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Journal of Virology, February 2009, p. 1941-1951, Vol. 83, No. 4
0022-538X/09/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.01752-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Institute for Molecular Virology and Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706
Received 19 August 2008/ Accepted 3 December 2008
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Cellular gene expression and activation of innate immunity pathways are absolutely dependent on signals traversing the NPC, so it is not surprising that many viruses commandeer the canonical transport processes for their own benefit. The lack of active import can help relocalize beneficial nuclear-targeted proteins to new sites on the Golgi apparatus or endoplasmic reticulum (13), where they may be usurped for viral translation or RNA synthesis. In addition, the inhibition of active trafficking can block the nuclear import of antiviral signals or prevent the export and availability of cellular mRNAs detrimental to virus processes. A well-known example is that the matrix protein of vesicular stomatitis virus binds simultaneously to Nup98, a component of the NPC, and to the transport factor Rae1. The new protein complex prevents the export of cellular mRNA, snRNA, and snRNPs (7, 37), thereby stalling cellular gene activation and the triggering of antiviral activities (17).
RNA viruses in the Picornaviridae family also disrupt the normal movement of cellular proteins and RNA across the nuclear envelope during infection, although viruses in each genus of this family use a different requisite component(s) and mechanism(s) to achieve their effects. For the enteroviruses (e.g., poliovirus and rhinovirus), a virus-encoded protease, 2A, cleaves and disrupts the activities of several FG nucleoporins, including Nup62, Nup98, and Nup153 (14, 15, 27). As a result, the receptors for many cellular cargos cannot transit the NPCs, regardless of their directional signal sequences (e.g., NES and NLS). Other cellular proteins normally retained in the nucleus redistribute to the cytoplasm as a consequence of altered NPC permeability, and several of these (e.g., Nucleolin, PTB, Sam68, and La autoantigen) are subsequently captured in RNA-protein complexes for use during the virus replication cycle (13).
Picornaviruses in the Cardiovirus genus, such as encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) and Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus, also have inhibitory trafficking phenotypes, although they lack a 2A-like protease and none of the NPC Nups are cleaved during infection (20). These viruses instead regulate nuclear trafficking through a 67-amino-acid (EMCV) or 76-amino-acid (Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus) leader (L) protein with an unusual N-terminal zinc finger protein-binding motif and a C-terminal acidic domain (5, 20). We have reported that recombinant EMCV L binds tightly to Ran-GTPase, the molecular switch which drives both nuclear import and export pathways (30). The presence of L inhibits normal Ran function in cell-free mitotic spindle assembly reactions, and the expression of L within cDNA-transfected cells is sufficient to inhibit cellular mRNA export from nuclei. Mutations engineered into the L zinc finger domain, which disrupt Ran binding, are also ineffective viral sequences for trafficking shutoff. During infection with wild-type EMCV, the disruption of nucleocytoplasmic trafficking is observed as a very early event. It occurs within 2 to 3 h postinfection (p.i.), even before the onset of viral replication. At such early times, the cellular concentration of Ran far exceeds that of L, and therefore, the virus-triggered NPC modulation function cannot be strictly stoichiometric. Rather, in addition to a Ran-binding function, a few copies of L must be able to leverage their effects through an alternate or parallel indirect inhibition mechanism.
We have now characterized alterations in the NPC proteins induced by EMCV infection and identified those which are dependent upon the activity of the L protein in isolation. We report here that several FG repeat Nups became hyperphosphorylated in an L-dependent manner as long as the reaction mixtures also contained added cytosol as the source of the requisite kinase(s). Nup phosphorylation was observed under every condition of L-directed inhibition of nuclear import/efflux, indicating that this phenomenon is essential to L protein function.
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TABLE 1. Primer sequences
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Recombinant proteins.
Plasmid pGST-GFPNLS has been described previously (24). It carries fused genes for green fluorescent protein (GFP) and glutathione S-transferase (GST), linked to a simian virus 40 large T-antigen NLS. Expression in transformed Escherichia coli DH5
(bacterial) cells was induced with isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactoside (1 mM). Cell extracts were prepared after treatment with lysozyme (0.5 mg/ml in 25 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.4, 150 mM NaCl, 5% glycerol, 1 mM dithiothreitol [DTT], 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride) and sonication. Soluble recombinant protein was isolated after extract clarification, using glutathione-Sepharose high-performance resin (GE Healthcare), and then dialyzed (20 mM HEPES, pH 7.3, 110 mM potassium acetate) before purity (sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis [SDS-PAGE]) and concentration (Bradford kit; Bio-Rad) were assayed.
