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Journal of Virology, June 2006, p. 5886-5896, Vol. 80, No. 12
0022-538X/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.02656-05
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0712
Received 19 December 2005/ Accepted 29 March 2006
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HCMV has developed multiple mechanisms to hijack the host cell's regulatory systems in order to achieve cell cycle arrest and, at the same time, to maintain an active metabolic state conducive to productive infection (5, 7). The block to cellular DNA replication results from the lack of licensing of cellular DNA origins of replication (6, 48), but proteins involved in production of nucleotide intermediates used in the process of replication, such as dihydrofolate reductase and ornithine decarboxylase, are induced (22, 28). Cells arrest in a pseudo-G1 state with high levels of cyclin E mRNA, protein, and cyclin E-associated kinase activity (9, 16, 23). The mitotic cyclin-dependent kinase (cdk) complex, cdk1/cyclin B1, also accumulates in its active state as a result of cyclin B stabilization and stimulatory phosphorylation of cdk1 (23, 34, 37). In contrast, the G1-phase cyclin D1 and the S-phase cyclin A are inhibited by the infection, while the steady-state levels of their kinase partners, cdk4 and cdk2, respectively, are unchanged (9).
The up-regulation of cdk activity during the infection implies that the virus is dependent on these enzymes to create an environment favorable for viral transcription, replication, and/or assembly of virus particles. Several studies have addressed the effect of cdk inhibition on replication of herpesviruses. Early work by Bresnahan and colleagues demonstrated that treatment of HCMV-infected cells with the cdk inhibitor Roscovitine, a purine analog that reversibly inhibits the activity of cdk1, -2, -5, -7, and -9, resulted in decreases in viral DNA synthesis, late (L) antigen expression, and the production of infectious virus (8). From this study it became clear that the drug Roscovitine is a useful tool for investigating the impact of cdk activity on viral infection.
In cells infected with herpes simplex virus (HSV), Roscovitine treatment blocks accumulation of the mRNAs encoding specific viral immediate-early (IE) and early (E) genes and inhibits viral DNA synthesis (39-41). In addition, at least two virus-encoded proteins, ICP0 and ICP4 (and possibly UL42), are phosphorylated by Roscovitine-sensitive kinases (2, 3, 14, 15). In the case of ICP0, drug treatment alters the transactivating abilities of the protein (14) but not its ability to direct degradation of ND10-associated proteins (15). Whether the effects of Roscovitine on ICP0 function are directly related to differences in the phosphorylation state of the protein was not definitively determined; however, from these studies it appears that there is a requirement for cdk activity in HSV-infected cells. Roscovitine also inhibits viral replication in cells infected with Epstein-Barr virus (26) and varicella-zoster virus (44), suggesting that the manipulation of cdks for the purposes of making the host cell permissive to infection is a conserved feature of herpesviruses.
Our laboratory has also used Roscovitine as a tool to investigate the dependence of HCMV infection on cdk activity (38). Drug treatment had a dose-dependent effect on the production of extracellular virus, and the level of inhibition was dependent on whether Roscovitine was added before or after the onset of viral DNA replication. Addition of 15 µM Roscovitine at the time of infection altered the accumulation and processing of IE gene transcripts and inhibited the expression of selected E genes. Viral DNA replication was also inhibited. In addition, a significant decrease in virus titer was observed. Delaying the addition of the drug until 6 hours postinfection (h p.i.) abrogated the deleterious effects on IE and E gene expression and viral DNA synthesis, which begins at approximately 16 to 20 h p.i. The effects on titer, however, were still observed even if the addition of Roscovitine did not occur until 24 or 48 h p.i. These data indicated that cdks might be important for virus maturation. In the present work we have analyzed of the effects of cdk inhibition on the expression and localization of several HCMV-encoded proteins late in infection. Our data indicate that the expression, posttranslational modification, and localization of some HCMV proteins are altered in cells treated with Roscovitine.
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Cytotoxicity assays. The cytotoxic effect of 20 µM Roscovitine on HFF was determined using the LIVE/DEAD viability/cytotoxicity assay kit as previously described (38).
Determining the effects of Roscovitine on virus titer. G0-synchronized HFF were infected and treated as described above. Supernatants were collected at 96, 120, and 144 h p.i. Virus titer (PFU) was determined by plaque assay (43).
