scholarly journals Foreign Glycoproteins Can Be Actively Recruited to Virus Assembly Sites during Pseudotyping

2009 ◽  
Vol 83 (9) ◽  
pp. 4060-4067 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca L. Jorgenson ◽  
Volker M. Vogt ◽  
Marc C. Johnson

ABSTRACT Retroviruses like human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), as well as many other enveloped viruses, can efficiently produce infectious virus in the absence of their own surface glycoprotein if a suitable glycoprotein from a foreign virus is expressed in the same cell. This process of complementation, known as pseudotyping, often can occur even when the glycoprotein is from an unrelated virus. Although pseudotyping is widely used for engineering chimeric viruses, it has remained unknown whether a virus can actively recruit foreign glycoproteins to budding sites or, alternatively, if a virus obtains the glycoproteins through a passive mechanism. We have studied the specificity of glycoprotein recruitment by immunogold labeling viral glycoproteins and imaging their distribution on the host plasma membrane using scanning electron microscopy. Expressed alone, all tested viral glycoproteins were relatively randomly distributed on the plasma membrane. However, in the presence of budding HIV-1 or Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) particles, some glycoproteins, such as those encoded by murine leukemia virus and vesicular stomatitis virus, were dramatically redistributed to viral budding sites. In contrast, the RSV Env glycoprotein was robustly recruited only to the homologous RSV budding sites. These data demonstrate that viral glycoproteins are not in preformed membrane patches prior to viral assembly but rather that glycoproteins are actively recruited to certain viral assembly sites.

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 129
Author(s):  
Alžběta Dostálková ◽  
Barbora Vokatá ◽  
Filip Kaufman ◽  
Pavel Ulbrich ◽  
Tomáš Ruml ◽  
...  

The assembly of a hexameric lattice of retroviral immature particles requires the involvement of cell factors such as proteins and small molecules. A small, negatively charged polyanionic molecule, myo-inositol hexaphosphate (IP6), was identified to stimulate the assembly of immature particles of HIV-1 and other lentiviruses. Interestingly, cryo-electron tomography analysis of the immature particles of two lentiviruses, HIV-1 and equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV), revealed that the IP6 binding site is similar. Based on this amino acid conservation of the IP6 interacting site, it is presumed that the assembly of immature particles of all lentiviruses is stimulated by IP6. Although this specific region for IP6 binding may be unique for lentiviruses, it is plausible that other retroviral species also recruit some small polyanion to facilitate the assembly of their immature particles. To study whether the assembly of retroviruses other than lentiviruses can be stimulated by polyanionic molecules, we measured the effect of various polyanions on the assembly of immature virus-like particles of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV), a member of alpharetroviruses, Mason-Pfizer monkey virus (M-PMV) representative of betaretroviruses, and murine leukemia virus (MLV), a member of gammaretroviruses. RSV, M-PMV and MLV immature virus-like particles were assembled in vitro from truncated Gag molecules and the effect of selected polyanions, myo-inostol hexaphosphate, myo-inositol, glucose-1,6-bisphosphate, myo-inositol hexasulphate, and mellitic acid, on the particles assembly was quantified. Our results suggest that the assembly of immature particles of RSV and MLV was indeed stimulated by the presence of myo-inostol hexaphosphate and myo-inositol, respectively. In contrast, no effect on the assembly of M-PMV as a betaretrovirus member was observed.


2014 ◽  
Vol 88 (14) ◽  
pp. 7904-7914 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheikh Abdul Rahman ◽  
Peter Koch ◽  
Julian Weichsel ◽  
William J. Godinez ◽  
Ulrich Schwarz ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTHuman immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) particles assemble at the plasma membrane, which is lined by a dense network of filamentous actin (F-actin). Large amounts of actin have been detected in HIV-1 virions, proposed to be incorporated by interactions with the nucleocapsid domain of the viral polyprotein Gag. Previous studies addressing the role of F-actin in HIV-1 particle formation using F-actin-interfering drugs did not yield consistent results. Filamentous structures pointing toward nascent HIV-1 budding sites, detected by cryo-electron tomography and atomic force microscopy, prompted us to revisit the role of F-actin in HIV-1 assembly by live-cell microscopy. HeLa cells coexpressing HIV-1 carrying fluorescently labeled Gag and a labeled F-actin-binding peptide were imaged by live-cell total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIR-FM). Computational analysis of image series did not reveal characteristic patterns of F-actin in the vicinity of viral budding sites. Furthermore, no transient recruitment of F-actin during bud formation was detected by monitoring fluorescence intensity changes at nascent HIV-1 assembly sites. The chosen approach allowed us to measure the effect of F-actin-interfering drugs on the assembly of individual virions in parallel with monitoring changes in the F-actin network of the respective cell. Treatment of cells with latrunculin did not affect the efficiency and dynamics of Gag assembly under conditions resulting in the disruption of F-actin filaments. Normal assembly rates were also observed upon transient stabilization of F-actin by short-term treatment with jasplakinolide. Taken together, these findings indicate that actin filament dynamics are dispensable for HIV-1 Gag assembly at the plasma membrane of HeLa cells.IMPORTANCEHIV-1 particles assemble at the plasma membrane of virus-producing cells. This membrane is lined by a dense network of actin filaments that might either present a physical obstacle to the formation of virus particles or generate force promoting the assembly process. Drug-mediated interference with the actin cytoskeleton showed different results for the formation of retroviral particles in different studies, likely due to general effects on the cell upon prolonged drug treatment. Here, we characterized the effect of actin-interfering compounds on the HIV-1 assembly process by direct observation of virus formation in live cells, which allowed us to measure assembly rate constants directly upon drug addition. Virus assembly proceeded with normal rates when actin filaments were either disrupted or stabilized. Taken together with the absence of characteristic actin filament patterns at viral budding sites in our analyses, this indicates that the actin network is dispensable for HIV-1 assembly.


