| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Journal of Virology, December 2007, p. 13816-13824, Vol. 81, No. 24
0022-538X/07/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.02822-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Chang Hoon Moon,2,
Han Geun Kim,1
Joo Yun Kim,1
Jung Min Lee,1
Jeong Woo Park,2* and
Dae Kyun Chung1,3*
Graduate School of Biotechnology and Institute of Life Science and Resources, Kyung Hee University, Yongin 449-701, Korea,1 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Ulsan, Ulsan 680-749, Korea,2 RNA Inc., #308 College of Industry, Kyung Hee University, Yongin 449-701, Korea3
Received 20 December 2006/ Accepted 12 September 2007
| ABSTRACT |
|---|
|
|
|---|
| INTRODUCTION |
|---|
|
|
|---|
It is now apparent that apoptosis in virus-infected cells can induce premature death of the host cell, which would impair virus production, and apoptosis is clearly a mechanism used by the virus-infected host cell itself as part of the antiviral response. IPNV-infected cells induce apoptotic responses via Bad expression (20). However, a number of viruses encode proteins that suppress apoptosis in order to promote successful viral replication and pathogenesis (31). Additionally, virus-modulated expression of antiapoptotic proteins within host cells can also be used to delay cell death and ensure successful viral propagation (12, 27).
Annexins (also commonly called lipcocortins) are a family of structurally related proteins whose common properties are the binding of both phospholipids and cellular membranes in a calcium-dependent manner. Annexins have been found in many species of eukaryotes, including Xenopus (22), Drosophila melanogaster (23), Dictyostelium (11), Caenorhabditis elegans (8), Neurospora (1), Giardia (15), zebrafish (13), and all of the plant types (9) so far examined. Structurally annexins can be characterized as having a core of either four or eight conserved domains, each containing about 70 amino acids. Although the annexins contain highly conserved sequence, they have been divided into at least 13 subfamilies (A1 to A13) in the vertebrate species. This diversity within the annexin family of proteins is due to unique N-terminal domains, which convey specific and diverse biological functions to each of the different family members (17).
Human annexin 1, a 37-kDa species, mediates the anti-inflammatory actions of glucocorticoids that inhibit phospholipase A2. It is also involved in diverse cellular roles, including membrane fusion, differentiation, exocytosis, calcium channels, and interaction with cytoskeletal proteins (16). In addition, human annexin 1 has been reported as a stress protein induced by heat, oxidative stress, and a sulfhydryl-reactive agent (34).
In this study, we have adopted a proteomic method to identify alterations in protein expression patterns in fish cells undergoing apoptosis as a result of IPNV infection. From this screening, we have identified a novel annexin family protein, salmon annexin 1, that is overexpressed in IPNV-infected CHSE-214 cells. In addition, we determined the full-length cDNA sequences of salmon annexin 1 and its function in IPNV growth by using RNA interference (RNAi).
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Protein extraction and 2-DE. The sample preparation of proteins in CHSE-214 cells and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) were described by Carroll et al. (3). Briefly, 2.5 mg of total proteins for preparative runs was mixed with a rehydration buffer to a total volume of 350 µl. The mixtures were pipetted into immobilized pH gradient (IPG) strip holder channels. Using the IPG dry strips at pH 4 to 7 (180 by 5 by 0.5 mm), isoelectric focusing (IEF) was run on an IPGphor isoelectric focusing system (Amersham Bioscience). The voltage was progressively increased from 500 to 5,000 V during the first 3 h, followed by 8,000 V for 80 to 100 kV·h. The temperature was maintained at 20°C. Then, IPG strips were run onto vertical sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) gels in a Bio-Rad Protean XL electrophoresis. A 2-DE pattern obtained after Coomassie blue staining was scanned using an ImageScanner (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech). Spot detection and matching were performed using ImageMaster 2-D Elite (Amersham Bioscience) to normalize the protein spots of each gel. A selected spot was analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) (In2Gen Co., Korea), and acquired mass fingerprint data were analyzed with the MASCOT program (Matrix Science).
