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Journal of Virology, January 2009, p. 396-407, Vol. 83, No. 1
0022-538X/09/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.01170-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Effi Wies,1
Dominik Dorer,1,
Kerstin Mahr,2
Michael Stürzl,3
Fritz Titgemeyer,2,4 and
Frank Neipel1*
Virologisches Institut, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Schlossgarten 4, D-91054 Erlangen, Germany,1 Lehrstuhl für Mikrobiologie, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Staudtstr. 5, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany,2 Chirurgische Klinik, Abteilung für Molekulare und Experimentelle Chirurgie, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Schwabachanlage 10, D-91054 Erlangen, Germany,3 Department of Oecotrophology, University of Applied Sciences Münster, Corrensstr. 25, 48149 Münster, Germany4
Received 5 June 2008/ Accepted 20 October 2008
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Within the herpesvirus family, gH, together with gL, was shown to take part in the process of membrane fusion in HSV (23), human cytomegalovirus (35), and KSHV (45). At least in HSV, gH is not fully processed and functional in the absence of gL (24, 47). Not much is known about specific receptors targeted by gH, except the affinity for integrins via an RGD sequence in HSV (43) and the interaction with CD46 in HHV-6 (38). Recently, it has been shown for murine herpesvirus 68 (MHV-68) that cell fusion mediated by gH is independent of the presence of gL, whereas binding to cells seems to be dependent on gL (22). Recently, the same group reported interaction of MHV-68 gH/gL with glycosaminoglycans (21). We show here that KSHV gH is expressed on the cell surface in the absence of gL, whereas gL surface expression is dependent on gH coexpression. Furthermore, we observed that both gH alone and the gH/gL complex are able to bind heparin structures with high affinity. They target heparan sulfate proteoglycans of the syndecan family, which promote KSHV entry. Finally, we show that the gH/gL complex is also able to interact with the surfaces of heparan sulfate-negative cells.
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[Ig
] signal peptide (Protein Information Resource locus, KVMS32) and the amino terminus of the Fc part from human IgG1 (GenBank accession no. S72664; aa 146 to 374) in a pcDNA3.1 backbone. This plasmid was used to express the soluble ectodomain of gH fused to the IgG1 Fc (gH
TM-Fc), including a C-terminal myc epitope. Expression plasmid pAB67 contains the coding sequence for the extracellular domain of KSHV open reading frame K14 (aa 27 to 230) fused to the same signal peptide and Fc part (K14
TM-Fc). Plasmid pAB61 contained sequences coding for the signal peptide and Fc fragment only. cDNA molecules encoding syndecans 1, 2, and 4 were synthesized by reverse transcription and amplification using the Titan One Tube reverse transcription-PCR system (Roche) and total cellular RNA from either 293T (syndecans 2 and 4) or JSC-1 (syndecan 1) cells. cDNAs were cloned into pcDNA4a myc/his. Syndecan 1/CD138 expression was verified by flow cytometry with phycoerythrin (PE)-coupled anti-CD138 antibody B-A38 (Serotec, Oxford, United Kingdom). Expression of all other syndecans was verified with anti-myc antibody 9E10 by immunofluorescence in 293T cells (data not shown).
