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Journal of Virology, May 2007, p. 4732-4743, Vol. 81, No. 9
0022-538X/07/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.02476-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Nathalie Clément,2
R. Michael Linden,2
Mathias Ackermann,1 and
Cornel Fraefel1*
Institute of Virology, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland,1 Department of Gene and Cell Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 100292
Received 10 November 2006/ Accepted 8 February 2007
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Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), on the other hand, is a large, enveloped DNA virus and an important human pathogen. The HSV-1 genome consists of a 152-kb double-stranded DNA and encodes approximately 80 gene products, which are expressed in a temporally regulated cascade. In particular, HSV-1 genes are classified as immediate-early (IE or
), early (ß), and late (
) genes. The first genes to be expressed upon infection are the IE genes, encoding several transactivator proteins, which in turn initiate transcription of the early and some late genes, called leaky late or
1 genes. Early gene products comprise the viral DNA replication factors initiating viral DNA synthesis, which in turn stimulates expression of the leaky late (
1) and true late (
2) genes. The latter encode mainly structural virion proteins. The life cycle of HSV-1 is characterized by productive (lytic) replication in epithelial cells of the mucosa and life-long latent infection in the corresponding sensory neurons, from which HSV-1 can sporadically reactivate (reviewed in reference 42). HSV-1 and HSV-2 are helper viruses for AAV replication (4), with the helicase-primase complex (encoded by UL5, UL8, and UL52) and the ssDNA-binding protein ICP8 (encoded by UL29) acting as the minimal helper factors required for productive AAV replication (50). Notably, enzymatic function of the helicase-primase complex is not required for the helper activity; rather, the helicase-primase complex appears to be required for correct subnuclear localization of ICP8, suggesting that ICP8 is the key helper factor (36, 40).
On several occasions, AAV was suggested to cause inhibition of HSV-1 replication. In particular, coinfection with AAV inhibited replication of HSV-1 in simian virus 40-transformed hamster cells (1). A subsequent study reported the inhibition of HSV-1 oriS-dependent replication by cotransfection of AAV rep-expressing plasmids (18). More recently, we and others demonstrated that the rep gene present in HSV/AAV hybrid amplicon vectors inhibited vector replication and/or packaging, resulting in up to 2,000-fold reduced titers of packaged vector stocks (20, 48). However, only a little is known about the molecular mechanisms of AAV-mediated inhibition of HSV-1 replication.
Recent studies have addressed the interaction between AAV and the helper virus HSV-1. In a first study, Rep was shown to colocalize with ICP8 in AAV-HSV-1-coinfected cells, but not when rep was expressed from a recombinant HSV-1 in the absence of AAV DNA. The same study also demonstrated a direct interaction of Rep with ICP8, which was enhanced upon the addition of ssDNA (19). A second study also showed a partial overlap of Rep with ICP8 when cells were either coinfected with AAV and HSV-1 or cotransfected with an AAV plasmid and the minimal HSV-1 helper factors. The same study also confirmed the direct binding of Rep to ICP8 and, in addition, showed that this interaction enhanced Rep binding to and nicking of the AAV ITRs (40). However, these studies did not directly assess the relative subnuclear distributions of replicating AAV and HSV-1 DNAs.
In the present study, we directly covisualize DNA replication of AAV and HSV-1 in live cells. The assays reveal the formation of separate AAV and HSV-1 replication compartments (RCs), with recruitment of Rep into AAV but not into HSV-1 RCs. HSV-1 ICP8 accumulates at both AAV and HSV-1 RCs, although with differential staining patterns. However, the formation of HSV-1 RCs is markedly inhibited in the presence of AAV. Consistent with this, we show that replication of HSV-1 is inhibited by coinfection with wild-type (wt) AAV2, but not with a rep-negative rAAV, and that this inhibition occurs at the level of HSV-1 DNA replication while only modestly affecting HSV-1 IE and early gene expression. Finally, we demonstrate that the mere presence of AAV Rep proteins in the absence of AAV DNA replication is sufficient for inhibition of HSV-1. In particular, Rep68/78 proteins severely inhibit the formation of mature HSV-1 RCs and lead to the accumulation of ICP8 at sites of cellular DNA synthesis, a phenomenon observed previously in the presence of viral polymerase inhibitors (27, 47).
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(ii) HSV-1. HSV-1 strain F was grown and titrated in Vero 2-2 cells. The recombinant HSV-1 viruses vECFP-ICP4 and vEYFP-ICP4, expressing enhanced cyan fluorescent protein (ECFP) and enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (EYFP) fused to the N terminus of ICP4 from the native IE3 promoter (11), were kindly provided by R. D. Everett (MRC Virology Unit, Glasgow, United Kingdom).