Construction of cDNA library. The CHSE-214 cells were harvested at 24 h after IPNV infection. Total nucleic acids were extracted using the guanidium thiocyanate-acid phenol-chloroform method, and mRNA was purified using oligo(dT)30-latex suspension (QIAGEN). The cDNAs were synthesized using a cDNA cloning kit (Stratagene ZAP-cDNA synthesis kit). The cDNA was ligated into the EcoRI and XhoI sites of lambda ZAP vector and packaged into phage lambda. The resultant phage lambda was infected into the Escherichia coli XL1-Blue MRF' strain according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Salmon annexin 1 cDNA isolation, sequencing, and characterization. Degenerate oligonucleotides were designed based on the amino acid sequence of annexin, which was acquired from MALDI-TOF MS analysis, and the homologous regions of annexin max 3 of Oryzias latipes (killifish medaka) and annexin 1 of Homo sapiens. The forward degenerate oligonucleotide Anx F (5'-GGTGTGGATGARRMMACY-3') was designed based on amino acid sequence GVDENT, and the reverse degenerate oligonucleotide Anx R (5'-ACYAARGGAGAYTAYGAG-3') was designed based on amino acid sequence TKGDYE. Degenerate sequences are denoted by "Y" for T or C, "R" for A or G, and "M" for A or C. PCR was carried out using as a template cDNA from IPNV-infected CHSE-214 cells. The gene amplification reaction conditions were as follows: 1 cycle of 94°C for 5 min; 30 cycles of 94°C for 1 min, 50°C for 1 min, and 72°C for 1 min; and 1 cycle of 72°C for 5 min. A unique 843-bp product was isolated from the gene amplification reaction using a primer set, cloned into pEZ-T vector (RNA Inc., Suwon, Korea), and sequenced using the chain-terminating, dideoxy method. To obtain the 5' end of the annexin gene, the T3 primer within lambda ZAP vector and the annexin-specific 20-bp primer Anx R2 (5'-AAACGTCTTCTTGTACTCCT-3') were selected as forward and reverse primers, respectively. To obtain the 3' end of annexin, the annexin-specific 20-bp primer Anx F2 (5'-AGAGACAGCAGATCAAAGCT-3') and the T7 primer within the lambda ZAP vector were selected as forward and reverse primers, respectively. Reaction conditions were the same as described above. The PCR product was reamplified by a nested gene-specific primer of annexin: annexin forward primer Anx F3 (5'-AATATGACGCCCAACAGC-3') and annexin reverse primer Anx R3 (5'-TCGACTTCAGACCTGCTC-3'). Reaction conditions were the same as described above. We cloned PCR products into pEZ-T vector and sequenced them using the chain-terminating, dideoxy method. Based on the obtained full-length annexin sequence, protein database searches were performed with the National Center for Biotechnology BLAST Network services. The comparison and alignment of the annexin translation product were performed using the ClustalW multiple-alignment program.
Northern blot analyses.
Total RNA was extracted with the TRIzol reagent (Invitrogen) according to the manufacturer's instructions from mock- and IPNV-infected CHSE-214 cells at time points of 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 h after infection. RNA samples (20 µl) were transferred to Hybond-N+ nylon membranes (Amersham Bioscience). A 571-bp PCR product using the Anx F3-Anx R3 primer set was used as a probe. This probe was labeled with [
-32p]dATP (Amersham Bioscience) using the random prime labeling kit (Ambion).
Plasmid construction and transfection. CHSE-214 cells that overexpressed salmon annexin 1 were generated using the pCMV-Tag1 vector (Stratagene). Full-length human cDNA of salmon annexin 1 was cloned by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) from the RNA of CHSE-214 cells using the forward primer 5'-GGATCCATGTCCTTCATCGCAGCCTTC-3' and the reverse primer 5'-CTCGAGGTTGTCACTTCCACACAGGGC-3' and subcloned into the pCMV-Tag1 vector. A total of 1.5 x 107 cells were electroporated with 20 µg of pCMV-Anx1 at 500 V, 975 µF with a Gene Pulser electroporator II (Bio-Rad). After transfection, CHSE-214/Anx1 cells stably transfected with salmon annexin 1 were selected by adding 100 µg of G418 (Invitrogen)/ml 3 days after transfection and stably transfected cells were tested for an overexpression of salmon annexin 1 by RT-PCR using Anx F3 and Anx R3 primers. A control cell line, CHSE-214/pCMV, was generated by transfection with pCMV-Tag1 vector.
