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Journal of Virology, July 2006, p. 6855-6864, Vol. 80, No. 14
0022-538X/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.00383-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Molecular Medicine Laboratory,1 Molecular Virology Laboratory, International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Trieste, Italy,2 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York3
Received 23 February 2006/ Accepted 4 May 2006
| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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Growing interest in AAV-2 molecular biology over the last few years has been fostered by the progressive recognition of its outstanding properties when used as a gene delivery vector in vivo. AAV-2 vectors transduce postmitotic cell tissues at high efficiency in vivo, including myocardium, skeletal muscle, brain, and retina. In these tissues, vector-driven transgene expression persists for very long periods of time, possibly for the whole lives of treated animals, without inducing inflammation or an immune response (9). Despite early success in the application of AAV-2 vector technology, several obstacles continue to hamper further development. In particular, the production of large quantities of AAV-2 vectors required for in vivo application in large animals and humans would greatly benefit from the possibility of increasing vector yield per infected cell. This possibility, however, remains limited by our incomplete understanding of the molecular mechanisms and the cellular factors required for vector replication.
The linear, single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) genome of AAV-2 is
4.7 kb long and is flanked at both ends by inverted terminal repeats that can fold into stable T-shaped hairpins, thus providing a free 3'-OH end that serves as an origin of DNA replication. The virus contains two open reading frames: Rep, which produces four partially overlapping polypeptides (Rep78, Rep68, Rep52, and Rep40), and Cap, which encodes the capsid proteins (VP1, VP2, and VP3).
The two largest isoforms of Rep, Rep78 and Rep68, are necessary for AAV-2 replication (16, 30), for site-specific integration (2, 38), and for transcriptional regulation of viral and cellular promoters (21). Rep binds a specific DNA sequence named the Rep binding site, which is present also in the inverted terminal repeats. Upon binding at the Rep binding site, Rep nicks nearby DNA at the specific terminal resolution site (14, 16, 31). While Rep40 and Rep52 do not bind and nick DNA or prove proficient for AAV-2 replication, they do still contain an ATP binding site and retain helicase activity (15, 34). From the structural point of view, the recently solved three-dimensional structures of the Rep68 endonuclease and helicase domains suggest strong functional similarities with large T antigen, the replicator protein of simian virus 40 (SV40) (12, 17).
AAV-2 replicates through a strand displacement mechanism that was first proposed by Tattersall and Ward (40). According to this model, newly replicated genomic ssDNA is produced from double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) intermediates by the concerted action of Rep and cellular factors. The minimal requirements for AAV-2 replication in vivo are either Rep78 or Rep68 and a minimal subset of adenovirus helper functions: E1, E2A, E4, and the VA1 RNA (11). As an alternative, it has been proposed that AAV-2 replication might use ssDNA as a template (43). So far, it has not been possible to reconstitute AAV-2 replication in vitro entirely with purified cellular proteins, although the ssDNA binding protein replication protein A, the proliferating nuclear antigen, and replication factor C have been shown to be required (29). In particular, replication protein A binds Rep78 and Rep68 and enhances their DNA binding and endonuclease activities (37).
It appears likely that, besides its intrinsic biochemical properties, most of the functions of Rep inside the cell are carried out in conjunction with cellular proteins. In fact, previous evidence has shown that Rep interacts with different factors, such as the transcriptional coactivator PC4 (44), the cell cycle regulator Rb (3), the nonhistone chromosomal protein HMGB1 (6), and protein kinase A (7). These interactions have been shown to regulate various aspects of the AAV-2 life cycle. Nevertheless, a comprehensive identification of Rep-containing protein complexes in vivo (i.e., in mammalian cell culture) has so far not been tackled.