Expression and purification of recombinant proteins. Fc fusion proteins were prepared and purified as described previously (9). Briefly, 293T cells were transfected by the calcium phosphate method or with Lipofectamine and Plus Reagent (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA). The cells were kept in culture for up to 2 weeks, and supernatant was collected every 2 days. Fc fusion proteins were purified from the supernatant by affinity to protein A. The proteins were analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and silver staining (60). The protein concentration was determined using the Bio-Rad protein assay (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA) according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Cell culture and transfection. The cell lines sog-9, Akata, BCBL-1, BC-3, and JSC-1 were obtained from the ATCC. KSHV-positive B cells (BC-3, JSC-1, and BCBL-1) and KSHV-negative B cells (Akata and BJAB) were maintained in RPMI 1640 supplemented with 100 mg/ml gentamicin, 350 mg/ml L-glutamine, 1 mM sodium pyruvate (Sigma Chemicals, St. Louis, MO), 0.05 mM beta-mercaptoethanol (cell culture grade; Gibco BRL, Carlsbad, CA), and 10% (BCBL-1, Akata, and BJAB) or 20% (BC-3 and JSC) heat-inactivated fetal calf serum (FCS) (PAA Laboratories GmbH, Pasching, Austria). Primary human foreskin fibroblasts (HFF) were a kind gift from Klaus Korn (Erlangen, Germany). HEK293T, HeLa, and 9E10 cells were obtained from the ATCC. These cells were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium supplemented with 10% FCS. Transfection for immunofluorescence and fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) analysis with Lipofectamine and Plus Reagent (Invitrogen) was carried out in 12-well plates according to the manufacturer's instructions. Briefly, 2 µg DNA was transfected with 2 µl Plus Reagent and 2 µl Lipofectamine in a total volume of 400 µl Optimem. Cells were incubated with the transfection mixture overnight. Media were exchanged the following day, and the cells were harvested 1 or 2 days later.
Immunofluorescence. For immunofluorescence assays, cells were cultured and transfected on coverslips. The cells were washed twice with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and fixed with 3% paraformaldehyde for 15 min. After fixation, the cells were washed once in PBS. Paraformaldehyde autofluorescence was quenched with 100 mM glycine in PBS, followed by washing with PBS. Where indicated, cells were permeabilized for 10 min in 0.1% NP-40 in PBS. Blocking was carried out at room temperature for 30 min with 1% bovine serum albumin (BSA) and 5% FCS in PBS. After three washing steps (PBS), the cells were incubated with the respective primary antibody diluted in blocking buffer, followed by three washing steps and 30 min of incubation with anti-mouse Cy3-labeled Fab fragment (Amersham Biosciences, Little Chalfont, United Kingdom) for detection. After three further washing steps, the coverslips were mounted with Vectashield antifading mounting medium (Vector Laboratories, Burlingame, CA) and sealed with nail hardener. Monoclonal antibody anti-Flag M2 (Sigma, St. Louis, MO) was used at a dilution of 1:1,000. Monoclonal antibody anti-myc 9E10 was purified from hybridoma supernatant by the same protocol as Fc fusion proteins.
Immunofluorescence binding assays were done as described previously (9). In binding assays with Fc fusion proteins, 1% BSA in PBS was used for blocking. BSA incubation was followed by incubation with 2 mg/ml CohnII IgG fraction from human serum to block Fc-binding sites. However, omission of this blocking step did not yield different results when protein concentrations that were not above 10 µg/ml were used. The cells were washed again and incubated with the respective Fc fusion protein in PBS with 1% BSA. After three washing steps, bound proteins were detected via their C-terminal myc epitopes with monoclonal antibody 9E10 as described above. Where indicated, the incubation with Cohn's fraction II was omitted and a Cy3-labeled antibody against human Fc fragments (Sigma) was used for direct detection of bound Fc fusion proteins. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) marker calreticulin was detected by rabbit polyclonal anti-calreticulin antibody (Acris, Germany) and anti-rabbit-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) secondary antibody (Dako, Glostrup, Denmark). Cells were visualized using a Zeiss Axioplan fluorescence microscope (Carl Zeiss Microimaging, Göttingen, Germany). Images were recorded with a Spot Diagnostic Imaging camera and software (Diagnostic Instruments, Burroughs, MI). Confocal images were acquired on a Leica (Leica Microsystems, Wetzlar, Germany) TCS SP5.
FACS analysis. Cells were harvested 1 or 2 days after transfection with Lipofectamine and Plus Reagent (Invitrogen). The cells were washed once with PBS and once with FACS buffer (10% FCS and 0.05% sodium azide in PBS). The cells were then incubated with the respective primary antibody (anti-Flag, 1:1,000; anti-myc, 1:200) in FACS buffer for 1 h, followed by washing and incubation with anti-mouse-FITC, 1:50 in FACS buffer, for 30 min. For binding assays, cells were incubated with the respective proteins diluted in FACS buffer at the indicated concentrations for 1 h on ice. The cells were washed twice in FACS buffer and incubated for 30 min with FITC-coupled secondary anti-human IgG antibody (Dako, Glostrup, Denmark), 1:50 in FACS buffer. After two washing steps, the cells were analyzed on a FACSCalibur system (BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA). Syndecan 1 expression was detected with a PE-coupled anti-CD138 antibody (Serotec) according to the manufacturer's protocol. PE-coupled mouse IgG1 isotype antibody (Becton Dickinson, Franklin Lakes, NJ) served as a control.
