptides were fractionated by SDS-PAGE on 10% gels, and M protein was detected by immunoblotting with an M protein-specific polyclonal antibody and an alkaline phosphatase-conjugated goat anti-rabbit secondary antibody. Detection and quantification were performed with a STORM 860 imaging system (Molecular Dynamics, Sunnyvale, Calif.).
Cells were fixed, dehydrated, and embedded in epoxy resin as described previously (36). Sections were examined in a JEOL JEM-100CX II electron microscope. Cell profiles were randomly selected, and 70 to 80 images were acquired of each sample. The length of plasma membrane contained in each image was measured using the public domain ImageJ program (developed at the U.S. National Institutes of Health and available on the internet at http://rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/), and the number of viruses was counted. Virions were identified on the basis of shape, surface spikes, and the apparent presence of nucleocapsid.
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FIG. 1. Proteasome inhibitor treatment and dominant-negative VPS4 protein expression block SV5 budding. 293T cells were infected with SV5 (A and C) or cotransfected with pCAGGS plasmids encoding SV5 HN, NP, and M proteins for production of VLPs (B and D). Proteasome inhibitor MG-132 was added at 24 h p.i. or p.t. (A and B). Transfection with VPS4 plasmids was performed at the same time as addition of virus (C) or transfection with plasmids encoding SV5 proteins (D). Cell and culture media fractions were harvested at 40 h p.i. or p.t. Virions and VLPs were purified by sedimentation and flotation centrifugation. Viral proteins were analyzed as described in Materials and Methods. Budding efficiency was calculated as the amount of M protein detected in the culture medium/(amount in culture medium + amount in cell lysate) and normalized relative to values obtained in control experiments.
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Identification of a segment of SV5 M protein that can function as a late budding domain in the context of HIV-1 Gag protein. Paramyxovirus M proteins appear not to contain the same late-domain sequences that have been defined in retroviral Gag proteins. We hypothesize that paramyxoviruses use an unidentified late domain(s) to recruit cellular machinery to virus assembly sites for budding, and that these late domains are likely to be present in the viral M proteins. The functional interchangeability among different types of late domains (1, 2, 18, 27, 49, 50) suggested an experimental approach that could be used to identify new types of late domains. Candidate sequences to be tested for late-domain function were appended to the C-terminal end of a defective HIV-1 Gag protein in which the PTAP late domain had been changed to LIRL, and they were tested for the ability to restore Gag budding function. The validity of this approach is demonstrated in Fig. 2A. Addition of known late-domain sequences derived either from Ebola virus matrix protein VP40 or from HIV-1 Gag protein resulted in restoration of budding function and release of Gag VLPs into the culture medium of transfected cells. Conversely, addition of a mutated version of the Ebola virus late domain (PTAPPEY changed to PTAAAEY) failed to restore budding function and did not elicit efficient release of Gag VLPs. Thus, the HIV-1 Gag VLP assay system could distinguish between a sequence that contains a functioning late domain and one that does not.
Candidate SV5 M protein late-domain sequences were appended to the defective Gag protein. These sequences (Fig. 2B) were chosen on the basis of multiple sequence alignments of paramyxovirus M proteins, with preference given to regions containing conserved proline residues, as proline residues have been found to be important for the functions of previously identified late domains (12, 15, 22, 49). A segment was identified, segment B, that restored budding function to the defective Gag protein to a level similar to that of the positive controls (Fig. 2A). Other SV5 M protein-derived candidate sequences lacked this ability (Fig. 2A and data not shown), although partial restoration of Gag budding was observed in some cases (e.g., segment D). The amino acid sequence of segment B of SV5 M protein (residues 15 to 27) was compared to the corresponding regions of other paramyxovirus M proteins (Fig. 2C). Mumps virus and Newcastle disease virus, which are closely related to SV5, contain similar sequences at analogous positions of their M proteins, in particular F20 and P21 (Fig. 2C). The more distantly related Nipah virus, measles virus, and Sendai virus M proteins also contain proline residues in this region; however, these proline residues are not preceeded by aromatic residues such as phenylalanine.
Mutagenesis to define a sequence from the SV5 M protein that acts as a late domain for budding of HIV-1 Gag. To determine which amino acid residues within segment B are important for late-domain function in the context of HIV-1 Gag, scanning mutagenesis was performed (Fig. 3A). Three amino acid residues were identified which when altered resulted in reduced late budding function in Gag protein. The most severe defect was observed on deletion of P21, which led to almost no detectable budding of Gag VLPs. Significant, but less severe, defects were observed on alteration of residues F20 and V23. These data suggest that within segment B, the residues most important for budding function are located in the tetrapeptide 20-FPIV-23. This short sequence was further characterized by mutagenesis, as shown in Fig. 3B. For efficient Gag budding, residue F20 could be replaced with tyrosine or tryptophan but not alanine or leucine, suggesting the importance of an aromatic residue at this position. Residue P21 was critical for late-domain function, as changes to alanine, glycine, leucine, or serine residues caused very severe defects in Gag budding. Mutation of residue I22 to alanine, leucine, serine, or lysine had no effect on Gag VLP budding, and mutation of residue V23 to these same amino acid residues led to moderate budding defects in all cases. These mutagenesis results, though not exhaustive, suggest a tetrapeptide sequence defined as Ø-P-x-V that can function as a late budding domain in the context of HIV-1 Gag protein.