Here we describe the results of a proteomic approach aimed at identifying cellular partners of AAV-2 Rep. This approach, which was based on the characterization of proteins physically binding to Flag-tagged Rep68 in vivo, brought about the initial identification of acidic nuclear protein 32B (ANP32B) as an interacting factor of Rep. ANP32B, together with ANP32A and ANP32E, belongs to the ANP32 family. Members of this family share an N-terminal globular domain that contains one or more leucine-rich repeats, involved in protein-protein interactions (18), and an extended acidic C-terminal domain. These proteins are highly expressed in tissues or cell types that undergo active proliferation (24, 42) or at particular stages of the development of the rat brain (28). ANP32A and ANP32B form a protein complex that also includes the two splicing isoforms (
and ß) of the template-activating factor I/Set oncoprotein (TAF-I/Set) complex (5, 33), which belongs to the Nap-1 family of histone chaperones.
In this paper, we demonstrate that AAV-2 Rep physically and functionally interacts with the TAF-I/Set complex through the specific binding of its ANP32B component. The ANP32A and ANP32B subunits are required for AAV-2 replication, and in a consistent manner, ectopic expression of TAF-I/Set components increases the levels of AAV-2 replication intermediates, as well as the titer of recombinant AAV-2 (rAAV-2) vector preparations. This is the first functional indication that the TAF-I/Set complex has a role in AAV-2 DNA replication in vivo.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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C expresses residues 1 to 147 of wild-type ANP32B from the same backbone. The pDG helper plasmid for AAV-2 vector production and pTR-UF5, expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) under the control of the cytomegalovirus promoter, were kind gifts of J. A. Kleinschmidt and N. Muzyczka, respectively. Human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium with Glutamax (Life Technologies, Inc.) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (Life Technologies, Inc.) and gentamicin (100 µg/ml) at 37°C in a humidified 93% air-7% CO2 incubator. DNA transfections were performed by the standard calcium phosphate coprecipitation method. RNA interference (RNAi) with ANP32A and ANP32B was performed against the target sequences 5'-GAAGAAGAGCTTGGTGAAGAAGA-3', corresponding to nucleotides (nt) 673 to 685 of the ANP32 mRNA (NM_006305), and 5'-GAAGAGGAGTTTGATGAAGAAGA-3', corresponding to nt 559 to 671 of the ANP32B mRNA (NM_006401). Synthetic 21-nt double-stranded RNA oligonucleotides were purchased by Dharmacon (Chicago, IL). Antibodies. Anti-Rep polyclonal rabbit antiserum was a kind gift from J. Kleinschmidt. Mouse monoclonal anti-Flag M2 antibody, mouse monoclonal anti-tubulin, and Flag M2 agarose-conjugated beads were purchased from Sigma (St. Louis, Mo.). Rat monoclonal anti-HA high-affinity (3F10) antibody was purchased from Roche Diagnostics. Mouse monoclonal anti-Ku70 antibody, mouse monoclonal anti-Ku80 antibody, and mouse monoclonal antibody against the catalytic subunit of the DNA-PK complex (DNA-PKcs) were purchased from NeoMarkers (Fremont, Calif.). The anti-ANP32A (I1PP2A, C-18) and anti-TAF-I (I2PP2A, E-15) antibodies were purchased from Santa Cruz Biotechnology (Santa Cruz, Calif.). The anti-ANP32B (PHAPI2a) antibody was purchased from Abcam (Cambridge, United Kingdom).
Protein purification and identification.
Thirty-six hours after transfection,
6 x 108 HEK293 cells were washed once in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and lysed on ice in lysis buffer (20 mM HEPES [pH 7.9], 150 mM NaCl, 0.5% NP-40, 1 mM dithiothreitol, protease inhibitor cocktail). The cell extract was sonicated once and then centrifuged for 15 min at 14,000 rpm at 4°C. An aliquot of the cleared extract was kept as input, while the rest was incubated with 100 µl of packed and preequilibrated Flag M2 agarose beads for 4 h at 4°C. Beads were rinsed twice in lysis buffer and then washed in the same buffer three times. Immunocomplexes were eluted by adding 500 µg/ml Flag peptide (Sigma, St. Louis, Mo.) in lysis buffer. The eluate was concentrated by standard trichloroacetic acid precipitation and resuspended in 1x sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) protein loading buffer. Proteins were then subjected to 10% SDS-PAGE and then stained with zinc stain by following the indications provided by the producer (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA). Mass spectrometry-based protein identification was performed as previously described (45).