SPR measurement.
Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) experiments were performed on a BIAcore biosensor system using a streptavidin-coated (SA) biosensor chip (BIAcore AB, Uppsala, Sweden) as described previously (9). Briefly, purified Fc fusion proteins were biotinylated and coupled to flow cell 2 of the SA sensor chip. Flow cell 1 was used as a reference to correct for changes in the buffer composition and nonspecific binding to the sensor chip surface. For SPR measurements, heparin diluted in PBS at various concentrations (see below) was injected at a flow rate of 4 µl/min. Following injection of the glycosaminoglycan solution, the biosensor was rinsed with running buffer at the same flow rate for 200 s. The flow rate was then increased to 20 µl/min, and 10 µl of a 0.1 M NaOH/0.1% sodium dodecyl sulfate solution was injected to regenerate the chip surface. The binding of various glycosaminoglycans (heparin, N-acetylheparin, N-acetyl-de-O-sulfated heparin, de-N-sulfated acetylated heparin, and chondroitin sulfates A, B, and C, all obtained from Sigma Chemicals) was measured using gH
TM-Fc (flow cell 1) versus Fc (flow cell 2) coupled to SA sensor chips and glycosaminoglycan solutions (10 µg/ml in PBS). SPR data were analyzed with BIAevaluation 3.0 software (BIAcore AB). Briefly, for estimation of the association, or on-rate, constant, the middle portion of the association curves (5 s to 75 s [see Fig. 6A]) was used. For estimation of the dissociation, or off-rate, constant, the first part of the dissociation phase of the curve (135 s to 175 s [see Fig. 5A]) was used. These kinetics data were fitted most adequately by assuming a simple bimolecular reaction model for interaction between the soluble analyte and the immobilized ligand (Langmuir model). The goodness of fit was estimated by calculating
2 values and inspecting residuals (the difference between observed and calculated values).
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FIG. 6. Binding of gH TM-Fc and gH TM-Fc/gL and KSHV infection are enhanced by overexpression of syndecans. (A) (I) Purified gH TM-Fc at 10 µg/ml or K14 TM-Fc as a control was incubated with 293T cells transfected with syndecan expression plasmids. Concentrated gH TM-Fc also binds vector-transfected 293T cells (presumably through endogenous HSPGs), but binding is strongly augmented by syndecan expression. Binding of gH TM-Fc could be blocked by the addition of heparin (100 U/ml) to the recombinant protein prior to binding. One of three representative experiments is shown. (II) Silver-stained gel displaying 1 µg of the respective Fc fusion proteins. (B) (I) KSHV infection is enhanced by syndecan expression. 293T cells were transfected with expression plasmids for syndecans 1, 2, and 4. After 2 days, the cells were inoculated overnight with recombinant rKSHV.219. On day 3 after infection, 100,000 cells per sample were analyzed by FACS for expression of the enhanced-GFP reporter gene of rKSHV.219. The experiment was carried out in triplicate; the error bars represent standard deviations. (II) Virus was preincubated with heparin (100 U/ml), and cells transfected with expression plasmid for syndecan 1 or with empty vector were infected and analyzed as described above. Heparin strongly inhibits KSHV infection, and the enhancing effect of syndecan overexpression can be reverted.