Alteration to 20-FPIV-23 within the SV5 M protein causes poor budding of SV5 VLPs. Mutations that disrupt function of the 20-FPIV-23 late-domain sequence in Gag protein were then introduced into the intact SV5 M protein, and the formation of SV5 VLPs was studied. Mutant M proteins were coexpressed with SV5 HN and NP proteins to generate SV5 VLPs. In each case, mutation of M protein resulted in a significant reduction in VLP release (Fig. 4A and B). Mutation of residues F20 and P21 led to defects in VLP release that were greater than 20-fold, whereas mutation of residue V23 led to a defect that was less severe. Thus, although in some cases late domains can exhibit context dependence in their function (20, 41), the FPIV sequence was found to be important both in the context of HIV-1 Gag protein and in its native context within the SV5 M protein. To rule out the possibility that the poor budding of SV5 VLPs was due to the mutations causing malfolding of the M protein, the stability of the M protein was assessed in a pulse-chase analysis. The mutant M proteins were found to be very stable over a 5-h period, similar to the stability of the wt M protein (Fig. 4C). Mutant M proteins and wt M protein also showed similar reactivities with a panel of conformation-specific MAbs in immunoprecipitation experiments (data not shown). Based on these data, it seems unlikely that the poor VLP budding directed by the mutant M proteins is due to overall M protein malfolding, but more likely is due to a specific function of the 20-FPIV-23 sequence in virus budding.
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FIG. 4. Alterations to 20-FPIV-23 in intact M protein cause poor budding of SV5 VLPs. (A) Mutant M proteins were coexpressed with SV5 HN and NP proteins in transfected 293T cells, and the efficiency of VLP release was measured. (B) Quantification of results from three experiments performed as for panel A, with standard deviations indicated. Budding efficiency was calculated as for Fig. 1. (C) Stability of mutant SV5 M proteins. 293T cells were transfected to express the indicated SV5 M proteins. A pulse-label and chase protocol was performed, and proteins were immunoprecipitated and analyzed by SDS-PAGE.
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FIG. 5. Amino acid sequence analysis and replication kinetics of second-site adapted viruses. (A) Comparison of amino acid sequence of recombinant SV5 containing P21A and its adapted viruses (ada1 and ada2) that contain new second-site proline residues. (B to D) Replication kinetics of nonadapted and adapted recombinant viruses with alterations to M protein in the region 20-FPIV-23. LLC-MK2cells were infected with viruses at the indicated MOI, incubated at 37 or 33°C, and culture media were harvested at various times p.i. Virus titers were determined by plaque assay. Values plotted represent averages of results from two experiments.
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Adapted viruses having the M.P21A mutation bud poorly. As rSV5 M.P21A-ada1 and rSV5 M.P21A-ada2 are replication defective in comparison to the wt virus (Fig. 5), the efficiency of virus assembly and budding was measured. Parallel biochemical and EM experiments (Fig. 6 and 7) with the unadapted M.P21A mutant virus were not possible due to the very low titer to which this virus replicates. Budding experiments were performed at 33°C (Fig. 6B), as infection with one of the adapted mutant viruses (rSV5 M.P21A-ada1) led to reduced accumulation of M protein in cell lysates at 37°C (Fig. 6A). Quantification of virus budding at 33°C (Fig. 6B and C) showed that budding was reduced to about 25% of wt efficiency in the case of rSV5 M.P21A-ada1. rSV5 M.P21A-ada2 had a less severe defect in which budding efficiency ranged from 50 to 65% of wt both at 33 and 37°C. These data indicate that, despite second-site revertant mutations, both of these viruses still exhibit detectable defects in assembly and/or budding. Quantitation of virus replication kinetics at 33°C (Fig. 5C and D) led to results that were not significantly different from those obtained at 37°C, especially at time points later than 1 day p.i. Thus, underaccumulation of M protein in cells infected with rSV5 M.P21A-ada1 at 37°C may have been transient and did not substantially affect the replication of the virus. rSV5 M.V23A exhibited no defects in assembly and budding (Fig. 6B and C), consistent with virus replication results, possibly indicating that the VLP assay is more sensitive for changes in budding than the virus release assay.