Plasmids for bacterial expression of EMCV L proteins (pGST-L, pGST-LC19A, pGST-L
a), fused to amino-terminal GST tags and His6-tagged human Ran (pHisRan) have been described previously, as have protocols for protein purification (4, 30). Additional L configurations (pGST-LT47A and pGST-LY41F) were constructed in two-step PCRs with Pfu polymerase, mutagenic primer pairs (T47A, 1033 and 1034; Y41F, 974 and 973) and flanking primers (1008 and 1062) using the L-coding region of pEC9 as a template (Table 1). The resulting amplicons were ligated into pGEX-6-P DNA (GE Healthcare) after digestion of the plasmid and insert(s) with BamHI and EcoRI. Transformation, induction, protein isolation, purity, and concentration assessments were the same as those for GST-GFPNLS.
Reporter tracking during infection. Nuclear reporter plasmid, pHT3NLS, fused the full-length HaloTag gene to three tandem copies of the simian virus 40 large T-antigen NLS sequence. The plasmid backbone was derived from pAcGFP1-nuc (BD Biosciences) by removing the GFP-coding region (digestion with NheI and BspEI) and replacing it with a HaloTag-coding fragment from pHT2 (Promega), digested with NheI and NgoMIV. HeLa cells (50% subconfluent monolayers in 24-well plates) were transfected with pHT2 (Promega) or pHT3NLS using Lipofectamine 2000 (Invitrogen) according to the manufacturer's recommendations (typically, 0.4 µg cDNA per well was used). The cells were cultured for 24 h (5% calf serum, Opti-MEM I medium; Invitrogen) to allow protein expression under the transcriptional control of a cytomegalovirus immediate-early promoter endogenous to each plasmid. The medium was replaced with Opti-MEM I containing HaloTag TMR ligand (5 µM; Promega). After incubation (25 min at 37°C), the cells were washed (three times) with warm phosphate-buffered saline and then infected with vEC9 (MOI = 50). Between 1 and 5 h later, the cells were washed again and the TMR signal was visualized (Nikon TE2000S fluorescence microscope with x20 objective and the tetramethyl rhodamine isothiocyanate [TRITC] filter set) or harvested and denatured prior to protein fractionation by SDS-PAGE. TMR-labeled HaloTag bands were detected with a Typhoon 9200 imager (GE Healthcare) equipped with a 532-nm excitation laser and 580-nm band-pass 30 emission filter.
Reporter tracking in digitonin-treated cells. Interphase Xenopus egg extracts (26) were clarified (16,100 x g for 15 min at 4°C) before the soluble fraction was snap-frozen (liquid nitrogen) into single-use aliquots. Nuclear import assays were similar to those described previously (1). Briefly, HeLa monolayers (60% confluent, using 12-mm coverslips in 24-well dishes) were washed once with transport buffer (TB; 20 mM HEPES, pH 7.3, 110 mM potassium acetate, 2 mM magnesium acetate, 1 mM EGTA, 2 mM DTT at 4°C), permeabilized with digitonin (20 µg/ml), and then washed again with TB. Individual import mixtures (TB containing 50% Xenopus egg extract, 1 mM ATP, 0.5 mM GTP, 75 µg/ml GST-GFPNLS) including the desired effectors (i.e., wheat germ agglutinin [WGA; 5 µg/reaction; Sigma], GST, GST-L, or GST-LC19A) were assembled on ice and then placed as droplets (40 µl) onto Parafilm. Reactions were initiated by inverting cell-covered coverslips onto the droplets. After incubation (20°C in the dark for 35 min), TB was added (400 µl at 4°C) before the coverslips were washed (twice with TB), fixed (4% formaldehyde), and then mounted on microscope slides (Vectashield mounting medium; Vector Labs). Nuclear efflux assays omitted the effector protein from the initial import mixtures. After the coverslips were incubated and washed (twice with TB), they were reinverted onto fresh droplets of new import mixtures, this time containing the desired effectors. Incubation, washing, fixing, and mounting were the same as for import assays.