The sequence of salmon annexin 1 small interfering RNA (Anx1 siRNA [5'-AUUGAACACCGCGACAUCGdTdT-3']) was derived from positions 54 to 34 upstream of the start codon of annexin mRNA. A scrambled siRNA (Sc siRNA) (5'-UCAGCAUACGAUCGCAGACdTdT-3') with the same nucleotide composition as Anx1 siRNA, but which lacks significant sequence homology to the salmon annexin 1, was also designed as a negative control. Both siRNAs were purchased from Dharmacon Research (Lafayette, CO). A total of 1.5 x 106 cells were electroporated with 2 nmol of Anex1 siRNA or 2 nmol Sc siRNA at 500 V, 975 µF with a Gene Pulser electroporator II (Bio-Rad). After transfection, RNA was prepared from 24 h to 72 h and subjected to RT-PCR for salmon annexin 1 expression using Anx F3 and Anx R3 primers. ß-Actin primers ACTB-F (5'-GGACTTCGAGCAAGAGATGG-3') and ACTB-R (5'-AGCACTGTGTTGGCGTACAG-3') were used as controls for measuring cDNA synthesis efficiency by RT.
Cell viability and virus endpoint titration. At 36 h after siRNA transfection, cells were infected with IPNV, and at 36 h postinfection (p.i.), the viability of cells was measured by the 3-[4, 5-dimethylthiazolzyl]-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) method according to the manufacturer's protocol (Sigma). At 36 h p.i., culture supernatants were collected, the virus titer in the supernatant was determined by the endpoint dilution technique, and the number of 50% tissue culture infectious doses (TCID50)/ml was determined by the method of Reed and Muench (33).
Antisera and Western blotting. Rabbits were immunized with 100 µg of purified recombinant VP2 (29) with Freund's complete adjuvant. After two more immunizations with 100 µg of VP2 with Freund's incomplete adjuvant, the serum was collected after centrifugation and stored at –20°C. Cells were washed twice with cold phosphate-buffered saline, and 30 to 50 µg of protein was resolved by SDS-PAGE, transferred onto Hybond-P membranes (Amersham Biosciences, Inc.), and probed with appropriate dilutions of rabbit anti-VP2 antisera. Immunoreactivity was detected using the ECL enhanced chemiluminescence detection system (Amersham Biosciences). The films were exposed at multiple time points to ensure that the images were not saturated.
Semiquantitative RT-PCR for genomic RNA analysis. Semiquantitative RT-PCR was carried out to detect the genomic RNA. The following PCR primers were designed from nucleotide sequences in the GenBank/EMBL databases of IPNV-DRT (GenBank accession no. D26526): IPNV-F, 5'-GAGCCTGCAGGAGAATCAAG-3'; and IPNV-R, 5'-ATCGGTTTTCGCACGTAGTC-3'. cDNA was synthesized using IPNV-F primer and Superscript II reverse transcriptase (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA). Semiquantitative RT-PCR was carried out using Taq polymerase (QIAGEN, Hilden, Germany) and IPNV-F and IPNV-R primers. The gene amplification reaction conditions were as follows: 1 cycle of 94°C for 5 min; 30 cycles of 94°C for 1 min, 50°C for 1 min, and 72°C for 1 min; and 1 cycle of 72°C for 5 min.