Analysis of viral DNA replication by real-time PCR. G0-synchronized cells were infected and treated with Roscovitine or DMSO beginning at 24 h p.i. as described above. Cells were harvested at 24, 48, 72, and 96 h p.i. and frozen. DNA was extracted from the pellets using the QIAGEN Mini-Blood kit per the manufacturer's instructions. Viral DNA replication was measured by quantitative real-time PCR using TaqMan One-Step PCR master mix reagent kit (Applied Biosystems), primers and TaqMan dual-labeled (5' 6-carboxyfluorescein-3' Black Hole quencher) probe (Integrated DNA Technologies) to HCMV UL77 as described previously (47) (Table 1). A standard curve was made using dilutions of the DNA from samples harvested at 24 h p.i. Differences (n-fold) were calculated relative to the level of viral DNA at 24 h p.i.
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TABLE 1. Primer and probe sequences for real-time PCR
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Western blotting. At the time points indicated, cells were trypsinized, counted, and frozen. Pellets were lysed in reducing sample buffer (RSB), sonicated, and boiled as previously described (36). Equivalent cell numbers were loaded into each lane of polyacrylamide gels, and proteins were resolved by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Proteins were transferred to nitrocellulose. The following antibodies were used to probe filters: anti-UL122/UL123 (IE1/IE2), anti-UL44, anti-UL83, and anti-UL99 (the Goodwin Research Institute); anti-IE2 monoclonal antibody (Chemicon); anti-IE2 rabbit antiserum 1218 (Jay Nelson, Oregon Health Sciences University); anti-UL32, anti-UL69, anti-UL86, anti-UL85, and anti-UL55 (William Britt, University of Alabama at Birmingham); anti-beta actin (Sigma); and anti-UL80/UL80.5 C1 rabbit serum (Wade Gibson, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine). Band intensity was quantified by measuring integrated pixel densities as determined by NIH Image or MetaMorph (Universal Imaging Corporation) software.
For phosphatase assays, proteins were extracted as previously reported (6). Protein extracted from equivalent numbers of cells was treated with 100 U of lambda phosphatase (New England Biolabs) for 30 min at 30°C. Reactions were stopped by adding 2x RSB to the samples, followed by boiling. Equivalent cell numbers were loaded onto polyacrylamide gels as described above.
Immunofluorescence. Confluence-synchronized cells were seeded on glass coverslips and infected and treated above. In some experiments, 20 µM Roscovitine or DMSO was added starting at 72 h p.i. At 72, 75, and 96 h p.i., coverslips were fixed in 2% paraformaldehyde in phosphate-buffered saline for 15 min at room temperature. Bromodeoxyuridine (BrDU) labeling and immunofluorescence staining were performed as previously described (19). Images were captured with a DeltaVision Restoration microscope system (Applied Precision Inc., Issaquah, WA) using a Photometrics Sony Coolsnap HQ charge-coupled device camera system (10 MHz, 12 bit, 1392 x 1040) attached to an inverted, wide-field fluorescence microscope (Nikon TE-200). Optical sections were acquired using the 100x (numerical aperture of 1.4) oil immersion objective in 0.2-µm steps in the z axis using the attached Applied Precision Inc. motorized stage. Images were saved, processed, and analyzed on Silicon Graphics workstations (O2, Octane) using the DeltaVision software package SoftWorx (version 2.50). For some experiments, coverslips were viewed with a Nikon E800 epifluorescence microscope, and images were captured using MetaMorph software and processed using Adobe Photoshop.
RNA isolation and real-time RT-PCR. Infections in the presence of 20 µM Roscovitine were performed as described above. At the designated time p.i., cells were harvested and cell pellets were frozen. Total RNA was isolated using the PARIS RNA isolation kit (Ambion) per the manufacturer's instructions. After the RNA was quantified, the samples were treated with Turbo DNase (Ambion) to remove residual DNA contamination. Samples were quantified and diluted to a concentration of 12.5 ng/µl. Real-time reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) was used to determine the relative quantities of transcripts for UL32 (pp150), IE2-86, and the cellular housekeeping gene glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) (Table 1) as previously described (38, 47). The amounts were normalized to the level of G6PD in each of the samples. As an additional control, equal volumes of RNase-treated template were used to test for the presence of contaminating DNA when using primers for unspliced transcripts.