When appropriate, the cell samples were treated with monoclonal antibody 414 (MAb 414; Covance) and TRITC-conjugated goat anti-mouse immunoglobulin G (IgG; Sigma) as primary and secondary antibodies, respectively. DNA was stained with DAPI (4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; 0.5 µg/ml) during secondary antibody incubation. The mounted samples were visualized with a Nikon Eclipse TE2000U laser confocal microscope (x60/1.4 PlanApo objective). Signals for GFP, TRITC, and DAPI used 488-, 543-, and 405-nm-wavelength lasers, respectively, in independent series. Within each experiment, all images were acquired with identical settings. Imaged signals for nuclear GST-GFPNLS were assigned relative values by measuring the pixel density (ImageQuant software) within circles of identical dimensions for 20 representative nuclei. Averages and standard deviations were determined over several independent experiments. Linear scans of GFP (cargo) and Nup signals (MAb 414) for individual cells (ImageQuant) used grayscale images derived from respective collection channels. For accuracy and to reduce noise, the scans report the average pixel density within a sliding window (3 pixels in width by 21 pixels in height) as it moved across the image.
Western blot analyses. Rabbit polyclonal serum raised to the EMCV capsid was described previously (2). Primary reagents against tubulin (murine MAb, SC-5286; Santa Cruz Biotech), eIF-4G (rabbit polyclonal, SC-11373; Santa Cruz Biotech), GFP (rabbit polyclonal, SC-8334; Santa Cruz Biotech), lamin A (murine MAb, ab8980; Abcam), and FG-containing nucleoporins (murine MAb 414; Covance) were commercial, as were appropriate horseradish peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibodies (A2554 and A0545; Sigma).
Whole cells or digitonin-treated nuclei for protein analyses were washed (phosphate-buffered saline) and then harvested into lysis buffer (20 mM Tris, pH 7.6, 140 mM NaCl, 2.5 mM EDTA, 1% SDS [wt/vol], 1x phosphatase inhibitor cocktail 1; Sigma), sonicated, combined with gel loading buffer, and boiled. Nuclear and cytoplasmic fractions were separated by centrifugation (500 x g for 5 min), following cell lysis in hypotonic buffer (10 mM Tris, pH 7.4, 10 mM NaCl, 3 mM MgCl2, 0.5% NP-40 [vol/vol], 1x phosphatase inhibitor cocktail 1), and then prepared for analysis as described above. After SDS-PAGE fractionation, the proteins were electrotransferred onto membranes (Immobilon P [Millipore] in 25 mM Tris, pH 8.0, 0.19 M glycine, 20% methanol), treated with blocking solution (20 mM Tris, pH 7.6, 140 mM NaCl, 0.05% Tween 20, 10% nonfat dry milk), rewashed (twice in Tris-buffered saline-Tween 20 [TBST; 20 mM Tris, pH 7.6, 140 mM NaCl, 0.05% Tween 20]), incubated with the primary antibody (in TBST with 1% nonfat dry milk at 4°C and for 12 h), and then washed again (three times in TBST) before treatment with secondary antibody (in TBST with 1% nonfat dry milk). After subsequent washes (three times in TBST), the membranes were exposed to film in the presence of enhanced chemiluminescence substrate (GE Healthcare).
Phosphoprotein analyses. Mock-infected or infected cell extracts, collected as described above, were diluted (1:10 in 20 mM Tris-Cl, pH 7.6, 340 mM NaCl, 2.5 mM EDTA, 1% Triton X-100, 1x phosphatase inhibitor cocktail 1), incubated on ice, and then clarified (16,100 x g for 15 min at 4°C) before the supernatants were reacted (3 h; 4°C) with MAb 414 or a control mouse IgG (SC-2025; Santa Cruz Biotech), immobilized on protein G-Sepharose beads (GE Healthcare). The beads were washed (three times in 50 mM Tris-Cl, pH 7.6, 340 mM NaCl, 2.5 mM EDTA, 0.1% Triton X-100) and then washed again with buffer (20 mM Tris-Cl, pH 7.6, 136 mM NaCl, 10 mM MgCl2, 0.1 mM DTT) before incubation (30 min, 37°C) with 2.5 U calf intestinal phosphatase (NEB). Protein was removed from the beads by being boiled in loading buffer prior to SDS-PAGE fractionation and detection by Western blot analysis. For direct phosphoprotein detection, peppermint stick reference standards (Invitrogen) were included in parallel gel lanes. Gels were incubated in Pro-Q Diamond phosphoprotein stain (Invitrogen), and the signals were visualized with a Typhoon 9200 (GE Healthcare) imager equipped with a 532-nm excitation laser and 560-nm long-pass emission filter. All images were analyzed with ImageQuant software.