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FIG. 6. Adapted viruses containing the M.P21A mutation bud poorly. 293T cells were infected with the indicated viruses at an MOI of 0.4 PFU/cell, and budding efficiency was measured. (A) rSV5 M.P21A-ada1 infection at 37°C led to reduced accumulation of M protein in the cell. (B) Virus infection at 33°C led to normal accumulation of modified M proteins in all cases, and virus budding efficiency was measured as the fraction of total SV5 M protein detected in virions, normalized to the value obtained with rSV5. (C) Quantification of results from three experiments performed as for panel B, with standard deviations indicated.
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FIG. 7. Evidence for a late defect in the budding of rSV5 M.P21A-ada1. 293T cells were infected with rSV5 or rSV5 M.P21A-ada1 at an MOI of 1.0 PFU/cell. At 48 h p.i., cells and culture media were collected. (A) Cells were sectioned and examined by EM. (B) Virions from media fractions were purified and quantified by immunoblotting using an M protein-specific polyclonal antibody. Values represent the amount of M protein-specific signal, normalized to the value obtained for the rSV5 wt control. (C) Estimation of release efficiency. SV5 budding structures were identified by EM using morphological criteria, and the number of budding structures per unit length of plasma membrane was determined. Release efficiency was estimated by calculating the ratio of virions released to the number of budding structures per unit of membrane length.
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Second-site mutations to SV5 M protein found on adaptation of rSV5 M.P21A result in improved late-domain function in HIV-1 Gag protein. To test if SV5 M gene sequences created by second-site mutations on adaptation of virus acted as new M protein late domains, we appended segments of SV5 M protein containing these sequence alterations to late-domain-defective HIV-1 Gag protein and measured Gag VLP budding. Amino acid sequences of the adapted and wt M protein segments are shown in Fig. 8A. In both cases, it was found that the adapted segments restored budding function to the late-domain-defective Gag protein more effectively than the unadapted segments (Fig. 8B). Furthermore, alteration L336P (found in adapted virus rSV5 M.P21A-ada2) caused better budding of HIV-1 Gag protein than alteration S369P (found in adapted virus rSV5 M.P21A-ada1). Thus, the budding efficiencies associated with these sequences correlate well between the SV5 budding assay and the Gag budding assay. It is noted that neither of the segments derived from adapted virus M proteins restored Gag budding as effectively as the original segment B. These results are consistent with the possibility that adaptation of rSV5 M.P21A led to creation of new proline-based motifs that partially restored late-domain function to allow virus budding.
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Late budding defects for retroviruses and rhabdoviruses have been characterized principally by examination of infected cells using EM. Failure of virus particles to pinch off and be released leads in some cases to overaccumulation of budding structures at the cell surface (3, 6, 15), as well as morphological defects such as visible tethering of particles to the cell surface by thin membrane stalks (3, 5, 6, 40, 46). We did not observe overaccumulation of virus particles at the cell surface or morphological defects in virions in the case of rSV5 M.P21A-ada1. One possible explanation is that the block for this virus is not at the same late step of pinching off, but rather affects an earlier step of virus assembly. Another possibility is that mutant buds are unstable and rapidly collapse back into the cytoplasm rather than accumulate. Alternatively, it is possible that a late step of budding has been affected, but because the virus has adapted and regained much of its budding function the defect is difficult to detect by EM. Here, we have attempted to quantify late budding efficiency by calculating both the amount of budding structures at the cell surface per unit length of membrane and also the quantity of released virus particles from the same infected cells. Using this method we calculated a 2.6-fold decrease in late budding efficiency for rSV5 M.P21A-ada1 in a situation where we were unable to discern a defect based on examination of infected cells by EM alone. This approach may be generally useful in situations where moderate defects in late budding efficiency are suspected.
Budding of SV5 and SV5-like particles was reduced by treatment of cells with the proteasome inhibitor MG-132. Inhibition of proteasome function prevents recycling of ubiquitin that is attached to proteins targeted for degradation, thereby depleting free ubiquitin levels in the cell (45). Similar effects of proteasome inhibitor treatment on virus budding have been observed for retroviruses such as HIV-1 (37) and RSV (30), which use PTAP and PPxY late domains for budding. In contrast, budding of EIAV, which uses a YPDL late domain, is unaffected by proteasome inhibitor treatment (25, 29, 38). Among the negative-strand RNA viruses, proteasome inhibitor treatment was found to affect the budding of vesicular stomatitis virus (7), which uses a PPxY late domain, but not the budding of influenza virus (14, 16), for which a YRKL sequence has been proposed to function as a late domain (13). Sensitivity of virus budding to proteasome inhibitors has been suggested as being specifically related to the type of late domain used (26, 38), as budding of EIAV becomes sensitive to proteasome inhibitor treatment when its YPDL late domain is replaced with PTAP or PPxY late domains (38). This would suggest that the late domain(s) used by the paramyxovirus SV5 falls into the same category as PTAP and PPxY late domains that function in a way that confers sensitivity of virus budding to proteasome inhibitor treatments.