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FIG. 1. Addition of Roscovitine beginning at 24 h p.i. causes a reduction in HCMV titer and a modest inhibition of viral DNA replication. Human fibroblasts were infected at an MOI of 5 with HCMV Towne. At 24 h p.i., infected cells were treated with 20 µM Roscovitine or DMSO as vehicle control. Growth medium was changed every 24 h as the drug was replenished. (A) Tissue culture supernatants were collected every 24 h beginning at 96 h p.i. through 144 h p.i. Viral titer was determined by standard plaque assay. The results from four independent experiments (Expt. I to Expt. IV) are shown. The bars represent the average log titers for each time point. (B) At the time points indicated, infected cells were collected and pellets were frozen. Viral DNA was extracted as described in Materials and Methods and used as a template for real-time PCR to quantify the level of viral DNA replication. The bars represent the average differences (n-fold) from two independent experiments. In each data set, the level of viral DNA at 24 h p.i. was set at 1 and the increase was calculated relative to the value at 24 h p.i. The error bars indicate ranges of the values from the two experiments.
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The decrease in titer observed upon treatment with cdk inhibitor correlates with a reduction in the production of extracellular virions. One possible explanation for the reduced titer observed upon treatment of virus-infected cells with Roscovitine was that cdk inhibition somehow altered viral infectivity and thus the ratio of particles to PFU (particle-to-PFU ratio). If this were the case, the number of extracellular particles that was required for the formation of a plaque might significantly differ in the presence or absence of drug. To test this possibility, quantitative real-time PCR was used to measure the relative amounts of viral DNA that were released into the supernatant over time when cells were treated with Roscovitine starting at 24 h p.i. The data show the severalfold increase in titer and viral DNA released from control cells relative to that released from Roscovitine-treated cells (Fig. 2). For simplicity, only the average differences (n-fold) in titer and extracellular viral DNA between control and treated samples containing peak titers from three separate experiments are shown. In these experiments there was 15- to 57-fold fewer PFU in supernatants from Roscovitine-treated cells, with an average difference of 41-fold. Our results indicated that this reduction in titer was correlated with a 10- to 22-fold decrease in viral DNA in these samples, with an average difference of 17-fold (Fig. 2). Comparison of the differences in titer and DNA suggested that there was not a significant change in infectivity caused by treatment of infected cells with the cdk inhibitor. The results instead indicated that the maturation and/or release of virus particles was affected.
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FIG. 2. Roscovitine treatment of HCMV-infected cells reduces the production of extracellular virus particles and has little effect on infectivity. Tissue culture supernatants from infected cells treated with 20 µM Roscovitine or DMSO were used to determine the titer and amount of viral DNA released into the media over time. DNA was isolated from extracellular virus particles as described in Materials and Methods and used as template for real-time PCR to determine the quantity of extracellular virions released from DMSO- or Roscovitine-treated cells. For simplicity, only values for days in which the peak titer was achieved for three independent experiments were used to determine the average (AVG) difference (n-fold) in titer and extracellular DNA between controls and drug-treated samples. Error bars represent the standard deviations between experiments.
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FIG. 3. The steady-state levels of specific proteins are affected by treatment of infected cells with 20 µM Roscovitine. Human fibroblasts were infected with HCMV Towne at an MOI of 5 and treated with 20 µM Roscovitine (+) or DMSO as a control () as described in Materials and Methods. At the time points indicated, infected cells were harvested. Samples were processed for Western blotting using equivalent cell numbers in each lane. Filters were reacted with the antibodies recognizing proteins of the three kinetic classes. Panels A, B, and C show the results from representative experiments. In panel C, both a long exposure (top) and a short exposure (bottom) of the Western blot for ppUL69 are shown. The arrow denotes the slower-migrating form(s) of ppUL69, and the open triangle denotes the faster-migrating form of ppUL69. M, mock-infected cells.
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The only protein observed to increase in drug-treated cells was ppUL69, which was higher at all of the time points (Fig. 3C). The second panel is a lighter exposure of the same Western blot to demonstrate that the increased signal arose from the accumulation of one or two slower-migrating species of the protein. Quantification of the bands on the blot showed that there was an approximately fourfold increase in ppUL69 in cells treated with Roscovitine.
Taken together with the data presented in Fig. 1 and 2, the delayed or altered expression of a number of virion-associated proteins and the reduced accumulation of pp150 and the full-length and shorter forms of IE2 in cells treated with Roscovitine could affect virion maturation.
The levels of IE2-86 and pp150 mRNAs do not correlate with the steady-state levels of their proteins in cells treated with the cdk inhibitor. To further characterize the decrease in IE2-86 and pp150, we analyzed RNA levels in Roscovitine-treated samples. The results from two independent experiments are presented (Fig. 4). The RNA quantities are calculated relative to the level of RNA at the 24-h time point, and the bars in the graph represent the average quantities of the two experiments. The corresponding Western blot for each experiment is denoted by the appropriate symbol adjacent to the panel.