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FIG. 1. EMCV promotes nuclear efflux. (A) HeLa cells were transfected with pHT2 or pHTNLS cDNA. After 24 h, HaloTag-TMR ligand was added, and 30 min later, the cells were infected with vEC9 (MOI = 50). Fluorescence microscope images of live cells were taken at 3 h p.i. (B) Parallel samples were lysed in SDS and fractionated by PAGE, and the TMR signals were localized by fluoroimaging. (C) Cells were transfected with pHTNLS and then infected as described for panel A. Samples were imaged at the indicated times p.i.
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FIG. 2. Recombinant L protein promotes nuclear efflux. (A) Schematic of digitonin nuclear efflux assay. (B) Digitonin-treated HeLa cells were incubated with an import mixture containing Xenopus egg cytosol, ATP, GTP, and import substrate (GST-GFPNLS). Cells were washed twice and then exposed to fresh import mixture lacking the reporter but containing the indicated effector (3 µM GST, GST-L, or GST-LC19A) or WGA control. The cells were washed, fixed, and then visualized by confocal microscopy.
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FIG. 3. Recombinant L protein inhibits nuclear import. (A) Similar to Fig. 2, digitonin-treated HeLa cells were reacted with import mixtures, except that the effectors and reporter (GST-GFPNLS) were both included during the initial incubation (3 µM). After 35 min, the cells were washed, fixed, and visualized by confocal microscopy. (B) The confocal images were captured digitally, and the GFP-specific pixels from equivalent-area centers of 20 nuclei in representative fields were recorded. The average pixel density (relative nuclear fluorescence) in the absence of effectors (Control) was set at 100%. (C) Similar to panel B, the import mixtures contained 0 or 3 µM GST-L. The cells were washed, fixed, and then visualized at the indicated times. The scale is the same as that described for panel B. (D) Similar to that shown in panel B, the import mixtures included the indicated concentrations of GST-L. –Cytosol, without added cytosol.
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FIG. 4. Import cargo localization. (A) Digitonin-treated HeLa cells were reacted in GST-GFPNLS import assays as described in Fig. 3. After the cells were fixed, they were treated with DAPI and MAb 414 to label DNA and FG-containing NPC proteins, respectively. Imaging was performed as described in Materials and Methods. Boxes in the merged images (GFP/NPC) show the regions enlarged in the right-most panels. The lines show the scanned paths used to record the pixel density for individual data (color) channels. (B) The red (MAb 414) and green (GST-GFPNLS) channel densities were plotted. All data were collected with identical image settings.
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FIG. 5. Nup62 is modified during infection. (A) HeLa cells infected with vEC9 (MOI = 50) were lysed in SDS at the indicated times p.i. Proteins were fractionated by PAGE and then visualized by Western blot analysis using MAb 414 or anti-EMCV antibody (Capsid). (B) The Nup62 bands for mock (M) and 5 h p.i. samples described for panel A were scanned and then plotted. (C) Infection and assays were performed as described for panel A (5 h p.i.), except the MOI was 5 (PFU) and one sample was infected with vEC9-LC19A. (D) Infection with vEC9 was as described for panel A. At 4.5 h p.i., the cells were harvested and then fractionated (as described in Materials and Methods) into cytosolic (Cyt.), nuclear (Nuc.), or whole-cell (W.C.) extracts before PAGE and Western blot analyses were carried out. Tubulin (cytosol) and lamin A (nuclear) antibodies recorded the effectiveness of the cell fractionation techniques. (E) As described for panel A, cells were infected with vEC9 or HRV-16 before being harvested at 4.5 or 6.5 h p.i. The tubulin bands provide gel loading controls. Cleavage of eIF4G is a positive control for effective HRV-16 infection.
