A pioneer transcription factor and type I nuclear hormone receptors synergistically activate the bovine herpesvirus 1 infected cell protein 0 (ICP0) early promoter.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laximan Sawant ◽  
Jeffery B. Ostler ◽  
Clinton Jones

Following bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) acute infection of ocular, oral or nasal cavities, sensory neurons within trigeminal ganglia are an important site for latency. Stress, as mimicked by the synthetic corticosteroid dexamethasone, consistently induces reactivation from latency. Expression of two key viral transcriptional regulatory proteins, infected cell protein 0 (bICP0) and bICP4, are regulated by sequences within the immediate early promoter (IEtu1). A separate early promoter also drives bICP0 expression, presumably to ensure sufficient levels of this important transcriptional regulatory protein. Productive infection and bICP0 early promoter activity are cooperatively transactivated by Krüppel like factor 4 (KLF4) and a Type I nuclear hormone receptor (NHR), androgen receptor, glucocorticoid receptor, or progesterone receptor. The bICP0 early promoter contains 3 separate transcriptional enhancers that mediate cooperative transactivation. In contrast to the IEtu1 promoter, the bICP0 early promoter lacks consensus Type I NHR binding sites. Consequently, we hypothesized KLF4 and Sp1 binding sites are essential for Type I NHR and KLF4 to transactivate the bICP0 promoter. Mutating KLF4 and Sp1 binding sites in each enhancer domain significantly reduced transactivation by KLF4 and a Type I NHR. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) studies demonstrated occupancy of bICP0 early promoter sequences by KLF4 and Type I NHR is significantly reduced when KLF4 and/or Sp1 binding sites were mutated. These studies suggest cooperative transactivation of the bICP0 E promoter by Type I NHRs and a stress induced pioneer transcription factor (KLF4) promote viral replication and spread in neurons or non-neural cells in reproductive tissue. IMPORTANCE Understanding how stressful stimuli and changes in cellular milieu mediate viral replication and gene expression in the natural host is important for developing therapeutic strategies that impair virus transmission and disease. For example, bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) reactivation from latency is consistently induced by the synthetic corticosteroid dexamethasone, which mimics the effects of stress. Furthermore, BoHV-1 infection increases the incidence of abortion in pregnant cows suggesting sex hormones stimulate viral growth in certain tissue. Previous studies revealed Type I nuclear hormone receptors (androgen, glucocorticoid, or progesterone) and the pioneer transcription factor, Krüppel like factor 4 (KLF4), cooperatively transactivate the BoHV-1 infected cell protein 0 (bICP0) early promoter. Transactivation was mediated by Sp1 and/or KLF4 consensus binding sites within the 3 transcriptional enhancers. These studies underscore the complexity by which BoHV-1 exploits Type I NHR fluctuations to enhance viral gene expression, replication, and transmission in the natural host.

2019 ◽  
Vol 93 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffery B. Ostler ◽  
Kelly S. Harrison ◽  
Kayla Schroeder ◽  
Prasanth Thunuguntla ◽  
Clinton Jones

ABSTRACTFollowing acute infection, herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) establishes lifelong latency in neurons. Physical, emotional, and chemical stresses are linked to increasing the incidence of reactivation from latency, but the mechanism of action is not well understood. In general, stress increases corticosteroid levels, leading to activation of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), a pioneer transcription factor. Consequently, we hypothesized that stress-mediated activation of the GR can stimulate productive infection and viral gene expression. New studies demonstrated that the GR-specific antagonist (CORT-108297) significantly reduced HSV-1 productive infection in mouse neuroblastoma cells (Neuro-2A). Additional studies demonstrated that the activated GR and Krüppel-like transcription factor 15 (KLF15) cooperatively transactivated the infected cell protein 0 (ICP0) promoter, a crucial viral regulatory protein. Interestingly, the synthetic corticosteroid dexamethasone and GR or KLF15 alone had little effect on ICP0 promoter activity in transfected Neuro-2A or Vero cells. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) studies revealed that the GR and KLF15 occupied ICP0 promoter sequences important for transactivation at 2 and 4 h after infection; however, binding was not readily detected at 6 h after infection. Similar results were obtained for cells transfected with the full-length ICP0 promoter. ICP0 promoter sequences lack a consensus “whole” GR response element (GRE) but contain putative half-GREs that were important for dexamethasone induced promoter activity. The activated GR stimulates expression of, and interacts with, KLF15; consequently, these data suggest KLF15 and the GR form a feed-forward loop that activates viral gene expression and productive infection following stressful stimuli.IMPORTANCEThe ability of herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) to periodically reactivate from latency results in virus transmission and recurrent disease. The incidence of reactivation from latency is increased by chronic or acute stress. Stress increases the levels of corticosteroids, which bind and activate the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). Since GR activation is an immediate early response to stress, we tested whether the GR influences productive infection and the promoter that drives infected cell protein 0 (ICP0) expression. Pretreatment of cells with a GR-specific antagonist (CORT-108297) significantly reduced virus replication. Although the GR had little effect on ICP0 promoter activity alone, the Krüppel-like transcription factor 15 (KLF15) cooperated with the GR to stimulate promoter activity in transfected cells. In transfected or infected cells, the GR and KLF15 occupied ICP0 sequences important for transactivation. Collectively, these studies provide insight into how stress can directly stimulate productive infection and viral gene expression.


2005 ◽  
Vol 86 (10) ◽  
pp. 2697-2702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gail Henderson ◽  
Yange Zhang ◽  
Clinton Jones

The infected cell protein 0 (bICP0) encoded by Bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV-1) stimulates viral gene expression and productive infection. As bICP0 is expressed constitutively during productive infection, it is considered to be the major viral regulatory protein. Like other alphaherpesvirus ICP0 homologues, bICP0 contains a zinc RING finger near its N terminus that activates transcription and regulates subcellular localization. In this study, evidence is provided that bICP0 represses the human beta interferon (IFN-β) promoter and a simple promoter with consensus IFN-stimulated response elements following stimulation with double-stranded RNA (polyinosinic–polycytidylic acid), IFN regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) or IRF7. bICP0 also inhibits the ability of two protein kinases (TBK1 and IKKε) to activate IFN-β promoter activity. The zinc RING finger is necessary for inhibiting IFN-dependent transcription in certain cell types. Collectively, these studies suggest that bICP0 activates productive infection by stimulating viral gene expression and inhibiting IFN-dependent transcription.


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