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FIG. 4. Cdk inhibition by Roscovitine affects the expression of viral proteins but not their mRNAs. At the time points indicated, infected cells were harvested and processed for RNA analysis and Western blotting. The levels of viral transcripts were determined by quantitative real-time RT-PCR as described in Materials and Methods using probes specific for IE2-86 (A) and pp150 (B). For each experiment, values were normalized to the level of the internal control (G6PD). Bars represent the averaged value from two independent experiments, while the diamond and circle symbols correspond to the values from each individual time course (experiments [Expt.] 1 and 2). Protein levels were determined by Western blotting using antibodies to IE2 (A) and pp150 (B). (C) Actin loading control for each experiment. M, mock-infected cells. The diamond and circle symbols denote the corresponding Western blot for the individual RNA experiments shown in the graphs.
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As was observed for IE2-86, the differences in the levels of pp150 mRNA between Roscovitine-treated and control samples was twofold or less at all time points (Fig. 4B); yet at 48 h p.i., there was at least sevenfold more pp150 protein in the control samples. At 72 h p.i., there was some variability between the experiments. In experiment 1, there was approximately twofold-less protein in Roscovitine-treated samples than in the controls, which correlated with the difference in mRNA. In experiment 2, there was three- to fourfold-less pp150 in drug-treated cells, but the difference in the corresponding mRNA was less than twofold.
These results suggested that the expression of the pp150 and IE2-86 proteins was inhibited at a step after transcription, such as export or translation of the mRNAs or protein stability. To determine whether IE2-86 and pp150 were degraded by the proteasome in Roscovitine-treated cells, we added Roscovitine to the cultures at 24 h p.i. and then added the proteasome inhibitor Lactacystin for 6 h prior to harvest of the cells at 48 h p.i. Figure 5A shows the results of RNA analyses from two experiments. Quantities of mRNA were calculated relative to the level at 48 h in the untreated control sample. The bars represent the average values of the two experiments. The Western blots corresponding to individual experiments are denoted by the appropriate symbol adjacent to the panel.
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FIG. 5. Inhibition of the proteasome partially restores IE2-86 protein levels. Human fibroblasts were infected with HCMV Towne at an MOI of 5. At 24 h p.i., Roscovitine or DMSO was added to the cultures. At 42 h p.i., growth medium was replenished and Roscovitine (20 µM) (+), Lactacysin (10 µM) (+), or DMSO () was added. At 48 h p.i., cells were harvested and samples were processed for RNA analysis and Western blotting as described in Materials and Methods. (A) The levels of viral transcripts were determined by quantitative real-time RT-PCR as described in Materials and Methods using probes specific for IE2-86 and pp150. The percentage of mRNA was calculated relative to the quantity in untreated, infected cells at 48 h p.i. (48V), which was set to 100%. Bars represent the average values of two independent experiments, while the diamond and circle symbols correspond to the values from each experiment (experiments [Expt.] 1 and 2). (B) Protein levels were determined by Western blotting using antibodies to IE2-86, pp150, and actin. The diamond and circle symbols denote the corresponding Western blot for the RNA analyses shown in panel A.
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In the case of pp150, treatment of cells with cdk inhibitor resulted in approximately fourfold-less protein at the 48-h time point in experiment 1 (Fig. 5B). There were small increases in the amount of pp150 protein in both samples treated with the proteasome inhibitor in this experiment, suggesting that increased proteasome-mediated degradation did not contribute to the lower level of pp150 in cells treated with Roscovitine. In experiment 2, the levels of pp150 were at least sixfold lower in the Roscovitine-treated samples, and proteasome inhibition led to a small increase in protein levels in cells treated with both inhibitors (Fig. 5B), although the increased levels could have resulted from the higher levels of pp150 mRNA observed in this sample (Fig. 5A). Addition of an inhibitor of the cysteine protease calpain, previously shown to be active in HCMV-infected cells (12), did not increase the level of IE2-86 or pp150 protein (data not shown).
These experiments suggested that enhanced proteasome-mediated degradation of IE2-86 might play a role in the lower levels of protein observed in cells treated with Roscovitine. We could not definitively determine whether the proteasome was involved in regulation of pp150 levels in cells treated with cdk inhibitor.