TUNEL staining. Terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining was conducted using an in situ cell death detection kit, TMR Red, according to the protocol supplied by the manufacturer (Roche Molecular Biochemicals). Briefly, cells were plated in a 24-well plate at 2 x 105cells/ml in Eagle's minimum essential medium. On the following day, the cells were infected with IPNV and, at the indicated time, cells were harvested and fixed with 2% paraformaldehyde solution and permeabilized with 0.1% Triton X-100 in 0.1% sodium citrate. After being washed twice with phosphate-buffered saline (137 mM NaCl, 2.7 mM KCl, 4.3 mM Na2HPO4·7H2O, 1.4 mM KH2PO4, pH 7.2), cells were incubated in a TUNEL reaction mixture containing terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase and tetramethyl-rhodamine-dUTP. Cells were analyzed for fluorescence intensity using a fluorescence-activated cell sorting flow cytometer (Becton Dickinson, Inc.) and FluoView 500 confocal microscope (Olympus).
Measurement of intracellular calcium. The transfected cells were plated in Costar Black 96-well plates and treated with IPNV. Prior to the experiments, cells were loaded in the culture medium described above containing 2.5 mM probenecid, 4 µM Fluo-4 AM (Molecular Probes), and 0.01% pluronic acid at 18°C for 30 to 40 min. Plates were washed three times with Hank's basal saline solution ([Gibco]) containing 20 mM HEPES (Sigma), 1 mM Ca2+, 1 mM Mg2+, and 2.5 mM probenecid. Fluorescence was monitored in a Wallac Victor 2 plate reader (Perkin-Elmer Life Sciences) by excitation at 485 nm and reading the emission at 510 nm.
Statistical analyses. Experimental data are expressed as the mean ± standard error. Each experiment was performed independently at least three times. Statistical analyses using Student's t test were performed using Sigma Plot software (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL). The t test was used to compare the distribution of individual variables. A two-tailed P value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
| RESULTS |
|---|
|
|
|---|
|
Salmon annexin 1 cDNA isolation and cloning. Degenerate oligonucleotides were designed based on the amino acid sequences of the IPNV-induced annexin and of the homologous region of annexin max 3 of O. latipes and human annexin 1. PCR was then carried out using a cDNA library from IPNV-infected CHSE-214 cells as a template and generated a unique 843-bp product. To obtain the 5' end of this putative annexin gene, we performed PCR analysis using a T3 forward primer, which is contained within the lambda ZAP vector of the cDNA library, and a reverse primer of 20 bp annealing a site located within the partial cDNA of the IPNV-induced annexin (5'-AAACGTCTTCTTGTACTCCT-3'). To obtain the 3' end of the IPNV-induced annexin, a 20-bp forward primer was selected from the partial cDNA of the annexin (5'-AGAGACAGCAGATCAAAGCT-3') and a T7 reverse primer was chosen from the lambda ZAP vector.
We obtained a 1,509-bp full-length cDNA clone which contained an open reading frame (nucleotides 137 to 1156) encoding 339 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 37kDa (GenBank accession no. AY944135). In order to determine the relationship between the IPNV-induced annexin and previously reported annexins, we compared the amino acid sequences of the IPNV-induced annexin to those of 28 other annexins available in GenBank, including 12 human annexins and 12 mouse annexins (A1 to A11 and A13). In the phylogenetic tree, the annexins used in the multiple alignments were divided into 12 groups. Among the 12 groups, the IPNV-induced annexin is clustered within a group which includes human annexin A1 and mouse annexin A1 (Fig. 2). This suggests the annexin induced in salmon cells by IPNV infection belongs to the annexin 1 subfamily, and we named it "salmon annexin 1." Human annexin 1 has four homologous repeats (numbered I to IV) and six calcium binding sites. Three type II calcium binding sites [(K,R)-(G,R)-G-T] are located at repeats II, III, and IV, and the other three type III calcium binding sites are at repeats I and IV (35, 41). Similar to the human annexin A1, the salmon annexin 1 has six calcium binding sites in four repeats (Fig. 3).
|
|
|
|
Treatment with salmon annexin 1 siRNA inhibits the growth of IPNV in CHSE-214 cells. To determine the effect of down-regulation of salmon annexin 1 on growth of IPNV, cells were treated with Anx1 siRNA and then infected with IPNV at a multiplicity of infection of 3 TCID50 per cell. Culture fluids were collected at 72 h postinfection, and the amount of extracellular infectious virion was quantified using a TCID50 assay (Fig. 5E). The Anx1 siRNA treatment reduced the virus titer to 25% of that of the Sc siRNA-treated control. These results suggest that salmon annexin 1 supports the growth of IPNV by prevention of apoptosis.