Coimmunoprecipitations and micrococcal nuclease (MNase) treatment. Thirty-six hours after transfection, HEK293 cells were washed once in PBS and lysed on ice in 1 ml/dish of lysis buffer. Cleared cell extracts were incubated with preequilibrated Flag M2 agarose beads on a rotating wheel for 4 h at 4°C. Beads were rinsed twice with 1 ml of lysis buffer and then washed in the same buffer three times. MNase (Sigma, St. Louis, Missouri) treatment was performed essentially as described in reference 22. Proteins were eluted in 1x Laemmli buffer, boiled, and subjected to 10% SDS-PAGE.
In vitro pull-down assays. The Sp6 in vitro coupled transcription-translation kit (Promega, Madison, Wisconsin) was used to radiolabel proteins with [35S]Met by following the protocol provided by the manufacturer. Production of recombinant HisRep68 and pull-down assays were previously described in reference 25.
AAV-2 replication assay.
Low-molecular-weight DNA was isolated essentially as described in reference 11. Samples were digested overnight at 37°C with DpnI to remove input bacterial plasmids, run on a DNA 0.7% agarose Tris-acetate-EDTA gel, and blotted. A 1-kb XhoI restriction fragment of pTR-UF5, radiolabeled with [
-32P]dCTP, was used as a probe in standard Southern blotting hybridizations.
For the gene-silencing experiments, synthetic siRNAs were transfected at a final concentration of 100 nM in HEK293 cells (3 x 105 cells were plated 24 h earlier in a 60-mm culture dish) by using the Gene Silencer reagent (San Diego, California) according to the manufacturer's instructions. Thirty-six hours after siRNA transfection, the medium was changed and the cells were transfected by the calcium phosphate method. Newly replicated viral genomes were collected 36 h after DNA transfection.
rAAV-2 vector production. Thirty-six hours after transfection, about 3 x 107 HEK293 cells were scraped and collected in lysis buffer (50 mM HEPES [pH 7.6], 150 mM NaCl) and subjected to three freeze-thaw cycles to release the virions. The lysate was centrifuged to remove cell debris, and the supernatant was precipitated by adding 0.33 volume of saturated (NH4)2SO4. After 10 min of incubation on ice, samples were centrifuged for 30 min at 14,000 rpm and then the pellet was discarded and the supernatant was further precipitated by addition of 0.66 volume of saturated (NH4)2SO4 and incubation for 10 min on ice. Finally, the centrifuged supernatant was dialyzed overnight against PBS at 4°C.
To titrate encapsidated AAV-2 genomes, samples were first digested with DNase I for 1 h at 37°C, boiled for 2 min at 95°C to inactivate the enzyme, and incubated for 1 h at 56°C with proteinase K, which was further inactivated for 5 min at 95°C.
DNase- and proteinase K-digested samples were quantified by competitive PCR with a pair of primers that amplify a 243-bp fragment of the cytomegalovirus promoter present in pTR-UF5, together with scalar dilutions of a 223-bp competitor (47).
rAAV-2-GFP vectors obtained as described above were used to transduce HEK293 cells. Seventy-two hours posttransduction, fluorescence microscopy images of transduced cells were taken with an LSM510 Meta confocal microscope (Zeiss).
| RESULTS |
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Electrospray tandem mass spectrometry analysis of peptides obtained by trypsin digestion (Table S1 in the supplemental material) led to the identification of p400 as DNA-PKcs (accession no. NP_008835), p90 as Ku80 (accession no. NP_066964), p72 as Ku70 (accession no. NP_001460), p68 as AAV-2 Rep68 (accession no. 040500), p60 as heat shock protein 60 (accession no. NP_002147), and p31 as ANP32B (accession no. NP_006392). The band migrating at about 70 kDa in the control lane was identified as protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (accession no. NP_006100). Heat shock protein 60, a member of the heat shock protein family, is very abundant in the cell and is known to be prone to unspecific protein binding. Thus, it was not considered for further analysis.