(iii) AAV. wt AAV2 and rAAV2-GFP were produced by using the two-plasmid protocol described by Zolotukhin and colleagues (54), with the following modifications. 293T cells (ATCC) were grown in triple flasks for 24 h (DMEM plus 10% FBS) prior to adding the calcium phosphate precipitate. rAAV2-GFP was generated using plasmids pTRUF11 (obtained from S. Zolotukhin, University of Florida, FL) and pDG (17), while wt AAV2 was generated using pAV2 (24) instead of pTRUF11. After 72 h, the virus was purified from Benzonase-treated crude cell lysates over an iodixanol density gradient (Optiprep; Greiner Bio-One), followed by heparin-agarose type I affinity chromatography (Sigma). Finally, viruses were concentrated and formulated in lactated Ringer's solution (Baxter), using Vivaspin 20 50,000-molecular-weight-cutoff centrifugal concentrators (Vivascience), and then stored at 80°C. The biochemical purity of the virus stocks (>95%) was assessed by silver staining after electrophoresis. rAAV2 transducing unit (TU) titers were determined as follows: C12 cells (6) were coinfected with serial dilutions of rAAV-GFP vector stocks and wt Ad5 (multiplicity of infection [MOI] of 20), followed by fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis after 42 h. wt AAV2 infectious unit (IU) titers were determined on HeLa cells coinfected with wt Ad (MOI, 20). After 42 h, cells were transferred to nylon membranes (Millipore), followed by hybridization using a 32P-radiolabeled AAV2 rep probe.
Antibodies. (i) Primary antibodies. The anti-HSV-1 ICP8 monoclonal antibody (MAb) 7381 was kindly provided by R. D. Everett (MRC Virology Unit, Glasgow, United Kingdom). The rabbit anti-HSV-1 ICP8 serum 4-83 (23) was a kind gift of D. M. Knipe (Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA). Anti-HSV-1 VP16 MAb LP1 (29) was kindly donated by A. Minson and H. Browne (University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom). Rabbit anti-HSV-1 gC serum R47 (7) was a kind gift of G. H. Cohen and R. J. Eisenberg (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA). A rabbit anti-AAV Rep serum (45) was kindly provided by J. P. Trempe (Medical University of Ohio, Toledo, OH). Anti-HSV-1 ICP8 MAb (clone 10A3) was purchased from Abcam, anti-HSV-1 ICP4 MAb was purchased from Advanced Biotechnologies, anti-AAV Rep MAb (clone 303.9) was purchased from Fitzgerald Industries International, anti-green fluorescent protein (anti-GFP) MAb (JL-8) was purchased from Clontech, anti-bromodeoxyuridine (anti-BrdU) MAb (clone BMC 9318) was purchased from Roche, and rabbit anti-actin polyclonal antibody (H300) was purchased from Santa Cruz Biotechnology.
(ii) Secondary antibodies. Goat anti-rabbit immunoglobulin G heavy plus light chains [IgG(H+L)]-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and goat anti-rabbit IgG(H+L)-horseradish peroxidase were purchased from Southern Biotech, goat anti-mouse IgG(H+L)-Alexa Fluor 594 (AF594) was purchased from Molecular Probes, and rabbit anti-mouse IgG (whole molecule)-peroxidase was purchased from Sigma.
Plasmids. Plasmids pRep, pR68/78, pEYFPTetR, pECFPTetR, pBstetO, and pAAVlacO were described previously (13, 16, 20). Plasmid pSV2-EYFP/lacI, expressing a fusion gene for EYFP linked to the lac repressor (LacI) (46), was kindly provided by D. L. Spector (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY). Plasmid pALZ14ECFP-NHPX, encoding the nucleolar NHPX protein fused to ECFP under the control of the human cytomegalovirus IE1 enhancer/promoter (CMV promoter) (25), was kindly provided by A. I. Lamond (University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom). The standard HSV-1 amplicon plasmid pHSVPrPUC was kindly provided by H. J. Federoff (University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY). Plasmid p5CR, encoding mCherry fused to the N terminus of AAV Rep68/78 from the p5 promoter as well as unmodified Rep52/40 from the p19 promoter, was kindly provided by A. Salvetti (INSERM U758ENSL, Lyon, France). Plasmid pCMV-8GFP, expressing GFP fused to the C terminus of HSV-1 ICP8 from the CMV promoter (43), was kindly provided by D. M. Knipe (Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA). Plasmid pcDNA-mRFP1-N, containing the gene for monomeric red fluorescent protein (mRFP) under the control of the CMV promoter, was kindly provided by U. F. Greber (Institute of Zoology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland).