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FIG. 6. Phosphorylation of FG nucleoporins. (A) Extracts from vEC9- or mock-infected cells (4.5 h p.i.) were reacted with MAb 414 or IgG (control) in immunoprecipitation experiments (as described in Materials and Methods). Captured protein was treated with calf intestinal alkaline phosphatase before fractionation by PAGE and visualization by Western blot analysis (MAb 414). IgG immunoprecipitations from virus-infected and mock-infected cell lysates had identical patterns, and therefore the virus IgG control was not included in this figure. (B to D) Samples collected as described for panel A were fractionated on parallel gels by PAGE. (B) Band visualization was achieved by using Western blot analysis (MAb 414). (C) Band visualization was achieved by using the Pro-Q Diamond phosphoprotein stain. PO4 Std, phosphoprotein reference standard. (D) Gel lanes in panel C corresponding with samples from vEC9-infected cells immunoprecipitated with MAb 414 (mAb414 IP; solid black line; lane 9 in panel C), mock-infected cell samples immunoprecipitated with IgG (IgG IP; solid gray line; lane 7 in panel C), or MAb 414 (dashed black line; lane 8 in panel C) were scanned and plotted. Asterisks denote bands from the mock-infected cells which cross-reacted with both antibodies (i.e., background).
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FIG. 7. Nucleoporin phosphorylation correlates with L activity. (A) Digitonin-treated HeLa cells were incubated with import mixtures containing GST-L at concentrations from 0.03 to 3.0 µM. After 15 or 35 min, washed cells were harvested in SDS, fractionated by PAGE, and analyzed by Western blot analysis. Nup62 was detected with MAb 414. (B) Digitonin-treated HeLa cells were incubated with import mixtures (as described in the legend to Fig. 3), which included GST-GFPNLS, the indicated effectors (3 µM), and either dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) or 1 µM staurosporine (Staur.). After 35 min, the cells were washed, fixed, and visualized by confocal microscopy. (C) As described in the legend to Fig. 3, digitally captured confocal images of the GFP-specific pixels from 20 nuclei were recorded. The average pixel density (relative nuclear fluorescence) for the GST without staurosporine (control) was set at 100%. (D) Similar to panel B, digitonin-treated HeLa cells were incubated with import mixtures containing the indicated effectors (3 µM) and either DMSO (–) or 1 µM staurosporine (+). Washed cells were harvested in SDS, fractionated by PAGE, and analyzed by Western blot analysis. Nup62 was detected as described in panel A. Lamin A was the sample loading control.
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FIG. 8. Pretreatment with L protein inhibits import. (A) Digitonin-treated HeLa cells were incubated with an import mixture containing Xenopus egg cytosol, ATP, GTP with or without the indicated effector (3 µM GST, GST-L) or WGA control but lacking import substrate (GST-GFPNLS). Cells were washed twice and then exposed to fresh import mixture with the reporter (GST-GFPNLS) in the absence of the effector. Control reaction mixtures where the effector was added during import (Pre-treat w/effector; as described in the legend to Fig. 3) were prepared in parallel. The cells were washed, fixed, and then visualized by confocal microscopy. (B) As described in the legend to Fig. 3, digitally captured confocal images of the GFP-specific pixels from 20 nuclei were recorded. The average pixel density (relative nuclear fluorescence) for the GST (control) was set at 100%. (C) Digitonin-treated cells incubated with effectors as described in panel A were washed and harvested for Western blot analysis with MAb 414.