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FIG. 5. Analysis of gH binding to glycosaminoglycans by surface plasmon analysis. (A) SPR with gH TM-Fc immobilized on a biosensor chip and various concentrations of heparin. The KD of the gH TM-Fc-heparin complex was determined at 1.5 x 10–8 by using the Langmuir model. (B) The gH TM-Fc fusion protein was immobilized on a biosensor chip, and the binding of different glycosaminoglycans (10 µg/ml) in solution was measured by SPR. The strongest binding could be detected with heparin, a heparan sulfate-glycosaminoglycan. It consists of strongly sulfated N-acetylglucosamine and iduronic acid residues. (C) Structures of the predominant components of the glycosaminoglycan preparations used for affinity measurements. L-Iduronate (shown here) is more abundant than D-glucoronate in heparin. Heparin preparations contain a variety of variants of this basic disaccharide unit with variations in the sulfation and acetylation patterns. N-Acetylheparin is almost identical to de-N-sulfated acetylated heparin, with the latter only partially acetylated at amino residues.
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Infection assay.
293T cells were transfected with Lipofectamine and Plus Reagent 2 days prior to infection. The cells were then incubated overnight with sixfold-concentrated infectious rKSHV.219 supernatant (30x-concentrated stock fivefold diluted in 293T medium). The medium was exchanged the next day, and the cells were analyzed by FACS 3 days after infection. The virus was diluted to yield
1% infected cells as determined by green fluorescent protein (GFP) fluorescence after 3 days, corresponding to a multiplicity of infection of
0.01. A total of 100,000 cells were scored by FACS analysis per infection.
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FIG. 1. gH is expressed at the cell surface independently of gL. (A) HeLa cells were transfected with expression plasmids for gH-Flag, gL-myc, or both. The cells were fixed with 3% paraformaldehyde 2 days after transfection and either permeabilized with 0.1% NP-40 (II) for detection of intracellular and surface proteins or left unpermeabilized (I) for detection of surface expression only. gH-Flag and gL-myc were detected by the anti-Flag antibody M2 or the anti-myc antibody 9E10, respectively, followed by Cy3-labeled anti-mouse secondary antibody and immunofluorescence microscopy. (I, middle row) gH was readily detectable at the surfaces of nonpermeabilized cells in the absence of gL. gL surface expression was clearly dependent on gH coexpression. (I, top row) In the absence of gH, gL could not be detected on the surfaces of unpermeabilized cells. Identical camera settings were used for each row, and the pictures were taken at x630 magnification. Confocal microscopy with permeabilized cells (II) revealed colocalization of gL with the ER marker calreticulin when expressed alone. Upon gH cotransfection, gL was relocalized away from the ER. gH was localized to both the ER and membranous structures with and without coexpression of gL. (B) 293T cells were transfected as in panel A and analyzed by FACS analysis for gH and gL surface expression. The cells were incubated with anti-Flag and anti-myc antibodies, followed by FITC-labeled anti-mouse antibody. The results were quantified by counting the proportion of cells exceeding a threshold adjusted to no more than 1% positive cells in the negative control (one representative experiment is shown).
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TM-Fc, gH
TM-Fc deletion mutants, and gL. gL was not detectable in the supernatant without gH
TM-Fc coexpressed (Fig. 2, lane 7). When gH
TM-Fc was coexpressed, gL was readily secreted (Fig. 2, lane 1). Deletion of the C-terminal membrane-proximal part of gH in gH
TM-Fc resulted in abrogation of detectable gL secretion (Fig. 2, lanes 4 through 6). Immunoprecipitation from cellular lysates clearly showed that the N-terminal part of gH strongly interacts with gL but is not able to efficiently secrete gL (Fig. 2, lanes 4 through 6). This is surprising, as these gL binding mutants are very efficiently secreted themselves but are apparently unable to export bound gL in relevant amounts (Fig. 2, lanes 4 through 6). We therefore propose that the whole extracellular domain of gH is required for efficient secretion of gL, with the N terminus stably binding gL and the C-terminal parts of the gH exodomain transiently assisting in gL export. These findings could be confirmed by immunofluorescence analysis of transfected cells (see Fig. 1 posted at http://www.viro.med.uni-erlangen.de/supplement/jvi/JVI01170-08/suppl-fig.pdf); whereas gH variants containing the complete or N-terminal part of the protein colocalized with gL, a variant containing only aa 465 to 705 did not. Furthermore, KSHV gL is not a transmembrane protein but a secreted protein that forms a soluble complex with the extracellular domain of gH.