Construction of the other plasmids used in this study was done as follows. (i) For pHSV-tetO (an HSV-1 amplicon plasmid containing tetracycline operator [teto] sequences), a 1.65-kb HindIII-KpnI fragment of pBstetO (containing the teto sequences) (16) was inserted between the HindIII and KpnI sites of pHSVPrPUC, resulting in plasmid pHSV-tetO. pHSV-tetO contains a total of 35 TetR-binding sites. (ii) For plasmid pCMVUL29-mRFP (expressing mRFP fused to the C terminus of HSV-1 ICP8 from the CMV promoter), a 4.5-kb SpeI-SalI fragment of plasmid pCMV-8GFP (containing the UL29 open reading frame [ORF] and the C-terminal 688 bp of the CMV promoter) was inserted between the SpeI and SalI sites of the pBluescript SK(+) cloning vector (Stratagene), resulting in plasmid pCMVUL29. A 4.53-kb SpeI-KpnI fragment of pCMVUL29 (containing the UL29 ORF and the C-terminal 688 nt of the CMV promoter) was then inserted between the SpeI and KpnI sites of pcDNA-mRFP1-N (containing the N-terminal 152 nt of the CMV promoter and the mRFP ORF), resulting in pCMVUL29-mRFP. (iii) For plasmid pCMVmRFPLacI (expressing an mRFP-LacI fusion including a nuclear localization signal [NLS] from the CMV promoter), the ORF for mRFP without the stop codon was PCR amplified with primers containing a HindIII site at the 5' end and an EcoRI site at the 3' end, using plasmid pcDNA-mRFP1-N as the template. The resulting PCR product was inserted between the HindIII and EcoRI sites of pBluescript SK(+), resulting in plasmid pBsmRFP. Likewise, the ORF encoding LacI including an NLS was PCR amplified with primers containing an EcoRI site at the 5' end and a NotI site at the 3' end, using plasmid pSV2-EYFP/lacI as the template. The resulting PCR product was then ligated between the EcoRI and NotI sites on plasmid pBsmRFP, resulting in plasmid pBsmRFPLacI. Finally, a 1.8-kb HindIII-NotI fragment of pBsmRFPLacI (containing the mRFP-LacI fusion gene including an NLS) was inserted between the HindIII and NotI sites of pcDNA-mRFP1-N, resulting in pCMVmRFPLacI. (iv) For plasmid pCMVrep68/78_AL (encoding AAV2 Rep68/78 under the control of the CMV promoter), the ORF encoding AAV2 Rep68/78 was PCR amplified with primers introducing a BglII site at the 5' end and a NotI site at the 3' end, using plasmid pR68/78 as the template. The resulting PCR product was ligated between the BglII and NotI sites of pEGFP-N3 (Clontech), resulting in plasmid pCMVrep68/78_AL. The sequence of the rep68/78 ORF was confirmed by sequencing. (v) pCMVrep-ECFP-N3 (expressing the first 522 codons of rep68/78 fused to ECFP from the CMV promoter) was constructed in two steps. First, pECFP (Clontech) was cut with PinAI and XmaI and religated, resulting in pECFP-N3, with a shifted ORF for ECFP. Subsequently, a 0.74-kb BamHI-NotI fragment of pECFP-N3 (containing the gene for ECFP) was ligated with the 4.0-kb BamHI-NotI fragment of pEGFP-N3 (containing the vector backbone and the CMV promoter), resulting in pCMVECFP-N3. Second, a 1.62-kb BglII-KpnI fragment of pCMVrep-EGFP (containing the first 522 codons of rep68/78) (C. Fraefel, unpublished material) was inserted between the BglII and KpnI sites of pCMVECFP-N3, resulting in pCMVrep-ECFP-N3.
Transfection. (i) Live visualization assays. The detailed procedure for live visualization assays was described previously (13). Briefly, the day before transfection, Vero or HeLa cells were seeded on either Lab-Tek four-well chambered cover glasses (Nalge Nunc International), for live cell microscopy, or round 12-mm cover glasses in 24-well plates, for subsequent immunofluorescence staining, at 105 cells/well. Cells were transfected using Lipofectamine Plus reagent as described by the manufacturer (Invitrogen). The amounts of individual plasmids used for transfection were as follows: pHSV-tetO, pAAVlacO, pBstetO, and pHSVPrPUC, 25 ng; and pEYFPTetR, pECFPTetR, pCMVmRFPLacI, pSV2-EYFP/lacI, pCMVUL29-mRFP, pALZ14ECFP-NHPX, pRep, and p5CR, 10 ng. Helper functions for HSV-1 amplicon and rAAV replication were provided by infection with wt HSV-1, vECFP-ICP4, or vEYFP-ICP4, as indicated in the text. For visualization of the nuclei in live cells, Hoechst 33342 (Invitrogen) was added to the culture medium 30 min before observation, at a concentration of 1 µg/ml.