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a) removed these and extensive additional residues from the acidic domain. If the phosphorylation of L itself were contributing to the trafficking phenotypes, the effects should be recapitulated in cell-free assays. To test this idea, each mutant sequence (Fig. 9A) was reengineered into pGST-L, expressed in E. coli, and then purified as a recombinant protein. When assayed side-by-side against GST-L for their abilities to inhibit GST-GFPNLS uptake into digitonin-treated HeLa cells, only GST-LC19A was inactive (Fig. 9B). The GST-LY41F, GST-LT47A, and GST-L
a proteins behaved similarly to the wild-type protein and were very effective at inhibiting reporter uptake. Therefore, the L protein zinc finger alone was sufficient for this activity in cell-free assays, and L phosphorylation within the acidic domain (if it occurs) was not a requirement. Examination of the digitonin-treated nuclei after these reactions confirmed that in every case where reporter import was inhibited, nucleoporins (e.g., Nup62) became phosphorylated (Fig. 9C). A cytoplasmic factor was also clearly required for this activity, because none of the tested proteins were as effective when exogenous cytosol (from Xenopus eggs or HeLa cells) was omitted, even if ATP and GTP were included in the reaction buffers. The slight Nup62 shift observed in some of these treatments was likely due to incomplete removal of the endogenous cytoplasmic enzyme prior to the addition of recombinant protein.
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FIG. 9. Required L protein domains. (A) Mutational map of EMCV L recombinant proteins. (B) Digitonin-treated HeLa cells were incubated with import mixtures (as described in legend to Fig. 3), including GST-GFPNLS, and indicated effectors (3 µM). After 35 min, the cells were washed, fixed, and visualized by confocal microscopy. (C) Digitonin-treated HeLa cells, as described in panel B, were incubated with the indicated effectors (3 µM) and ATP/GTP in the presence or absence of cytosol (from Xenopus eggs). Cells were washed, harvested in SDS, fractionated by PAGE, and analyzed by Western blot analysis (MAb 414 or lamin).
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FIG. 10. The addition of Ran does not block L-induced nucleoporin phosphorylation. Digitonin-treated HeLa cells were incubated with import mixtures containing GST-L or the GST control protein (3.0 µM). Purified recombinant His6-tagged Ran was added to the reaction mixtures at concentrations from 1.5 to 18 µM. After 35 min, treated cells were harvested in SDS, fractionated by PAGE, and analyzed by Western blotting. Nup62 was detected with MAb 414.
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a) or had mutations in either of the putative L phosphorylation sites (Y41 and T47) had activities similar to those of wild-type L in these cell-free reaction mixtures (Fig. 9). It has been reported that EMCVs with the same mutations (
a and T47A) have reduced growth phenotypes during infection (6, 38), perhaps indicating that L takes part in multiple vital functions when introduced in a viral context. Our own growth studies with EMCV confirmed these observations (data not shown). However, the L effect on nucleocytoplasmic trafficking in cell-free assays was dependent only on a suitable reporter, nuclei, and the presence of an added cytosolic fraction, suggesting that L inhibitory activity is derived from a direct interaction of the zinc finger domain with one or more cellular partners. Among the obvious cellular targets, we have reported that recombinant EMCV L binds tightly to recombinant Ran- GTPase and inhibits Ran GTP/GDP cycling activities in cell extracts (30). Ran is a very abundant protein in cells (12), and indeed our GFPNLS import assays gave maximum L-dependent inhibition at micromolar concentrations sufficient to have titrated most Ran from the extracts. However, infected cells and especially early infected cells unquestionably have much more Ran than L. Our HaloTag assays measured nuclear efflux as early as 2 to 3 h after EMCV infection (Fig. 1). This means L or L-Ran complexes need to additionally leverage their inhibitory effects to abrogate most or all NPC activity within a short timeframe p.i. We believe that the L-triggered phenomenon which parallels Ran binding is the phosphorylation of core nucleoporins crucial to trafficking mechanisms. In every positive inhibition assay with cells or extracts, our antibodies detected that three FG repeat nucleoporins, Nup62, Nup153, and Nup214, were reproducibly hyperphosphorylated in an L-dependent manner. L sequences with inactivating mutations (C19A) did not trigger this effect, nor did infection with another picornavirus (HRV-16) (Fig. 5E). When staurosporine, a broad-spectrum kinase inhibitor, prevented Nup phosphorylation, L was unable to inhibit nuclear trafficking (Fig. 7). In further support of this linkage, nuclei with NPCs phosphorylated by pretreatment with L remained defective in subsequent import reaction mixtures lacking the viral protein (Fig. 8).
