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Journal of Virology, November 2008, p. 10946-10952, Vol. 82, No. 21
0022-538X/08/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.01403-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Characterization of a CRM1-Dependent Nuclear Export Signal in the C Terminus of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Tegument Protein UL47
Paul Williams,
Janneke Verhagen,
and
Gillian Elliott*
Department of Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
Received 7 July 2008/
Accepted 13 August 2008

ABSTRACT
The herpes simplex virus type 1 tegument protein known as VP13/14,
or hUL47, localizes to the nucleus and binds RNA. Using fluorescence
loss in photobleaching analysis, we show that hUL47 undergoes
nucleocytoplasmic shuttling during infection. We identify the
hUL47 nuclear export signal (NES) as a C-terminal 10-residue
hydrophobic peptide and measure its efficiency relative to that
of the classical human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Rev NES.
Finally, we show that the hUL47 NES is sensitive to the inhibitor
of CRM1-mediated nuclear export leptomycin B. Hence, hUL47 joins
a growing list of virus-encoded RNA-binding proteins that use
CRM1 to exit the nucleus.

TEXT
The alphaherpesvirus UL47 gene encodes a major structural protein
that is assembled into the tegument of the virus particle (
1,
9,
11,
20). Although the role of UL47 has not yet been defined,
herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) variants unable to express
the UL47 protein (VP13/14 or hUL47) display defects at the early
stages of virus growth (
21,
22). In addition, all the UL47 proteins
encoded by HSV-1, bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV-1), varicella-zoster
virus, equine herpesvirus 1, and pseudorabies virus exhibit
a nuclear localization, suggesting a role for these proteins
in that compartment of the infected cell (
3,
4,
9,
16-
18,
23).
An important characteristic of the UL47 proteins encoded by
HSV-1 (hUL47) and BHV-1 (bUL47) is that they both undergo nucleocytoplasmic
trafficking when expressed alone (
4,
17,
18,
23). We and others
previously identified nonclassical arginine-rich nuclear localization
signals (NLSs) in the N termini of hUL47 and bUL47 (see Fig.
2A) (
17,
23), and we went on to show that the NLS of hUL47 also
functions as an RNA binding domain (
5). In the case of bUL47,
a leucine-rich nuclear export signal (NES) was first identified
in the middle of the protein by Zheng and coworkers (see Fig.
2A, NES1) (
23), suggesting that the bUL47 export signal is similar
to the classical HIV-1 Rev protein NES, which uses the CRM1
receptor to exit the nucleus (
6,
7,
15,
19). Subsequently, we
identified a second, and in our hands more potent, NES at the
N terminus of bUL47 that contained no hydrophobic residues and
was resistant to treatment with the CRM1 inhibitor leptomycin
B (LMB) (see Fig.
2A, NES2) (
17). The export receptor for this
second NES has yet to be identified.
To extend our understanding of how and why these proteins may
shuttle between the nucleus and cytoplasm, we investigated the
nature of hUL47 nuclear export. We first wished to determine
if hUL47 shuttled between the nucleus and cytoplasm of HSV-1-infected
cells. Vero cells grown on glass-bottom culture dishes (MatTek)
were infected at a multiplicity of infection of 5 with recombinant
HSV-1 (strain 17) expressing yellow fluorescent protein (YFP)-tagged
hUL47, which was described previously and behaves as wild-type
virus (
3). Six hours later, at a time at which hUL47 is predominantly
nuclear (as shown in our previous studies), the infected cells
were examined in the temperature-controlled chamber of a Zeiss
LSM 510 confocal microscope for the presence of nuclear YFP-hUL47
(Fig.
1A). To determine if this population of hUL47 shuttled
between the nucleus and cytoplasm, fluorescence loss in photobleaching
(FLIP) analysis was carried out. Cells were subjected to repeated
photobleaching in a specific area of their cytoplasms (Fig.
1A) using 20 iterations of the 488-nm laser line of the LSM-510
at 50% power. Bleaching was repeated every 10 s, with images
being acquired immediately after bleaching, for a total of 100
repetitions. Representative images from a typical FLIP experiment
are presented in Fig.
1A, where it can be seen that the fluorescence
intensity of the nucleus in the photobleached cell decreases
with time compared to that of the nucleus of a control, unbleached
cell. Quantification of the fluorescence intensity of these
nuclei was carried out using LSM software (Zeiss), and relative
intensity was plotted against time in the graph shown in Fig.