(ii) Transfection-infection experiments presented in Fig. 7 and 8. Vero cells were transfected as described for the live visualization assays, except that 20 ng of pCMVrep68/78_AL, pEGFP-N3, or pCMVrep-ECFP-N3 was used. On the following day, the cells were infected with HSV-1 at an MOI of 10 PFU and fixed at the indicated time points.
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FIG. 7. Influence of AAV Rep68/78 proteins on HSV-1 RC formation. (A) Vero cells were transfected with plasmid pCMVrep68/78_AL, encoding Rep68/78 under the control of the CMV promoter, or plasmid pEGFP-N3, containing the same vector backbone and encoding EGFP instead of Rep68/78. On the following day, the cells were infected with HSV-1 at an MOI of 10 PFU. Cells were fixed at 0, 4, 8, and 12 h p.i. and stained with anti-ICP8 MAb 7381 and an AF594-conjugated secondary antibody (a to k; red). The cells in panels f to k were also stained with a rabbit serum specific for Rep and a FITC-conjugated secondary antibody (f to k; green). pEGFP-N3-tranfected cells were identified by EGFP fluorescence (a to e; green). Cells were observed by epifluorescence microscopy, and stages of HSV-1 replication were assessed according to the ICP8 staining pattern, as previously described (5, 27). The numbers indicate the proportions of cells in the respective stages at 12 h p.i. and are means ± standard deviations for triplicate experiments. (B) Time course of HSV-1 RC formation in transfected cells expressing EGFP or Rep68/78. The bars show the proportions of cells in the respective stages and represent the mean values for triplicate experiments.
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FIG. 8. Rep-induced numerous ICP8 foci are sites of active DNA synthesis. Vero cells were transfected with plasmid pCMVrep-ECFP-N3, encoding a Rep-ECFP fusion protein (a to d), or left untransfected (e to h). On the following day, the cells were infected with HSV-1 at an MOI of 10 PFU in the absence (a to d) or presence (e to h) of 400 µg/ml PAA. The cells were pulse labeled with 1 mM BrdU for 30 min before fixation at 12 h p.i. The cells were then stained with the rabbit anti-HSV-1 ICP8 serum 4-83 and a FITC-conjugated secondary antibody as well as with an anti-BrdU MAb and an AF594-conjugated secondary antibody. Cells were observed by CLSM, with settings specific for ECFP (Rep-ECFP fusion), FITC (ICP8), and AF594 (BrdU). The images represent projections through three-dimensional reconstructions of the nuclei.
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Microscopy. Live or fixed cells were observed by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) on a Leica TCS SP2 AOBS microscope or by epifluorescence microscopy on a Zeiss Axiovert S100 microscope equipped with a Hamamatsu C5810 3CCD chilled color camera. Images from CLSM were deconvolved with a blind deconvolution algorithm, using Huygens Essential 2.6.0p1 software (SVI), and processed with Imaris 5.0.1 (Bitplane AG) and Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 software (Adobe).
Slot blotting. The day before infection, HeLa cells were plated in 24-well plates at 2 x 105 cells/well. The cells were mock infected, infected with HSV-1 at an MOI of 1 PFU, or coinfected with HSV-1 (MOI, 1 PFU) and wt AAV2 (MOI, 10, 100, or 1,000 IU) or rAAV2-GFP (MOI, 10, 100, or 1,000 TU) in DMEM. After 2 h of absorption, the cells were washed with PBS and covered with DMEM containing 2% FBS. At 48 h postinfection (p.i.), the cells were harvested and lysed in 1 ml lysis buffer (0.4 M NaOH, 10 mM EDTA) and then boiled for 10 min. The lysate was further diluted 1:10 in lysis buffer, and 300 µl thereof (6 x 103 cell equivalents) was spotted onto a positively charged nylon membrane (Roche), using a Bio-Dot SF microfiltration apparatus (Bio-Rad) according to the manufacturer's manual. HSV-1 DNA was detected with a digoxigenin (DIG)-labeled probe for the entire HSV-1 UL35 ORF, which was PCR amplified with primers UL35-5'Ngo (5'TTGAGGCCGGCGCAATTTCACCGCCCCAGCACCG3') and UL35-3'Not/Spe (5'AAAGAGCGGCCGCACTAGTGGTGTGGTCTTTTATTGATTAAAACACCCCAG3') from a cloned HSV-1 strain F genome (YE102 bacterial artificial chromosome) (41), using a PCR DIG probe synthesis kit (Roche) according to the manufacturer's manual. Hybridization with the DIG-labeled probe and immunological detection were performed as previously described (13, 20), except that DIG Easy Hyb (Roche) was used as hybridization buffer. Scanned blots were quantified using Quantity One 4.6.1 software (Bio-Rad).