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FIG. 2. The overall integrity of gH is essential for efficient gL secretion. Several N- and C-terminal deletion mutants of gH (without transmembrane and intracellular domains) were created and C-terminally fused to Fc. The gH-Fc constructs were cotransfected with a gL expression construct, and expression, as well as secretion, of both proteins was assayed by Western blot analysis. Western blot analysis of gH-Fc (anti-Fc) of the cell culture supernatant and cell lysate showed expression and secretion of the gH mutants (lanes 1 through 6). gL was not efficiently secreted by itself (lane 7). Only full-length extracellular gH was able to efficiently secrete gL (lane 1). C-terminal truncation (lanes 4 through 6) and N-terminal truncation (lanes 2 and 3) of gH almost abrogated gL secretion. Very weak residual gL secretion could be observed after N-terminal truncation of the extracellular part of gH (lanes 2 and 3, asterisks). Precipitation of the gH mutants from cellular lysates with protein A was followed by Western blot analysis for gL. Full-length gH TM-Fc efficiently precipitates gL. The N-terminal part of gH strongly interacts with gL in immunoprecipitation but is not able to efficiently cosecrete gL (lanes 4 through 6).
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TM-Fc was expressed for binding assays; Fc alone, as well as K14
TM-Fc (not shown), served as a control. All three proteins could be readily purified to near homogeneity from the supernatant of transfected HEK293T cells by protein A affinity chromatography (see Fig. 6A, II). HFF or Vero cells were incubated with purified Fc fusion proteins, and binding was detected by either antibodies against the myc epitope or anti-human Fc, respectively. As shown in Fig. 3, gH
TM-Fc protein, but not the Fc protein, efficiently bound to both nonpermeabilized HFF and Vero cells (Fig. 3A and B, respectively, left and middle). A similar fine-grained binding pattern was observed with gH
TM-Fc on HeLa, 293T, mouse L, and human microvascular endothelial cells (data not shown). Binding of KSHV gH
TM-Fc was completely abolished when the proteins were preincubated with heparin (Fig. 3A, right) or cells were treated with heparinase III (Fig. 3B, right). A FACS binding assay with purified gH
TM-Fc on Vero cells (Fig. 3C) also revealed strong binding of gH
TM-Fc that could be completely abolished by preincubation of the protein with heparin. This indicates that HSPGs are the molecules predominantly responsible for gH binding to the cell surface.
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FIG. 3. Binding of the gH ectodomain to cell surfaces is heparin dependent. (A) After fixation and blocking with human Cohn fraction II, HFF were incubated with gH TM-Fc (middle), Fc (left), or gH TM-Fc that was preincubated for 10 min with heparin (right). The protein concentration was 2 µg/ml. Binding was detected with a monoclonal antibody directed to the C-terminal myc epitope and Cy3-labeled anti-mouse immunoglobulin G antibody. Nuclei were counterstained with DAPI. The pictures were taken at x630 magnification with filters for either red (upper row; Cy3) or blue (lower row; DAPI) fluorescence. gH TM-Fc, but not Fc alone, binds in a speckled pattern to HFF surfaces. Binding can be abolished by preincubation of gH TM-Fc with heparin. (B) Vero cells were seeded on coverslips, fixed with paraformaldehyde, and treated either with 20 U/ml heparinase III in 0.1% BSA (right) in PBS or with 0.1% BSA alone (left and middle) for 4 hours at 37°C. The cells were then probed directly with gH TM-Fc or Fc at a concentration of 10 µg/ml, followed by detection with anti-human-Cy3 secondary antibody and DAPI counterstaining of nuclei. The pictures were taken at x400 magnification (upper row, Cy3 fluorescence; lower row, DAPI). Again, gH TM-Fc (middle column) but not Fc protein alone (left) efficiently bound to the cell surface. Binding of gH TM-Fc was almost fully abrogated by pretreatment of the cells with heparinase III. (C) Vero cells were briefly trypsinized, detached, and then incubated with purified gH TM-Fc at a concentration of 10 µg/ml or with gH TM-Fc preincubated for 10 min with 100 U/ml heparin. Bound protein was detected by FACS analysis with anti-human-FITC secondary antibody.