FG repeat nucleoporins are displayed across the entire span of the NPC (36). During active transport, receptor-cargo complexes interact with the natively disordered repeat domains, facilitating movement across the pore (32). FG nucleoporins also interact within the NPC to maintain pore integrity and help form a barrier that is impermeable to passive diffusion (18, 28, 35). Certainly, phosphorylation of one or more Nups could interfere with the binding of cargo-receptor complexes or disrupt NPC self-interactions. Our assays focused on Nup62, as it is the target with the most visible gel shift phenotype and a key transport unit in the NPC central channel. The upward smear of this band, reversed by phosphatase treatment and reactive with phosphoprotein staining, predicts several L-dependent phosphorylation events per protein. The intensity of the shift increased over the course of EMCV infection (Fig. 5A), occurred only under conditions of L-induced import inhibition (Fig. 7 to 9), and coincided temporally with the onset of nuclear efflux in cells or digitonin-treated nuclei. Since our Nup assays were necessarily defined by available antibodies (e.g., MAb 414), we cannot preclude that additional L-dependent Nup modifications occur in other NPC proteins. We are currently examining this possibility. It is probably not a coincidence, however, that viruses from the related Enterovirus genus of picornaviruses achieve trafficking inhibition by targeting their viral 2A protease to the NPC where they cleave the same Nup proteins we detected as being phosphorylated, thereby destroying the central NPC transport channel (3, 14, 27). Nup62 and Nup153 in particular are among the key substrates for these enzymes, suggesting that these core FG proteins are critical targets for picornavirus-induced regulation of NPC function (14, 15).
Cardiovirus L protein is not a kinase nor is its binding partner Ran. Phosphorylation is known to regulate nucleocytoplasmic trafficking by masking or unmasking localization signals on target proteins (29), but the contribution of nucleoporin phosphorylation to NPC function is understood only poorly. To be sure, during mitosis, cyclin-dependent kinases direct general modification of certain nucleoporins, causing the NPC to dissociate into subcomplexes that reside in the cytoplasm until the nuclear envelope is reassembled later in the cycle (22). Our results suggest that EMCV-induced Nup phosphorylation is not the result of an aberrant cyclin-dependent kinase activation. The collection of FG repeat proteins acted upon during infection is different than that targeted during mitosis (Nup153, Nup214, and Nup358) (8, 21, 23), and there is no evidence that NPCs are disassembled. The L-dependent phosphorylated form of Nup62 was retained in its entirety in the nuclear fraction of infected cells, and immunostaining patterns of other NPC proteins were unaltered by L. Moreover, unlike staurosporine, preliminary experiments with cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors had no effect on EMCV-induced phosphorylation (F. W. Porter, unpublished data). Our data do suggest that the responsible kinase (or kinases) must be cytoplasmic, because L-dependent inhibition was never observed in the digitonin assays unless cytosolic extracts were included (Fig. 3). Infected HeLa cells and cell-free assays with Xenopus egg cytosol produced identical patterns, indicating that the requisite kinase(s) is ubiquitous and probably well conserved in eukaryotes.
We are in the process of characterizing the modified Nups and working with extensive panels of kinase inhibitors to identify the culpable cellular enzymes. It is unknown at this point whether L or L-Ran complexes provide the phosphorylation trigger. But some data do suggest that L-Ran binding is not coincidental to Nup phosphorylation. The isolated zinc finger domain of L was required and sufficient for inhibiting Ran activity in mitotic extracts (30), for triggering Nup62 phosphorylation in digitonin assays, for preventing active nuclear import of GFPNLS, and for triggering unregulated nuclear efflux in cells and cell extracts. Staurosporine does not rescue microtubule aster formation in the presence of L, indicating that our reported results with Ran activity assays were not due to an L-induced kinase (unpublished data). The addition of a molar excess of recombinant Ran to our digitonin assays was likewise unable to rescue Nups from L-induced phosphorylation, suggesting that the mechanism is not the result of simple titration of the available protein (Fig. 10). We hypothesize that L or an L-Ran complex activates a normally quiescent cellular kinase or retargets a constitutively active kinase to phosphorylate the nucleoporins. As we work through the specifics of these mechanisms, we hope to verify the remarkably novel ways used by viruses to subvert common pathways and use them against the cell.
This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grant AI017331 to A.C.P. and a UW Biochemistry Department Scholar Fellowship to F.W.P.
Published ahead of print on 10 December 2008. ![]()
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B. J. Virol. 76:9664-9672.This article has been cited by other articles:
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