To test whether or not overexpression of salmon annexin 1 affected the growth of IPNV, a stable transfectant derivative of CHSE-214, CHSE-214/Anx1 was established. As a negative control, CHSE-214/pCMV cells stably transfected with empty vector were included. Overexpression of salmon annexin 1 in CHSE-214/Anx1 cells was confirmed by RT-PCR. Salmon annexin 1 expression of CHSE-214/Anx1 cells was increased by 1.7-fold compared to that in CHSE-214 cells (Fig. 5E). As shown in Fig. 5E, overexpression of salmon annexin 1 did not affect the virus titer.
It is possible that the Anx1 siRNA blocks the viral growth as a consequence of its reduction of expression levels of viral genes. To examine this possibility, CHSE-214 cells transfected with Anx1 siRNA were infected with IPNV and harvested at 10 h p.i. just before the progeny virions were released and expression levels of VP2 and VP3 proteins were determined using Western blot analysis, respectively. Anx1 siRNA treatment did not significantly affect the expression levels of VP2 and VP3 proteins (Fig. 5F). These results suggest that Anx1 siRNA does not inhibit the growth of IPNV through its reduction of expression levels of viral proteins.
Salmon annexin 1 alters intracellular Ca2+ concentration on viral infection. Annexin 1 is known to be involved in alteration of intracellular Ca2+ concentration and in induction of apoptosis (38, 40). In addition, there are many reports on the alteration of intracellular Ca2+ concentration after virus infection (21, 39). In order to determine whether salmon annexin 1 is involved in the changes of intracellular Ca2+ concentration in IPNV-infected cells, the intracellular calcium level was determined in Anx1 siRNA-treated cells after IPNV infection. Mock-infected cells served as a negative control, and mock-infected cells exposed to calcium ionophore A23187 served as a positive control. The intracellular Ca2+ level began to increase progressively from 6 h p.i. (P < 0.05) and reached a steady state at 18 h p.i. (Fig. 6). Measurements beyond 24 h were not reliable because of cell membrane disruptions due to viral loads. Cell transfected with Anx1 siRNA exhibited a reduced intracellular Ca2+ concentration compared to the control cells. This result suggests that IPNV-induced salmon annexin 1 is associated with increase in Ca2+ concentration in IPNV-infected cells.
|
| DISCUSSION |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Human annexin A1 has a core domain that contains four homologous repeats (numbered I to IV) of five
-helices each, namely A, B, C, D, and E. Helices A and B and helices D and E form two parallel helix-loop-helix folds. Helix C connects the C terminus of helix B to the N terminus of helix D. There are six calcium binding sites in human annexin 1; three type II and three type III calcium binding sites. Three type II calcium binding sites [(K,R)-(G,R)-G-T] are located at the AB loops in repeats II, III, and IV. Of the three type III calcium binding sites, two are at the DE loops in repeats I and IV and one is at the AB loop in repeat I (35, 41). As shown in Fig. 3, the salmon annexin 1 has six calcium binding sites in four repeats.
There are several reports supporting the roles of annexin 2 in viral infection. Annexin 2 promotes entry of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (28) and cytomegalovirus (32) into cells through an interaction with phospholipid membrane. Annexin 2 is involved in HIV Gag processing and is essential for the proper assembly of HIV in cells (36). However, even though Katoh (24) reported the detection of bovine annexins I and IV in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids from calves inoculated with herpesvirus 1, there is no report on the role of annexin 1 in viral infection. To determine the roles of the novel salmon annexin 1 in IPNV infection, we analyzed the effect of salmon annexin 1 knockdown by siRNA on IPNV growth. The salmon annexin 1 knockdown did not affect the levels of IPNV proteins at the early stage of virus infection but decreased the titer of viral progeny to 25% of that of the untreated control. The siRNA treatment resulted in an increase of apoptosis of IPNV-infected cells. These results suggest that the increased expression of salmon annexin 1 decreased the apoptosis of IPNV-infected cells, which is not a host defense mechanism against IPNV infection but supports the growth of IPNV by delaying the apoptosis of IPNV-infected cells.