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TM-Fc and gL was incubated with 293T target cells, followed by FACS analysis for binding. Bound protein was detected with anti-Fc-FITC (Fig. 4). Binding of gH
TM-Fc/gL could be blocked by the addition of heparin (Fig. 4), with only some residual binding remaining.
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FIG. 4. Binding of soluble gH-Fc/gL is susceptible to heparin blocking. 293T cells were incubated with supernatants of transfected cells expressing gH TM-Fc/gL or a control protein. FACS analysis showed that gH TM-Fc binds to 293T cells (black line), whereas control protein (Fc) does not (gray filled histogram). Binding of gH TM-Fc/gL could be blocked by the addition of heparin to the binding reaction (gray line).
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TM-Fc to determine the dissociation constant (KD) of the gH
TM-Fc-heparin complex. A KD of 15 nM was calculated, fitting the data shown in Fig. 5A to the Langmuir model. To further elucidate the physicochemical requirements for gH binding to glycosaminoglycans, SPR was performed with immobilized gH
TM-Fc versus Fc and seven different glycosaminoglycans (Fig. 5B).
This clearly showed that N-sulfation is important for the interaction of gH with glycosaminoglycans: two different preparations of heparin lacking an N-linked sulfate group (N-acetylheparin and de-N-sulfated acetylated heparin) (Fig. 5B) exhibited decreased affinity for gH
TM-Fc, although binding was abolished only by complete desulfation of heparin residues in N-acetylated-de-O-sulfated heparin. In contrast to chondroitin-sulfate B/dermatan sulfate, chondroitin-sulfate A and C did not bind despite the presence of negatively charged sulfate groups. This suggests that the iduronic acid backbone common to chondroitin-sulfate B/dermatan sulfate and heparin is a structural requirement for recognition by gH, as well as the negative charges caused by both N- and O-linked sulfate groups.
gH and the gH/gL complex bind syndecans.
HSPGs are present on most cell types. As phospholipase C treatment did not alter gH
TM-Fc binding visibly (data not shown), we focused our interest on HSPGs of the syndecan family. Although widespread, the spectrum of membrane-spanning proteoglycans in mammalian cells is essentially limited to syndecans 1 to 4, beta-glycan, and CD44v3 (10). In order to verify whether the high affinity of gH for glycosaminoglycans resulted in increased interaction of gH with syndecan-bearing KSHV target cells, we transfected HEK293T cells with expression constructs for human syndecans 1, 2, and 4. One day after transfection, the cells were incubated with recombinant purified gH
TM-Fc at a concentration of 10 µg/ml (Fig. 6A). Recombinantly expressed and purified K14
TM-Fc at 10 µg/ml (Fig. 6A) served as a control. Binding of Fc fusion proteins was detected by FITC-labeled anti-human Fc antibodies and FACS analysis. Cells exceeding a fluorescence threshold were scored positive. One representative experiment is shown in Fig. 6. Compared to vector-transfected cells with intrinsic low-level expression of HSPGs, increased binding of gH
TM-Fc, but not control protein, was seen with cells transfected with syndecans 1, 2, and 4. Similar results were obtained with supernatants from gH
TM-Fc/gL-expressing cells. All syndecans clearly increased the binding of gH
TM-Fc.
Syndecan expression enhances KSHV infection. To assess the biological relevance of syndecan binding, we overexpressed syndecans 1, 2, and 4 in 293T cells and then inoculated these cells with rKSHV.219. Three days after transfection, cells expressing the GFP reporter gene from rKSHV.219 were counted by FACS analysis to measure viral entry. 293T cells expressing any of the syndecan proteoglycans showed a significant increase in KSHV infection (Fig. 6B, I), clearly indicating a role for these molecules as entry factors. Preincubation of the virus with heparin strongly inhibited infection and also reverted the enhancing effect of syndecan 1 expression (Fig. 6B, II).
The gH/gL complex also recognizes receptors other than HSPGs and binds to lamellipodium-like structures.