Western blotting. The day before infection, HeLa cells were plated in 12-well plates at 4 x 105 cells/well. Infections were carried out as described for the slot blot analysis. At 48 h p.i., the cells were washed with PBS, lysed in 200 µl protein loading buffer (containing 62 mM Tris base, 2% sodium dodecyl sulfate [SDS], 5% 2-mercaptoethanol, 10% glycerol, and 0.005% bromphenol blue), and boiled for 10 min. Twenty-microliter aliquots of the lysates (4 x 104 cell equivalents) were separated in SDS-8% (for detection of ICP4 and ICP8) or 10% (for detection of VP16, gC, Rep, and GFP) polyacrylamide gels and transferred to Protran nitrocellulose membranes (Whatman). The membranes were blocked with PBS-T (PBS containing 0.3% Tween 20) supplemented with 5% nonfat dry milk for 1 h at RT. Incubation with antibodies was carried out in PBS-T supplemented with 2.5% dry milk. Primary antibodies were incubated overnight at 4°C, while secondary antibodies were incubated for 1 h at RT. The primary antibodies were used at the following dilutions: anti-HSV-1 ICP4 MAb, 1:10,000; anti-HSV-1 ICP8 MAb clone 10A3, 1:10,000; anti-HSV-1 VP16 MAb LP1, 1:4,000; rabbit anti-HSV-1 gC serum R47, 1:50,000; anti-AAV Rep MAb clone 303.9, 1:200; anti-GFP MAb JL-8, 1:2,000; and rabbit anti-actin polyclonal antibody H300, 1:1,000. The secondary antibodies were used as follows: rabbit anti-mouse IgG (whole molecule)-peroxidase, 1:10,000 (for detection of ICP4, ICP8, Rep, and GFP) or 1:100,000 (for detection of VP16); and goat anti-rabbit IgG(H+L)-horseradish peroxidase, 1:10,000. Membranes were washed three times with PBS-T after each incubation step. Membranes were stripped with Restore Western blot stripping buffer (Pierce) for 20 min at 37°C before being reprobed with a different primary antibody. Bound secondary antibodies were detected with ECL Western blotting detection reagent (Amersham Biosciences), and the membranes were exposed to Lumi-Film chemiluminescence detection films (Roche). Scanned blots were quantified using Quantity One 4.6.1 software (Bio-Rad).
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FIG. 1. Schematic representation of live covisualization of competing viral replication origins. Replication of an HSV-1 amplicon vector is visualized with plasmid pHSV-tetO, which contains the HSV-1 oriS, the HSV-1 DNA packaging/cleavage signal (pac), and five reiterations of the seven-copy teto sequence, comprising a total of 35 TetR binding sites. In the presence of HSV-1 replication factors, the accumulation of concatemeric HSV-1 amplicon replication products (HSV Cc.) is visualized by binding of an EYFP-TetR or ECFP-TetR fusion protein. Visualization of rAAV replication, which employs interactions of an mRFP-LacI or EYFP-LacI fusion protein with laco repeats present in an rAAV genome (rAAVlacO), has been described previously (13). Double-stranded monomeric (AAV ITRm) and dimeric (AAV ITRd) rAAV replication intermediates are indicated.
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FIG. 2. Live covisualization of HSV-1 amplicon replication and HSV-1 ICP4. (A) Nuclear distribution of EYFP-TetR and ECFP-ICP4. Vero cells were cotransfected with pHSV-tetO (a to f), pBstetO (g to i), or pHSVPrPUC (k to m) and pEYFPTetR (a to m). On the following day, the cells were infected with recombinant HSV-1 expressing ECFP fused to ICP4 (vECFP-ICP4) at an MOI of 5 PFU (a to c and g to m) or were mock infected (d to f). Live cells were observed by CLSM at 12 to 16 h p.i., with settings specific for EYFP (EYFP-TetR fusion protein) and ECFP (ECFP-ICP4 fusion protein). The images represent projections through three-dimensional reconstructions of the nuclei. (B) Nuclear distribution of EYFP-TetR and the nucleolus marker ECFP-NHPX. Vero cells were cotransfected with pEYFPTetR and pALZ14ECFP-NHPX. On the following day, live cells were observed as described for panel A, using settings specific for EYFP (EYFP-TetR fusion protein) and ECFP (ECFP-NHPX fusion protein).