Roscovitine alters the phosphorylation state and localization of ppUL69. ppUL69 is the homolog of HSV ICP27, a protein known to play a role in transport and translation of virion-encoded RNAs in cells infected with herpes simplex virus. Our observations regarding IE2-86 and pp150 RNA and protein levels prompted us to examine the accumulation of UL69 in cells treated with Roscovitine more carefully. Because the phosphorylation states of ppUL69 can be resolved by one-dimensional electrophoresis (49), we attempted to separate the phosphorylated forms of the protein. The accumulation of ppUL69 that we previously observed in whole-cell lysates was due to an increase in a slower-migrating form of ppUL69 when Roscovitine was added to the cultures beginning at 24 h p.i. (Fig. 6A). It should be noted that the Roscovitine-treated samples from 72 and 96 h p.i. were diluted to show that the increased signal corresponded to the slower-migrating species of ppUL69. We show that the mobility difference was due to phosphorylation, as treatment of NP-40 extracts with lambda phosphatase increased the mobility of the protein in both drug-treated and control samples (Fig. 6B). These data suggested that inhibition of cdk activity induced hyperphosphorylation of the protein. We could not determine whether ppUL69 was also induced at the transcriptional level due to overlapping transcripts from this region.
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FIG. 6. ppUL69 accumulates in a hyperphosphorylated form in the presence of Roscovitine. (A) Samples were processed for Western blotting as described in the legend to Fig. 3. To distinguish the phosphorylated forms of ppUL69, lysates were separated by SDS-PAGE in gels containing 4.2% cross-linking. Lanes were loaded by equivalent cell numbers except for drug-treated samples from 72 and 96 h p.i., which were diluted to prevent saturation of the chemiluminescent signal. +, treated with Roscovitine; , treated with DMSO as a control; M, mock-infected cells. (B) Phosphatase treatment of infected-cell proteins. Cell pellets were extracted as described in Materials and Methods, and lysates were treated with lambda phosphatase for 30 min (+). The reaction was stopped by adding an equivalent volume of 2x RSB followed by boiling of the samples. Control samples () were processed in parallel. Proteins were separated by SDS-PAGE as described above. The filter was reacted with antibody specific for ppUL69. 72V, untreated viral samples from 72 h p.i.; 72V+, roscovitine-treated viral samples from 72 h p.i.
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FIG. 7. cdk inhibition leads to accumulation of ppUL69 in intranuclear aggregates. Human fibroblasts were infected at an MOI of 5 with HCMV Towne and seeded onto glass coverslips. At 24 (A and B) or 72 (E and F) h p.i., 20 µM Roscovitine or DMSO was added to cultures. At 72 h or 75 h p.i., cells were fixed in 2% paraformaldehyde and processed for immunofluorescent staining with antibody against ppUL69 and Hoechst stain to visualize nuclei. (C) Mock-infected control. (D) ppUL69 distribution before addition of drug or vehicle control to cultures at 72 h p.i. Images were captured with a Nikon E800 epifluorescence microscope as described in Materials and Methods. Original magnification, x1,000.
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FIG. 8. ppUL69 is localized in aggregates around the viral replication center upon cdk inhibition. Virus-infected cells were treated with DMSO or 20 µM Roscovitine beginning at 24 h p.i. One hour prior to fixation, cells were labeled with 10 µM bromodeoxyuridine for 30 min. Cells were washed twice and refed. At 72 h p.i., cells were fixed in 2% paraformaldehyde and processed for immunofluorescent staining with antibodies against ppUL69 and BrDU (A through F). Images were captured by confocal microscopy as described in Materials and Methods. Original magnification, x1,000. (G and H) Control stains with nonspecific rat immunoglobulin G2A (IgG2A) and mouse IgG1 antibodies, respectively. These images were captured with a Nikon E800 epifluorescence microscope as described in Materials and Methods. Original magnification, x1,000.