Budding of SV5 and SV5-like particles was also reduced on expression of a dominant-negative VPS4A ATPase. Interestingly, substantial incorporation of VPS4A E228Q into VLPs was noted, despite the relatively small amount of VLPs produced under these conditions (Fig. 1D). VPS4 mutants disrupt the cellular MVB formation pathway, likely because ATP hydrolysis is required for release of class E proteins from late endosomal membranes. The resulting inhibition of retrovirus budding appears to occur regardless of the specific type of late domain that is used (24). We suspect that VPS4A E228Q was unable to release itself from the sites of SV5 VLP budding and as a result was packaged efficiently into the minor amount of released VLPs, whereas wt VPS4A associated only transiently with VLP budding sites and hence was incorporated less efficiently into VLPs.
The FPIV sequence that we describe here is located near the N terminus of the SV5 M protein. Interestingly, a similar sequence that matches the Ø-P-x-V pattern (YPIV) is present in HIV-1 Gag protein at the junction between the MA and CA domains, although the significance of this sequence in HIV-1 budding is not known. Many well-characterized late-domain sequences are located in unstructured regions of Gag proteins or in the terminal regions of matrix proteins that are likely to be unstructured (4, 31). Adaptation of FPIV-disrupted SV5 to generate new sequences having late-domain function occurred such that these new sequences were introduced near the C-terminal end of the M protein. Multiple sequence alignment of paramyxovirus M proteins revealed sequences identical or similar to the FPIV sequence near the N termini of M proteins of some paramyxoviruses, such as Newcastle Disease virus and mumps virus, which are closely related to SV5, but no similar sequences were observed at analogous positions of more distantly related paramyxoviruses (Fig. 2C). Further examination of the sequences of other paramyxovirus M proteins revealed in some cases the presence of additional motifs near the C-terminal ends of the proteins that match the Ø-P-x-V pattern. For example, Sendai virus and human parainfluenza virus type 1 (hPIV-1) M proteins each contain YPNV sequences spanning residues 334 to 337 of their 348 residue M proteins. It will be useful to determine if this sequence functions as a late domain in the context of HIV-1 Gag protein as predicted and if it is important for efficient budding of Sendai virus and hPIV-1.
Alteration of a lysine residue (K18) within segment B near the FPIV sequence reproducibly caused enhanced budding of HIV-1 Gag VLPs (Fig. 3). However, a corresponding increase in SV5 VLP budding was not observed when this residue was changed to alanine in the context of the SV5 M protein. To the contrary, VLP budding was reduced in the M.K18A mutant to levels that were 25 to 50% of wt levels (data not shown). In a recent study of RSV budding, efficient budding was found to depend on the presence of one or more lysine residues in Gag protein near the late domain (39). Lysine residues near viral late domains may serve as targets for ubiquitination to allow efficient budding. Further investigation will be required to define the role(s) of lysine residues near the FPIV sequence in SV5 budding.
The Ø-P-x-V amino acid sequence pattern that was defined here in mutagenesis experiments resembles the YPDL motif, or more generally the YP(x)nL motif, that has been defined in EIAV and, more recently, in HIV-1 Gag p6 (32, 40). However, we believe that the FPIV motif defined here is distinct from the previously characterized YPDL late domain for two reasons: (i) virus budding that is directed by the YPDL late domain was insensitive to proteasome inhibitor treatments, whereas SV5 and SV5-like particle budding were sensitive to treatments of cells with the proteasome inhibitor MG-132; and (ii) we failed to detect an interaction between the FPIV motif and AIP1. YP(x)nL acts as a protein-protein interaction domain to bind with host protein AIP1 (21, 40, 44, 46), an important component of the MVB formation pathway that links together the ESCRT-I and ESCRT-III protein complexes. We examined possible binding between SV5 M protein and AIP1 and also between the FPIV-containing segment B and AIP1 by glutathione-S-transferase pull-down experiments as well as directed yeast two-hybrid experiments. No evidence was found for an interaction under conditions that detect successfully an interaction between YPDL-containing sequences and AIP1 (data not shown). Consequently, we interpret these data as indicating that the FPIV sequence acts as a late domain that is separate from YPDL and likely recruits a host factor that is distinct from AIP1. However, the net result of recruiting host MVB formation machinery for budding may be the same in both cases, and this notion is supported by the finding that both EIAV budding (38, 40) and SV5 budding (this study) are blocked when cellular MVB formation machinery is disrupted by expression of dominant-negative versions of class E VPS proteins.
This work was supported in part by research grant AI-23173 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R.A.L.). R.A.L. is an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
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