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FIG. 3. Live covisualization of HSV-1 amplicon and rAAV DNA replication. (A) Independent formation of HSV-1 amplicon and rAAV RCs. HeLa cells were cotransfected with pHSV-tetO, pAAVlacO, pEYFPTetR, pCMVmRFPLacI, and pRep. On the following day, the cells were infected with HSV-1 at an MOI of 5 PFU. Live cells treated with 1 µg/ml Hoechst 33342 were observed by CLSM at 12 to 16 h p.i., with settings specific for EYFP (pHSV-tetO RCs), mRFP (rAAVlacO RCs), and Hoechst. The images represent single z stacks of the nuclei. (B) Formation of HSV-1 amplicon and rAAV RCs and nuclear distribution of AAV Rep. HeLa cells were cotransfected with pHSV-tetO, pAAVlacO, pECFP-TetR, pSV2-EYFP/lacI, and p5CR. On the following day, the cells were infected with HSV-1 at an MOI of 1 PFU. Live cells were observed by CLSM at 48 to 72 h p.i., with settings specific for ECFP (pHSV-tetO RCs), EYFP (rAAVlacO RCs), and mCherry (mCherry-Rep68/78 fusion proteins). The images represent projections through three-dimensional reconstructions of the nuclei. (C) Three-dimensional views of the nucleus shown in panel B. pHSV-tetO RCs are stained blue, rAAVlacO RCs are stained green, and mCherry-Rep68/78 proteins are stained red. Deconvolved three-dimensional reconstructions of the nucleus were processed in Imaris software, using the surpass view mode.
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HSV-1 ICP8, but not ICP4, is recruited into rAAV RCs. HSV-1 ICP8 is an essential replication factor for both HSV-1 and AAV DNA replication (50, 53) and nonspecifically binds ssDNA, as demonstrated by the fact that it is found not only in HSV-1 RCs but also in AAV RCs and even at sites of cellular DNA synthesis (9, 19, 27, 40, 47). The HSV-1 transcriptional regulatory protein ICP4, on the other hand, displays sequence-specific DNA-binding activity, with binding sites located throughout the HSV-1 genome (2, 12, 30, 31). Consistent with this, ICP4 binds to both parental HSV-1 genomes and progeny virus DNA (11, 23, 34). In order to analyze the distribution of ICP8 with respect to rAAV replication, rAAVlacO RCs were detected with EYFP-LacI, while ICP8 was detected either by antibody staining (Fig. 4A) or by expression of an ICP8-mRFP fusion protein (Fig. 4B). While in some cells ICP8 was localized almost exclusively to rAAV RCs (Fig. 4A, panels a to d), in other cells we observed binding of ICP8 to the rAAV DNA as well as to compartments outside the rAAV RCs, probably representing RCs of the HSV-1 helper virus or of the rep-expressing plasmid pRep (Fig. 4A, panels e to h, and B, panels a to d). Plasmid pRep contains the p5 origin of DNA replication (p5 ori) and has previously been shown to replicate efficiently in the presence of HSV-1 helper functions (16). Note that the staining pattern of ICP8 within the rAAV compartments was more homogenous than the punctate pattern observed within the HSV-1 or pRep RCs, again underlining the differential nature of AAV ITR, AAV p5, and HSV-1 RCs. We next analyzed the distribution of ICP4, either by antibody staining (Fig. 4C) or with an EYFP-ICP4 fusion protein expressed by the recombinant HSV-1 vEYFP-ICP4 (11) (Fig. 4D). In cells displaying mature rAAV RCs, ICP4 showed a diffuse distribution within the nucleus (Fig. 4C, panels a to d) or else was recruited into HSV-1 helper virus RCs distinct from the rAAV RCs (Fig. 4C, panels e to h, and D, panels a to d). Taken together, these results confirm the formation of separate AAV and HSV-1 RCs observed with the live covisualization assays shown in Fig. 3.