DNA-PKcs, Ku80, and Ku70 are the three components of the human DNA-PK complex involved in repairing DNA double-strand breaks by nonhomologous end joining (for a recent review, see reference 1). Previous evidence from our and other laboratories has suggested a possible role for the DNA-PK complex in the processing of AAV-2 genomes upon cell infection (8, 35, 36, 47). Since the Ku70-Ku80 heterodimer binds DNA ends and structural DNA elements with very high affinity, albeit with very low specificity, we were concerned about the possibility that the interaction between these proteins and Rep might be unspecific and that it might be mediated by DNA fragments possibly attached to Rep. To rule out this possibility, we performed standard coimmunoprecipitations between Flag-Rep68 and the components of the DNA-PK complex in the presence of MNase, in order to remove any intervening DNA that might bridge these interactions (22). Flag-Rep68, but not Flag-Rep40, strongly interacted with Ku70, Ku80, and DNA-PKcs. However, MNase treatment almost completely abolished these interactions (Fig. 2). This observation indicates that binding between Rep and the DNA-PK complex is not direct but requires DNA. The rest of this work therefore focused on the interaction between Rep68 and p31, which we identified as human ANP32B.
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Next, we set out to determine which region of Rep68 mediated the interaction with ANP32B. Upon productive AAV-2 infection, four different isoforms of Rep are produced through the use of alternative start sites and alternative splicing (Fig. 2B). Rep40 corresponds to residues 225 to 526 of Rep68 and is the shortest natural isoform produced by AAV-2 (16); while it retains helicase activity, it lacks the DNA binding domain, which is located in the N terminus of full-length Rep (Fig. 3B). As shown in Fig. 3C, binding of HA-ANP32B to Flag-Rep40 was not detected under the same experimental conditions in which the protein indeed interacted with Flag-Rep68. This result clearly indicates that the first 224 N-terminal residues of Rep are necessary for the interaction with ANP32B.
As a logical follow-up of these in vivo experiments and to demonstrate that this protein-protein interaction can also take place in vitro, 35S-labeled, transcribed-translated ANP32A and ANP32B were incubated with recombinant HisRep68 bound on beads. 35S-labeled proteins retained on the resin were quantified and measured as a percentage of the initial input (Fig. 4B). The Ni-nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) column alone did not display any detectable unspecific binding to ANP32A or to ANP32B. Instead, we found that HisRep68 was able to retain 36.5% of 35S-labeled ANP32B. In contrast, only 5% of the initial ANP32A was retained by HisRep68, a clear indication that Rep68 is able to discriminate between different ANP32 family members and, more in general, between proteins that possess long stretches of acidic residues.
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N lacks the first 66 residues of ANP32B, while ANP32B
C is devoid of the C-terminal region of ANP32B, which is rich in acidic residues. Both deletion mutant proteins still possess two centrally located leucine-rich repeats. By in vitro pull-down assays, we observed that the acidic region of ANP32B was necessary for the protein-protein interaction with Rep68, since ANP32B
C was not competent for binding (Fig. 4C). ANP32B
N could still interact with HisRep68 in vitro, albeit at a lower level than the wild-type protein. Together, the results of these in vitro experiments show that HisRep68 binds the C-terminal acidic domain of ANP32B.