1C. To confirm that hUL47 nucleocytoplasmic shuttling occurred
in the absence of other virus proteins, a similar FLIP experiment
was carried out on Hep-2 cells that had been transfected 20
h earlier with a plasmid expressing green fluorescent protein
(GFP)-tagged hUL47 (
4). Although the hUL47 protein appears to
be entirely nuclear (Fig.
1B), photobleaching of the relevant
area in the cytoplasm resulted in a loss of nuclear fluorescence
similar to that seen in infected cells (Fig.
1B and C).
To identify the NES in hUL47, we next investigated which region(s)
of the protein was able to relocalize a nuclear protein into
the cytoplasm of the cell. To do this, we first constructed
a nuclear reporter that consisted of GFP fused to the simian
virus 40 (SV40) NLS (Fig.
2B). We then fused the classical 10-residue
NES from the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Rev
protein downstream of the SV40 NLS to act as a positive control
for nuclear export (Fig.
2B); to locate the hUL47 NES, seven
peptides of hUL47 in approximately 100 amino acid blocks were
fused in the same position (Fig.
2C). To assess the subcellular
localization of these proteins, we transfected each construct
into Hep-2 cells grown on coverslips in 12-well plates, as described
previously (
17). Twenty hours later, the cells were fixed for
20 min in 4% paraformaldehyde, coverslips were mounted in Vectashield
(Vector Labs), and the localization of the GFP-tagged fusion
proteins was examined by confocal microscopy. As expected, the
GFP-SV40 NLS fusion protein was predominantly nuclear in Hep-2
cells (Fig.
2D), while the fusion containing the Rev NES was
nuclear and cytoplasmic, indicative of export of this fusion
protein from the nucleus to the cytoplasm (Fig.
2D). In the
case of the hUL47 fusion proteins, five of the seven were predominantly
nuclear and exhibited a localization pattern indistinguishable
from that of the NLS alone (Fig.
2D, peptides 2 to 6). Notably,
peptide 1 of hUL47 conferred a striking nucleolar localization
on GFP, suggesting that this sequence, which contains the hUL47
NLS and RNA binding domain, may also contain a nucleolar targeting
or retention signal (Fig.
2D, peptide 1). In contrast, the final
100 residues of hUL47 resulted in the appearance of the GFP-NLS
protein in the cytoplasm of the cell (Fig.
2D, peptide 7), suggesting
that the amino acids in peptide 7, residues 597 to 693 of hUL47,
could behave in a manner similar to that of the Rev NES and
direct a nuclear protein into the cytoplasm.
We next wished to confirm that peptide 7 truly functions as an NES and to compare the efficiency of export by this peptide to that of Rev and the two NESs previously characterized in bUL47 (NES1 and NES2 in Fig. 2B). We first compared the relative nuclear/cytoplasmic localization of these fusion proteins in live Hep-2 cells (Fig. 3A). Representative images show that the fusions of Rev, peptide 7, and bNES2 to GFP-NLS all result in a cytoplasmic distribution of the protein, with the Rev fusion protein being consistently more intense in the cytoplasm than the other two fusions (Fig. 3A). Interestingly, however, bNES1, the original NES to be identified in bUL47, appears to be mainly nuclear in this assay and cannot be distinguished from the reporter protein alone (Fig. 3A, compare NLS and NLS-bNES1). To determine if the relative cytoplasmic localizations of these proteins correlate with relative rates of nuclear export, we carried out FLIP analysis of all the proteins shown in Fig. 3A as described for Fig. 1 (Fig. 3B). Quantification of the relative fluorescence intensity of nuclei in bleached cells revealed that cells expressing the reporter alone showed a consistently slow loss of nuclear fluorescence over the course of the assay, which we interpret to be due to the passive diffusion of this small fusion protein from the nucleus to the cytoplasm (Fig. 3B and C). However, cells expressing the Rev NES fusion protein showed rapid and significant loss of nuclear fluorescence, with 50% of fluorescence lost in around 220 s, confirming the efficient nuclear export of this protein (Fig. 3B and C, compare no-NES results with Rev results). Cells expressing the hUL47 peptide 7 and bNES2 fusions also showed significant reduction in nuclear fluorescence, with their relative rate of export (50% loss occurring for both proteins after 350 s) approaching that of the Rev fusion protein (Fig. 3B and C). Finally, cells expressing the fusion protein containing the previously characterized LMB-sensitive NES in bUL47 (bNES1) showed a reduction in nuclear fluorescence during photobleaching that was similar to that observed for the reporter alone, suggesting that, in this assay at least, this NES is nonfunctional (Fig. 3B and C).