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FIG. 4. rAAV DNA replication and nuclear distribution of HSV-1 ICP8 and ICP4. (A) Covisualization of rAAV DNA and ICP8 protein. Vero cells were cotransfected with pAAVlacO, pSV2-EYFP/lacI, and pRep. On the following day, the cells were infected with HSV-1 at an MOI of 5 PFU. At 14 h p.i., the cells were fixed and stained with anti-ICP8 MAb 7381 and an AF594-conjugated secondary antibody, as well as DAPI. The cells were then observed by CLSM, with settings specific for EYFP (rAAVlacO RCs), AF594 (ICP8), and DAPI. Images represent single z stacks of the nuclei. (B) Live covisualization of rAAV DNA and ICP8. Vero cells were cotransfected with pAAVlacO, pSV2-EYFP/lacI, pCMVUL29-mRFP, and pRep. On the following day, the cells were infected with HSV-1 at an MOI of 5 PFU. Live cells treated with 1 µg/ml Hoechst 33342 were observed by CLSM at 12 to 16 h p.i., with settings specific for EYFP (rAAVlacO RCs), mRFP (ICP8-mRFP fusion protein), and Hoechst. Images represent a single z stack of a nucleus. (C) Covisualization of rAAV DNA and ICP4. Vero cells were transfected, infected, stained, and observed as described for panel A, except that a MAb specific for ICP4 was used. (D) Live covisualization of rAAV DNA and ICP4. Vero cells were cotransfected with pAAVlacO, pCMVmRFPLacI, and pRep. On the following day, the cells were infected with recombinant HSV-1 expressing EYFP fused to ICP4 (vEYFP-ICP4) at an MOI of 5 PFU. Live cells were observed as described for panel B, with settings specific for mRFP (rAAVlacO RCs), EYFP (EYFP-ICP4 fusion protein), and Hoechst.
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FIG. 5. Influence of AAV2 coinfection on HSV-1 DNA replication. Triplicate wells of HeLa cells were mock infected, infected with HSV-1 (MOI, 1 PFU), coinfected with HSV-1 (MOI, 1 PFU) and wt AAV2 (MOI, 10, 100, or 1,000 IU), or coinfected with HSV-1 (MOI, 1 PFU) and rAAV2-GFP vector (MOI, 10, 100, or 1,000 TU). At 48 h p.i., the cells were harvested, and HSV-1 DNA was detected by slot blotting and hybridization with a probe specific for HSV-1 UL35. Threefold serial dilutions (do) of HSV-1 replication products in the absence of AAV infection were used for quantification of HSV-1 replication products in the presence of AAV coinfection. S1 to S3, sample numbers for triplicate samples; HSV, HSV-1 infected; +wtAAV, coinfected with HSV-1 and wt AAV2; +rAAV, coinfected with HSV-1 and rAAV2-GFP. The numbers in parentheses indicate the MOIs of AAV2 and rAAV2-GFP in IU and TU, respectively.
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TABLE 1. Quantification of HSV-1 DNA replication products presented in Fig. 5
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1) kinetics; and (iv) the envelope glycoprotein C (gC), expressed with true late (
2) kinetics (Fig. 6). While the levels of ICP4 and ICP8 were moderately reduced by wt AAV2 coinfection, the accumulation of VP16 and gC was strongly inhibited (Fig. 6A). In particular, at the highest dose of wt AAV2, the relative signal intensities were reduced to 66% for ICP4, 47% for ICP8, 0% for VP16, and 13% for gC. In contrast, coinfection with the rep-negative rAAV2-GFP appeared to have a slightly stimulatory effect on ICP4, ICP8, and VP16 levels, while modestly lowering the gC level (Fig. 6A). The blots were also probed with antibodies against AAV Rep and GFP in order to control for efficient infection of cells by wt AAV2 and rAAV2-GFP. As shown in Fig. 6B, infection with increasing doses of wt AAV2 or rAAV2-GFP led to increasing accumulation of AAV Rep proteins and GFP, respectively. Together with the data shown in Fig. 5, these data demonstrate that coinfection with wt AAV2 only modestly affects HSV-1 IE and early gene expression but markedly inhibits HSV-1 DNA replication and late gene expression and that AAV2 gene expression and/or AAV2 DNA replication is responsible for the effect. However, these results do not specify whether inhibition of HSV-1 replication is mediated by a function of Rep proteins or by competition for essential HSV-1 replication factors between replicating HSV-1 and AAV2 genomes.
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FIG. 6. Influence of AAV2 coinfection on HSV-1 protein levels. HeLa cells were mock infected, infected with HSV-1 (MOI, 1 PFU), coinfected with HSV-1 (MOI, 1 PFU) and increasing amounts of wt AAV2 (MOI, 10, 100, and 1,000 IU), or coinfected with HSV-1 (MOI, 1 PFU) and increasing amounts of rAAV2-GFP vector (MOI, 10, 100, and 1,000 TU). At 48 h p.i., the cells were analyzed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blotting with antibodies specific for (A) HSV-1 ICP4, HSV-1 ICP8, HSV-1 VP16, and HSV-1 gC or (B) AAV Rep and GFP. Detection of actin served as a loading control. A sample of HSV-1-infected cells were lysed after 2 h of absorption, representing the input HSV-1 virus. In panel A, the relative signal intensities (normalized to that for actin) are indicated as percentages. The signal intensity of mock-infected cells was set to 0%, while that of cells infected with HSV-1 alone was set to 100%. M, mock infected; 2 h, HSV-1 infected and harvested after 2 h of absorption; wtAAV, wt AAV2 infected; rAAV, rAAV2-GFP infected.