As can be seen in Fig. 4, binding of the gH
TM-Fc/gL complex on 293T cells could be blocked almost completely by the addition of heparin. Nevertheless, a very small residual shift was still observed in FACS analysis, hinting at the potential presence of additional cellular receptors. To assess whether the gH/gL complex also binds receptors other than HSPGs, we chose to incubate heparan- and chondroitin sulfate-negative sog9 mouse fibroblasts (7) with soluble glycoproteins and checked for binding of the gH
TM-Fc/gL complex via indirect immunofluorescence against the Fc part. The gH
TM-Fc/gL complex clearly bound to the membranes of sog9 cells (Fig. 7 A, lower row), whereas control protein (Fc) and gH
TM-Fc alone did not (Fig. 7A, upper left). Rather intense binding was observed in membrane areas resembling lamellipodium-like structures (Fig. 7A, enlargements) at the edges of cells, especially when these cells were apparently in the process of spreading out on the coverslip. FACS (Fig. 7C) and cell-linked immunosorbent assay (Fig. 7B) binding assays confirmed the binding of gH
TM-Fc/gL to sog9 cells. Preincubation of gH
TM-Fc/gL with heparin altered the affinity of gH
TM-Fc/gL (Fig. 7C), presumably by complex formation with highly charged heparin molecules, but was not able to block interaction with the cell surface, even at high concentrations. Binding on sog9 cells was dependent on gL coexpression and could not be blocked by addition of heparin (Fig. 7A, lower left).
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FIG. 7. The gH TM-Fc/gL complex binds to lamellipodium-like structures on heparan-deficient sog9 cells. (A) sog9 cells were fixed with 3% paraformaldehyde for 15 min and incubated with the supernatants of 293T cells transfected with expression plasmid for gH TM-Fc, Fc, or gH TM-Fc, together with an expression plasmid for gL (gH TM-Fc/gL). Binding of the Fc fusion proteins was detected with anti-human Fc-Cy3 secondary antibody. Binding was dependent on gL coexpression, as gH TM-Fc alone did not bind. The addition of heparin did not inhibit binding. gH TM-Fc/gL staining was clearly con- centrated in lammellipodium-like regions, where cells were spreading on the coverslip (indicated by white arrowheads). (B) A binding cell-linked immunosorbent assay with soluble gH TM-Fc/gL. sog 9 cells were treated and incubated as described above in 12-well tissue culture dishes. Bound protein was detected with an anti-human-horseradish peroxidase secondary antibody, and luminescence was quantified densitometrically. The error bars indicate standard deviations. (C) FACS binding assay with gH TM-Fc/gL. sog9 cells were detached by brief treatment with trypsin/EDTA and incubated with glycoprotein-containing supernatants. The glycoproteins were preincubated with heparin at 100 U/ml for 10 min. Bound protein was detected with an anti-human-FITC secondary antibody.
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FIG. 8. Expression of gH/gL in target cells prior to infection reduces KSHV susceptibility. 293T cells were transfected with expression plasmids for gH, gL, or both. Transfection of gH alone and to a lesser degree gL alone led to a decrease in KSHV susceptibility. Preexpression of gH and gL together reduced KSHV susceptibility markedly. The error bars represent standard deviations of three independent experiments.
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FIG. 9. Alignment of the N termini of HHV-2 and KSHV gH. Amino acid sequences of HHV-2 (reference sequence, NP_044491.1 ) and KSHV gH (reference sequence, YP_001129375.1 ) were aligned using the tool TCoffee. Matching and similar amino acids are highlighted in blue, turquoise, and gray (with decreasing similarity in that order). The region critical for ER retention in HHV-2 is highlighted by a black bar. The greater part of this region is obviously deleted in the corresponding KSHV sequence.