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Quantification of viral DNA replication, the production of infectious, extracellular virus by plaque titer, and the accumulation of viral DNA in the supernatant demonstrated that the most significant defect caused by inhibition of cdk activity by Roscovitine treatment late in HCMV infection was a reduction in extracellular particles. Two possible explanations for this defect are that the assembly of particles is affected or that the release of particles from the cells is inhibited. Our data do not differentiate between these possibilities, but a defect in maturation of the virion is supported. The decrease in the steady-state levels of pp150 alone could explain the reduction in extracellular virus. This tegument protein was previously shown to be essential for infection (17), and it comprises
9% of the virion (46). At 48 h p.i, levels of pp150 were generally 4- to 10-fold lower in cells treated with Roscovitine. The differences in the levels of pp150 were smaller at the 72- and 96-h time points but were typically between two- to threefold higher in control cells in a number of experiments. A limiting quantity of pp150 could result in inefficient or altered tegumentation and/or envelopment of the nucleocapsid (32). In addition, the retention of pp65 in the nuclei of cells treated with Roscovitine (unpublished data) could enhance a defect in virion tegumentation, although pp65 has been reported to be dispensable for infection (17, 42). In addition, pp150, like pp65, ppUL69, ppUL97, and pp28, is a phosphoprotein, and its posttranslational modification could also be affected by cdk inhibition, resulting in inefficient cytoplasmic assembly. In fact, we detected changes in the phosphorylation states of ppUL69 and pp65 upon inhibition of cdk activity (data not shown). Thus, it is possible that pp150 phosphorylation could be affected like that of pp65 and ppUL69 and that these differences could alter the assembly of virion particles in cells treated with Roscovitine. These hypotheses refer only to the incorporation of pp150 and the other proteins into the tegument of the virus particle and do not address other as yet undetermined functions of these proteins during infection.
The altered localization of ppUL69 upon treatment of infected cells with the cdk inhibitor is also an intriguing observation. There is limited information on the function of ppUL69 during HCMV infection. As part of the tegument, ppUL69 is introduced into the cell upon infection and has been shown to contribute to the cell cycle arrest observed in infected cells (21, 31). In addition, ppUL69 plays a role in early gene expression (50). In contrast to pp150, however, ppUL69 is not essential, but recombinant viruses with deletion of ppUL69 do exhibit a severe growth defect (17, 21).
ppUL69 is the HCMV homolog of HSV ICP27, a protein that has been well studied with respect to its functions as an exporter of intronless viral RNAs through the TAP export pathway (10, 11) and as an activator of transcription through interactions with RNA polymerase II (51). Similar studies have been undertaken with regard to the role of ppUL69 in export. Lischka and colleagues (29) reported that like ICP27, ppUL69 shuttles between the nucleus and cytoplasm in a CRM-1-independent manner (11, 24). In addition, this group recently reported that ppUL69 binds RNA (30, 45), and thus, it may play a role similar to HSV ICP27 in promoting export and translation of specific viral RNAs (10, 11, 18, 27). We speculate that the change in the phosphorylation state of ppUL69 in cells treated with Roscovitine has a functional consequence with regard to viral gene expression. In support of this hypothesis, we observed that the steady-state levels of pp150 did not correlate with the accumulation of pp150 mRNA at 48 h p.i., suggesting a defect in mRNA export or translation. Many additional studies will be necessary to explore this hypothesis.
Finally, the results presented in this study support a role for IE2 late in infection. We previously reported that deletion of amino acids 136 to 290 of IE2-86 (
SX) resulted in the production of a virus that was viable but impaired at the late stages of infection (36). This mutant did not produce the p60 and p40 forms of IE2. The
SX mutant virus also showed lags in the expression of two tegument proteins, pp65 and pp28, and exhibited delayed kinetics in the generation of infectious virus compared to the parent and rescue viruses. Additionally, the relocalization of pp65 from the nucleus to the cytoplasm was delayed in cells infected with
SX, suggesting that there was a delay in the transition to the late phase of infection. Inhibition of cdk activity resulted in a dramatic reduction in the expression of IE2-86 and in retention of pp65 in the nuclei of Roscovitine-treated cells (unpublished data), suggesting that there is a relationship between IE2 function and export of pp65.
In summary, we report that the decreased titer observed when HCMV-infected fibroblasts were treated with Roscovitine during the early-late phases of infection resulted from decreased extracellular particle production, most likely due to down-regulation of IE2-86 and pp150 expression and mislocalization of ppUL69. Our results indicate that cdk activity is required for proper expression, modification, and localization of virion-encoded proteins important in maturation.
This work was funded by NIH grants CA073490 and CA034729 to D.H.S. and CA102094 to V.S.
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22/US1.5 and UL13 viral genes. J. Virol. 74:8-15.
a-Toli
, D. Wang, D. G. Camp II, K. Rodland, S. Wiley, W. Britt, T. Shenk, R. D. Smith, and J. A. Nelson. 2004. Identification of proteins in human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) particles: the HCMV proteome. J. Virol. 78:10960-10966.This article has been cited by other articles:
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