ANP32A and ANP32B are required for AAV-2 replication. The Rep protein, which binds the AAV-2 origin and possesses multiple enzymatic functions, is essential for AAV-2 DNA replication. The observation that Rep68 physically interacts with ANP32B raises the question of whether this protein might have a role in regulating Rep activities. To test the requirement for endogenous ANP32 proteins in AAV-2 replication, we performed a series of AAV-2 DNA replication assays with HEK293 cells in which expression of ANP32A or ANP32B was down-regulated by RNAi. Two specific siRNA oligonucleotides were designed which could discriminate between these two highly homologous proteins. Both siRNAs were able to silence >85% of the expression of their respective targets from 48 h after transfection onward, as assessed by Western blot analysis (Fig. 5A). After 36 h from the beginning of siRNA treatment, cells were transfected with an AAV-2 vector (pTR-UF5) together with the pDG plasmid, which provides Rep, Cap, and a minimal subset of adenovirus helper genes in trans (11). Low-molecular-weight DNA was then extracted at 72 h and digested with DpnI to remove unreplicated input plasmid, and the presence of AAV-2 replication intermediates was assessed by Southern blotting. As expected, in control siRNA-transfected cells and in the absence of the replication functions provided by the pDG plasmid, no rAAV-2 replication products could be visualized by autoradiography (Fig. 5B). Instead, when pDG was cotransfected together with pUF5, three major bands corresponding to AAV-2 dsDNA replication intermediates were apparent (replicative forms 1, 2 and 3, designated RF1, RF2, and RF3, respectively, in Fig. 5B). In cells in which the expression of ANP32B had been silenced, AAV-2 DNA replication was almost completely impaired. To our surprise, however, the same outcome was also evident when the ANP32A form was knocked down. Radioactivity associated with each of the AAV-2 replication intermediate bands were quantified, and the results are plotted in Fig. 5C. Inhibition of AAV-2 DNA replication by the anti-ANP32A and -ANP32B siRNAs were clearly not attributable to changes in Rep protein levels (Fig. 5D).
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The TAF-I/Set complex copurifies with Flag-Rep68 in vivo.
The decrease in AAV-2 replication levels caused by the silencing of ANP32A was in a sense unexpected, considering that, in contrast to ANP32B, this protein does not directly associate with Rep either in the in vitro pull-down assays or when overexpressed in coimmunoprecipitations (Fig. 3A and 4B). Nevertheless, previous observations indicate that ANP32B associates with ANP32A in a protein complex that also includes the histone chaperone TAF-I/Set (5). These findings raise the possibility that Rep, by specifically binding ANP32B, might also recruit ANP32A and TAF-I/Set. To assess the presence of other components of the TAF-I/Set complex not found in the proteomic analysis, as well as to confirm the identification of endogenous ANP32B as a protein partner of Rep68, we probed Flag-Rep68 immunoprecipitates with specific antibodies against endogenous ANP32A, ANP32B, and TAF-I. Immunoprecipitations were performed in the presence of MNase in order to rule out any possible role of DNA in mediating the physical interaction between the proteins under examination. Indeed, as shown in Fig. 5A, endogenous ANP32B was found to associate with Flag-Rep68. In addition, the Rep immunoprecipitate also contained ANP32A and the two splicing isoforms of TAF-I, TAF-I
and TAF-Iß (Fig. 6A).
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The TAF-I/Set complex stimulates AAV-2 replication. The observations reported above, together with the RNAi results, prompted us to consider whether overexpression of ANP32B, as well as of the other TAF-I/Set complex subunits, might have a positive effect on AAV-2 replication. To test this possibility, we performed AAV-2 replication assays by cotransfecting pTR-UF5 and pDG with or without expression vectors for HA-ANP32A, HA-ANP32B, and HA-TAF-Iß (Fig. 6B). When any of these three proteins was cotransfected, a remarkable increase in the quantity of AAV-2 replication products was observed, which was particularly striking in the case of TAF-Iß (Fig. 6B and quantifications in Fig. 6C, lanes 3, 4, and 5). In these experiments, we verified that the three HA-tagged proteins were expressed at comparable levels (Fig. 6D) and that they did not influence the overall amounts of the various Rep isoforms (Fig. 6E). Moreover, the ectopic expression of HA-ANP32A, HA-ANP32B, or HA-TAF-Iß did not substantially affect the cell cycle profiles of transfected HEK293 cells (data not shown), thus ruling out the possibility that, under these experimental conditions, overexpression of these proteins had a relevant effect on the DNA replication of the host cell.
As a final control, we assessed the specificity of the increase in AAV-2 DNA replication after ANP32B protein overexpression. For this purpose, we performed an additional DNA replication assay in which we either transfected full-length HA-ANP32B or a C-terminally truncated form ANP32B
C which does not bind Rep68 (Fig. 4C). As shown in Fig. 7A and quantified in Fig. 7B, while the former protein significantly increased the levels of AAV-2 replication intermediate, overexpression of the mutated protein was completely ineffective. Figure 7C and D show that, in these experiments, both proteins were expressed at comparable levels and did not alter the expression of the different Rep isoforms.