Apoptosis is an active process of cell death that serves diverse functions in multicellular organisms and can provide protection against viral infection by inducing premature death of virus-infected cells. Thus, inside the cells, viruses need to inhibit apoptosis of virus-infected cells in order to replicate efficiently. Failure to inhibit the apoptosis of virus-infected cells can restrict virus growth. A number of viruses depend on inhibition of apoptosis for normal replication, and consequently they encode potent cell death suppressors. For example, the adenovirus E1B 19-kDa protein suppresses apoptosis by heterodimerization with the death promoter of BAX, which is an activator of apoptosis (4). The Kaposi sarcoma-associated virus encodes a Bcl-2 homolog that does not interact with proapoptotic proteins such as Bax or Bad and inhibits programmed cell death (5). The CrmA of cowpox virus, SERP2 of the myxoma virus, and P35 of the baculovirus block apoptotic responses by inhibition of caspases (30). In case of IPNV, Hong et al. (19) reported that VP5, a nonstructural protein, inhibits the apoptosis of virus-infected cells. However, Santi et al. (37) reported that VP5 is dispensable for the growth of IPNV, which suggests the possibility that VP5 is not the only factor for the inhibition of apoptosis in IPNV-infected cells. In this study, we showed that IPNV infection increased the expression of a cellular protein, salmon annexin 1 and that the increased expression of salmon annexin 1 inhibits the apoptosis of IPNV-infected cells and supports the growth of IPNV in cells. These findings suggest that IPNV inhibits the apoptosis of virus-infected cells not only by using virus genome-encoded VP5 but also by increasing the expression of salmon annexin 1 for efficient replication.
Annexin 1 has been thought to be involved in the induction of apoptosis by a rapid increase in intracellular Ca2+ concentration followed by Bad dephosphorylation (38, 40). In IPNV-infected cells, knockdown of salmon annexin 1 resulted in a significant reduction of intracellular Ca2+, which suggests that salmon annexin 1 is related to increase in the intracellular Ca2+ concentration. We do not know the precise mechanisms behind how the rise in intracellular Ca2+ concentration confers an antiapoptotic state to IPNV-infected cells. There are reports that the rise in cytoplasmic Ca2+ leads to the activation of calpains, Ca2+-sensitive proteases that can exert antiapoptotic effects by cleaving caspases (6, 25). Other studies report that the Ca2+ fluxes from endoplasmic reticulum to mitochondria can lead to apoptosis by the release of proapoptotic molecules from mitochondria and, thus, the reduction of Ca2+ content of the endoplasmic reticulum and the resulting down-regulation of Ca2+ fluxes between this store and mitochondria are the major components of the viral antiapoptotic program (2, 14). Further studies on the changes in the apoptotic pathways and on the intracellular Ca2+ compartmentalization in IPNV-infected cells will reveal the precise antiapoptotic mechanisms of increased Ca2+.
We report here for the first time that salmon annexin 1 is overexpressed by IPNV infection and supports viral growth by inhibition of premature death of virus-infected cells. Our results provide information for better understanding of viral growth in host cells and a novel means of investigating cellular apoptosis regulatory systems.
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
|---|
| FOOTNOTES |
|---|
Published ahead of print on 19 September 2007. ![]()
H.J.H. and C.H.M. contributed equally to this work. ![]()
| REFERENCES |
|---|
|
|
|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| J. Bacteriol. | Mol. Cell. Biol. | Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. |
|---|
| Clin. Vaccine Immunol. | ALL ASM JOURNALS |
|---|