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In a second set of experiments, we investigated the molecular mechanisms of AAV-mediated inhibition of HSV-1 replication, as observed with the live covisualization assays. The analysis of cells coinfected with HSV-1 and either wt AAV2 or rAAV2-GFP at the levels of HSV-1 DNA (Fig. 5) and HSV-1 proteins (Fig. 6) suggests that AAV-mediated inhibition of HSV-1 replication occurs at the level of DNA replication, while only modestly affecting IE and early gene expression, and that the effect is dependent on AAV replication and/or rep expression. In order to dissect whether AAV DNA replication is required or, alternatively, the Rep proteins per se are sufficient for the inhibition of HSV-1, we analyzed HSV-1 RC formation in the presence of rep overexpression (Fig. 7). The assay revealed a pronounced inhibition of HSV-1 RC formation and the accumulation of ICP8 at sites of cellular DNA synthesis, a phenomenon previously observed in the presence of viral polymerase inhibitors (27, 47). Only recently was it shown that the presence of an inhibited viral polymerase induces the hyperphosphorylation of RPA and its accumulation at S-phase-specific sites (52). It is possible that Rep induces a similar response. However, the detailed analysis of viral and cellular proteins associated with Rep-induced numerous ICP8 foci was postponed to future studies. The findings that (i) cotransfection of rAAV DNA and AAV rep reduces the frequency of mature HSV-1 amplicon RCs approximately fivefold, (ii) coinfection of HSV-1-infected cells (MOI, 1 PFU) with wt AAV2 (MOI, 1,000 IU) reduces the amount of HSV-1 DNA replication products about fourfold (Fig. 5), and (iii) HSV-1 RCs can coexist with AAV RCs (Fig. 3 and 4) indicate that AAV-mediated inhibition of HSV-1 replication is far from being complete. We therefore hypothesize that in the situation of an AAV-HSV-1 coinfection, the initially low Rep levels allow a certain degree of HSV-1 replication, and that only the abundant Rep levels present in a late stage of AAV replication severely impede the progression of HSV-1 replication. Consistent with this hypothesis, expression of rep from its native promoters allows for the coexistence of mature AAV and HSV-1 RCs (Fig. 3 and 4), while the preexpression of Rep68/78 from the strong CMV promoter almost does not allow for the formation of mature HSV-1 RCs (Fig. 7). Overall, our results are consistent with a recent report on the interaction of AAV with Ad (44). It was demonstrated that AAV coinfection, and in particular the AAV Rep78 protein, mainly inhibited Ad E4 and late transcription and, to a lesser extent, E1A and E2A. Interestingly, transfected Rep78 did not reduce E2A and E4 transcript levels prior to DNA replication, nor did AAV coinfection affect E2A and E4 mRNA production in the presence of hydroxyurea. It was concluded that AAV replication and/or rep gene expression inhibits Ad DNA replication and that the reduced early gene expression is a consequence rather than the cause of inhibited DNA replication (44). Although not directly assessed in the present study, it remains plausible that the moderate decrease in HSV-1 ICP4 and ICP8 protein levels observed in the presence of wt AAV2 was due to inhibited DNA replication, resulting in reduced levels of templates for transcription.
The unique requirement for helper virus coinfection might ensure that AAV only replicates in cells that are no longer beneficial to the host, thus contributing to the wide distribution of this otherwise nonpathogenic virus. However, since it is likely that both AAV and its helper viruses share factors of the replication machinery, it is plausible that AAV has evolved mechanisms which limit excessive replication of the helper virus, e.g., HSV-1. The findings in this report suggest that AAV has evolved a strategy to inhibit HSV-1 replication without affecting the synthesis and function of helper virus factors that are supportive of AAV replication (i.e., the IE gene product ICP0 and the products of the early genes UL5, UL8, UL52, and UL29) (14, 50). However, the precise molecular mechanisms underlying this strategy remain to be determined.
This work was supported by Swiss National Science Foundation grants 3100A0-100195 and 3100AO-112462 (C.F.) and U.S. National Institutes of Health grants R01GM071023 and ROIGM073901 (R.M.L.).
Published ahead of print on 21 February 2007. ![]()
Present address: Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital-East, Charlestown, MA 02129. ![]()
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