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The TAF-I/Set complex increases rAAV-2 titers. Having observed an increase in the production of dsDNA rAAV-2 genomes by overexpressing TAF-I/Set subunits, we considered whether this would result in an increase in the viral titers of rAAV-2 preparations. Therefore, we set up a series of rAAV-2 vector production experiments. In brief, HEK293 cells were transfected with pTR-UF5 and pDG with or without plasmids expressing HA-tagged TAF-I/Set components. Virus particles were released from producing cells by repeated freeze-thaw cycles and then fractionated by ammonium sulfate precipitation. Total protein levels were quantified for each preparation and normalized accordingly. Samples were first digested with DNase I to remove nonencapsidated genomes, and then capsid proteins were removed by proteinase K digestion. Finally, viral titers were determined by competitive quantitative PCR (47). The titer of encapsidated viral genomes was determined by comparing the PCR coamplification of constant quantities of the sample with increasing scalar amounts of a synthetic DNA molecule of a different size, acting as a competitor, whose concentration is known. The results of a representative competitive PCR titration are shown in Fig. 8A. The PCR amplification products were resolved by gel electrophoresis, and the ratio of competitor (C) to AAV-2 DNA amplification (A) products was evaluated by densitometric scanning. For each amplification, the C/A ratios were plotted against the input amount of competitor DNA and the line fitting the experimental data was calculated. According to the equation describing this line, the number of nascent DNA molecules was evaluated at a C/A ratio of 1 (Fig. 8B). As evaluated by at least three independent experiments, AAV-2 titers were significantly increased when the different component of the TAF-I/Set complex were cotransfected with pTR-UF5 and pDG (Fig. 8C). In particular, cotransfection of the pDG helper plasmid together with HA-TAF-Iß resulted in a more-than-fivefold increase in vector production. The rAAV-2-GFP vector preparations retained full infectivity, since when equal volumes of vectors were used to transduce target HEK293 cells, the number of fluorescent cells and the intensity of fluorescence were proportional to the vector titer. Representative images of fluorescent HEK293 cells after transduction with the different vector preparations are shown in Fig. 8D.
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| DISCUSSION |
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In this work, we have identified several cellular proteins that associate with Rep (Fig. 1). Three of these proteins (DNA-PKcs, Ku80, and Ku70) constitute the DNA-PK complex that is involved in the repair of double-strand breaks by nonhomologous end joining. However, we also found that binding of Rep to this complex strictly depended on the presence of DNA since DNase treatment abolished the interaction. This observation does not rule out the possibility that the DNA-PK complex is indeed involved in Rep-mediated AAV-2 DNA processing, also considering that Ku binds rAAV-2 genomes in vivo in the absence of Rep (47). However, it is equally compatible with the possibility that the apparent interaction between Rep and DNA-PK might ensue as an artifact consequent to DNA bridging, as already described in other instances (see, among others, reference 22).
In our proteomic analysis, we could find ANP32B as a bona fide interactor of Rep68. We observed that ANP32B binds the amino terminus of Rep68, which is shared by the major Rep isoforms (Rep78 and Rep68) but not by the shorter ones (Rep52 and Rep40), which are not proficient in AAV-2 replication (30). In addition, we found that Flag-Rep68 preferentially binds ANP32B compared to ANP32A both in vitro and when ectopically expressed in vivo. The last observation underlines the high specificity of the interaction between the two proteins, also considering that ANP32A and ANP32B are highly homologous (>80% homology, >70% amino acid identity). In addition, both possess long stretches of acidic residues at their C termini which might be endowed with low-affinity binding to basic domains of other proteins. However, only the C terminus of ANP32B binds Rep.
Two complementary sets of experiments highlight the role of the Rep-ANP32B interaction in the context of AAV-2 DNA replication. First, when ectopically expressed in an AAV-2 replication assay, ANP32B significantly enhances the levels of AAV-2 replication, as concluded from the increase in all dsDNA viral replication intermediates. Second, in a consistent manner, AAV-2 DNA replication is remarkably impaired in cells in which the levels of endogenous ANP32B are down-regulated by RNAi.