To further refine the NES sequence in hUL47, various subregions
of peptide 7 were fused to the C terminus of the GFP-NLS protein
(Fig.
4A). The localization of these fusion proteins was examined
as before, revealing that the NES of hUL47 was located between
residues 647 and 670 (Fig.
4B). Analysis of this peptide revealed
two potential hydrophobicity-rich matches for the consensus
CRM1-mediated NES (
10) (Fig.
4A). To determine if either or
both of these sequences were capable of functioning as a discrete
NES, each consensus peptide was fused to the GFP-NLS protein
and analyzed as before. Fluorescence microscopy demonstrated
that while peptide 649-658 was unable to relocalize the GFP-NLS
fusion protein, peptide 658-667 very efficiently targeted it
to the cytoplasm of the expressing cell (Fig.
4B).
This 10-residue peptide from the C terminus of hUL47 represents
a fully transferable NES (hNES) that is similar to the well-characterized
10-residue Rev NES (Fig.
5A). Because the hUL47 NES is a consensus
CRM1-dependent NES, we next determined the effect of the CRM1
inhibitor LMB on the localization of the hNES fusion protein
in comparison to the other NES fusions. Hep-2 cells expressing
these proteins were treated with LMB for 3 h prior to fixation.
Fluorescence microscopy revealed that, as expected, LMB had
no effect on the localization of the reporter lacking an NES
but efficiently inhibited the cytoplasmic localization of GFP-NLS-Rev
(Fig.
5B, compare NLS and NLS-Rev). By contrast, LMB had no
effect on the cytoplasmic localization of the bNES2 fusion protein,
confirming our previous results showing that this NES is resistant
to the drug (Fig.
5B). Notably, cytoplasmic localization of
the hNES fusion protein was abrogated in the presence of LMB
(Fig.
4D), strongly indicating that nuclear export by this hydrophobic
NES is mediated by the CRM1 receptor. Finally, we tested the
effect of LMB on the localization of hUL47 in HSV-1-infected
cells. Vero cells were infected with HSV-1 expressing YFP-tagged
hUL47, and LMB was added 8 h later. After a further 8 h, representative
images of infected cells were acquired from cells incubated
in the absence or presence of LMB (Fig.
5C). As described previously
(
3), hUL47 localizes in clusters through the cytoplasm and at
the cytoplasmic membrane of infected cells grown in the absence
of LMB (Fig.
5C). In contrast, in the presence of LMB, hUL47
remains almost entirely nuclear (Fig.
5C). Although we cannot
rule out the possibility that this effect on hUL47 localization
is an indirect one, these results strongly suggest that hUL47
utilizes CRM-1 to move from the nucleus to the cytoplasm of
infected cells.
In this study, we have shown for the first time that hUL47 undergoes
nuclear export in infected cells in the same way as its BHV-1
homologue, bUL47 (
18). However, whereas the predominant NES
in bUL47 is N terminal and resistant to LMB (
17), the hUL47
NES is C terminal and sensitive to LMB, suggesting that it functions
through CRM1. It should be noted that it is possible, though
unlikely, that hUL47 has an additional NES(s) present at one
of the junctions between our mapping peptides, similar to the
situation in bUL47. Further studies will be required to investigate
this possibility.
These results extend our previous findings that hUL47 contains an NLS and RNA binding domain at its N terminus and binds viral RNA during infection (4, 5), providing further credence for the idea that UL47 has a role in the nuclear export of RNA. Although HSV-1 encodes ICP27, a well-studied RNA export protein, there is some evidence that ICP27 regulates the export of only a subset of viral transcripts (13). Furthermore, while export of ICP27 is mediated by the TAP mRNA export pathway (2, 8, 12), the export of a range of late mRNAs is known to be sensitive to LMB (14). Hence, it is likely that other LMB-sensitive viral factors are involved in the export of a subset of late mRNAs. Because of its combination of properties, we suggest that hUL47 is a prime candidate for such a viral factor.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are grateful to Michael Hollinshead for assistance with confocal
microscopy.
This work was funded by the BBSRC.

FOOTNOTES
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, St. Mary's Campus, Norfolk Place, London W2 1PG, United Kingdom. Phone: 44 207 594 5037. Fax: 44 207 594 3973. E-mail:
g.elliott{at}imperial.ac.uk 
Published ahead of print on 20 August 2008. 
Present address: Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, 455 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016. 

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Journal of Virology, November 2008, p. 10946-10952, Vol. 82, No. 21
0022-538X/08/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.01403-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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