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Although gH of KSHV is transported to the plasma membrane without gL, this does not imply that gL is dispensable. However, gH without gL may well have additional functions, for example, blocking gH/gL binding sites on the host cell during egress in order to prevent premature triggering of the fusion machinery, or it could simply serve as a decoy for the immune system. The affinity of gH for certain HSPGs may not serve merely the purpose of attachment. Instead, it could represent a way to concentrate the virus at specific sites of entry. The gH binding we observed on many cells was clearly of a finely grained pattern. The selectivity of proteoglycan engagement by gH is implied by the SPR data, in which heparan sulfate is favored over chondroitin sulfate, with the exception of an affinity for chondroitin sulfate B/dermatan sulfate. This suggests that the epimer iduronic acid (common to heparan and dermatan sulfate), and not glucuronic acid, is important for the generation of the binding motif apart from negative charges provided by the sulfate residues. To date, not much is known about the compositions of glycosaminoglycans with respect to different cell types, but this might be a key to the understanding of the tropism of KSHV and other pathogens in vivo. At least for syndecan 1, the structures and ligand binding characteristics of the heparan sulfate side chains were shown to differ between cell types (29).
Syndecans compose a family of four closely related type I membrane proteins carrying heparan sulfate side chains (see references 6 and 13 for an overview). They play a major role in attachment to the extracellular matrix, in growth factor signaling, and in the formation of focal adhesions (34, 56, 57; see reference 54 for a review). We found that all three syndecans (1, 2, and 4) tested were able to increase the binding of gH
TM-Fc, with and without gL, to target cells. Furthermore, all syndecans clearly enhanced KSHV infection. Our results suggest that the gH/gL complex is part of an intricate attachment machinery that engages HSPGs with different affinities. In our hands, gH
TM-Fc exhibited higher affinity for cells and HSPGs than K8.1, another HSPG binding protein of KSHV. We suggest that the uncommonly high affinity of gH and gH/gL for cellular HSPGs may be the final stage in a multistep attachment sequence involving the glycoproteins K8.1, gB, KCP, and gH/gL and cellular HSPGs, as well as lectins. Syndecan engagement may be a turning point at which attachment ends and entry begins. Syndecans 1 and 4 were reported to trigger endocytosis (17, 53). Syndecan 4 is known to be a component of focal adhesions (56) and to induce protein kinase C signaling upon clustering (40, 41, 62), recruiting protein kinase C to focal contacts (34). It is noteworthy that KSHV enters at least some cells via endocytosis and that focal adhesions play a major role in KSHV entry (50). KSHV, like many other viruses, seems to mimic processes occurring during the attachment of cells to extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules in which integrins and syndecans or other HSPGs are cross-linked by fibronectin (48, 58). High-affinity binding of gH/gL to syndecans may not only promote attachment, but also foster internalization of the virus and thus ultimately enhance infection, as shown in our experiments.
Binding of the gH/gL complex on heparan sulfate-deficient cells also fits into this pattern of mimicking ECM interactions. Intense binding was clearly localized to structures resembling lammellipodia localized at the very edges of cells. Lamellipodia, in turn, are rich in integrins and other components of focal adhesions. A combination of HSPG and integrin interaction at focal adhesions seems to be a general feature of the entry processes of many pathogens and possibly mimics ECM molecules, like fibronectin, that also combine HSPG and integrin binding sites. Notably, this heparan sulfate-independent cell surface interaction required coexpression of gL.
Interestingly, syndecan 1 is present on PEL cells far more abundantly than on other cell lines tested here and was reported to disappear upon induction of lytic replication (1). It is not known from which type of B cell PEL is derived in the first place, at what stage of differentiation KSHV infection occurs, and which B-cell population is most susceptible to KSHV. Nevertheless, in light of our results, syndecan 1 expression, together with other entry factors, may play a role in the B-cell tropism of KSHV and thus ultimately in the development of PEL. It is surprising that shedding of syndecan 1 promotes the progression of tumors (61) and is a marker of PEL progression in a mouse xenograft model (16). The engagement of lammellipodium-like structures by the gH/gL complex, very similar to gB, combined with the affinity for syndecans may target the virus toward structures involved in very basal cellular functions, like migration and ECM attachment, functions that are deregulated in oncogenesis.
This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 643 and GRK1071), the IZKF Erlangen, the European Community research project TargetHerpes, and the Mainzer Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur.
Published ahead of print on 22 October 2008. ![]()
Present address: AiCuris GmbH, Friedrich-Ebert-Str. 415, 42117 Wuppertal, Germany. ![]()
Present address: Helmholtz-University Group Oncolytic Adenoviruses, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), and Department of Dermatology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 242, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. ![]()
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