While performing these functional experiments, we unexpectedly observed that the same functional effects were also obtained, respectively, by overexpressing ANP32A and by down modulating its expression with a specific siRNA. Thus, even though Rep only binds ANP32B in vitro, both this protein and ANP32A similarly affect AAV-2 DNA replication. These apparently puzzling results are explained by the fact that Rep, through its interaction with ANP32B, is able to recruit all of the endogenous subunits of the TAF-I/Set complex, which also includes ANP32A and the histone chaperone TAF-I. Accordingly, we were able to show that the ectopic expression of all known different subunits of the TAF-I/Set complex, and most notably of TAF-Iß, caused a marked increase in AAV-2 DNA replication. The specificity of this effect is further highlighted by the observation that the overexpression of ANP32B
C, which lacks the C-terminal domain and does not bind Rep, had no effect in these assays. Taken together, these results indicate that the TAF-I/Set complex acts at the level of AAV-2 DNA replication and that its function is required for this process to take place. Of interest, this notion is also indirectly strengthened by the observation that the TAF-I/Set components are phylogenetically conserved in Drosophila melanogaster Sf9 cells, which robustly support Rep78-dependent rAAV-2 DNA replication (41).
Our findings represent the first indication that the proteins belonging to the TAF-I/Set complex actively participate in AAV-2 replication. What might be the mechanism of action of these cellular factors? The TAF-I/Set complex binds nucleosomes and was originally shown to inhibit transcription by masking histones from being acetylated, hence the original name INHAT (inhibitor of acetyltransferase) (33). In contrast, however, other studies have suggested that the histone binding activity of the TAF-I chaperone is rather necessary for the activation of transcription from chromatinized templates in vitro (10). This last piece of evidence is further corroborated by the fact that TAF-I was originally discovered in an in vitro screening of cellular factors capable of promoting replication and transcription of the adenovirus genome when this was compacted with basic viral proteins into a structure called the "core" (26, 27). In this context, the likely activity carried out by TAF-I is to remodel this adenovirus core, thereby making the template DNA accessible to the transcription and replication apparatus. Consistent with this function, both ANP32A and the TAF-I/Set histone chaperone are present on adenovirus DNA during the first phases of viral infection (46). Taken together, these findings clearly suggest a role for the TAF-I complex in the replication of viral DNA genomes by the host cell machinery. Considering the known differences in molecular structure and basic molecular mechanisms between adenovirus and AAV-2, it might well be speculated that the TAF-I/Set complex regulates AAV-2 replication by changing the chromatin conformation of AAV-2 templates and rendering it more suitable for DNA replication. Our observation that all three AAV-2 DNA replication intermediates are equally affected by overexpressing or down-regulating the TAF-I/Set complex members is consistent with this hypothesis. In this context, it will also be interesting to understand whether the participation of TAF-I/Set in the replication of both AAV-2 and adenovirus might be somehow part of the helper function that the latter virus provides to AAV-2.
Finally, the increase in DNA replication caused by the overexpression of members of the TAF-I/Set complex, and in particular of TAF-Iß, also results in a remarkable increase in rAAV-2 titers when analyzed in a standard AAV-2 vector production protocol. We believe that this observation has important implications for the gene therapy field, especially since most of the protocols for AAV-2 vector production still rely on transient cotransfection of large amounts of HEK293 cells with a plasmid corresponding to the vector and one or more plasmids expressing the AAV-2 proteins and different adenovirus helper functions. Thus, the possibility of increasing the titers of the viral preparations by ectopic expression of TAF-Iß would result in a substantial improvement in the overall efficiency of the procedure.
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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This work was supported by grants from the Telethon Foundation Italy; from the FIRB program of the Ministero dell'Istruzione, Universita' e Ricerca, Italy; and from the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio of Trieste, Italy.
| FOOTNOTES |
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Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://jvi.asm.org/. ![]()
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