2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (14) ◽  
pp. 6788-6797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul W. Keller ◽  
Marc C. Johnson ◽  
Volker M. Vogt

ABSTRACT All orthoretroviruses encode a single structural protein, Gag, which is necessary and sufficient for the assembly and budding of enveloped virus-like particles from the cell. The Gag proteins of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) contain a short spacer peptide (SP or SP1, respectively) separating the capsid (CA) and nucleocapsid (NC) domains. SP or SP1 and the residues immediately upstream are known to be critical for proper assembly. Using mutagenesis and electron microscopy analysis of insect cells or chicken cells overexpressing RSV Gag, we defined the SP assembly domain to include the last 8 residues of CA, all 12 residues of SP, and the first 4 residues of NC. Five- or two-amino acid glycine-rich insertions or substitutions in this critical region uniformly resulted in the budding of abnormal, long tubular particles. The equivalent SP1-containing HIV-1 Gag sequence was unable to functionally replace the RSV sequence in supporting normal RSV spherical assembly. According to secondary structure predictions, RSV and HIV-1 SP/SP1 and adjoining residues may form an alpha helix, and what is likely the functionally equivalent sequence in murine leukemia virus Gag has been inferred by mutational analysis to form an amphipathic alpha helix. However, our alanine insertion mutagenesis did not provide evidence for an amphipathic helix in RSV Gag. Taken together, these results define a short assembly domain between the folded portions of CA and NC, which is essential for formation of the immature Gag shell.


2015 ◽  
Vol 89 (20) ◽  
pp. 10371-10382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Dick ◽  
Siddhartha A. K. Datta ◽  
Hirsh Nanda ◽  
Xianyang Fang ◽  
Yi Wen ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTPreviously, no retroviral Gag protein has been highly purified in milligram quantities and in a biologically relevant and active form. We have purified Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) Gag protein and in parallel several truncation mutants of Gag and have studied their biophysical properties and membrane interactionsin vitro. RSV Gag is unusual in that it is not naturally myristoylated. From its ability to assemble into virus-like particlesin vitro, we infer that RSV Gag is biologically active. By size exclusion chromatography and small-angle X-ray scattering, Gag in solution appears extended and flexible, in contrast to previous reports on unmyristoylated HIV-1 Gag, which is compact. However, by neutron reflectometry measurements of RSV Gag bound to a supported bilayer, the protein appears to adopt a more compact, folded-over conformation. At physiological ionic strength, purified Gag binds strongly to liposomes containing acidic lipids. This interaction is stimulated by physiological levels of phosphatidylinositol-(4,5)-bisphosphate [PI(4,5)P2] and by cholesterol. However, unlike HIV-1 Gag, RSV Gag shows no sensitivity to acyl chain saturation. In contrast with full-length RSV Gag, the purified MA domain of Gag binds to liposomes only weakly. Similarly, both an N-terminally truncated version of Gag that is missing the MA domain and a C-terminally truncated version that is missing the NC domain bind only weakly. These results imply that NC contributes to membrane interactionin vitro, either by directly contacting acidic lipids or by promoting Gag multimerization.IMPORTANCERetroviruses like HIV assemble at and bud from the plasma membrane of cells. Assembly requires the interaction between thousands of Gag molecules to form a lattice. Previous work indicated that lattice formation at the plasma membrane is influenced by the conformation of monomeric HIV. We have extended this work to the more tractable RSV Gag. Our results show that RSV Gag is highly flexible and can adopt a folded-over conformation on a lipid bilayer, implicating both the N and C termini in membrane binding. In addition, binding of Gag to membranes is diminished when either terminal domain is truncated. RSV Gag membrane association is significantly less sensitive than HIV Gag membrane association to lipid acyl chain saturation. These findings shed light on Gag assembly and membrane binding, critical steps in the viral life cycle and an untapped target for antiretroviral drugs.


2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (24) ◽  
pp. 13111-13115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shan Cen ◽  
Hassan Javanbakht ◽  
Sunghoon Kim ◽  
Kiyotaka Shiba ◽  
Rebecca Craven ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The tRNAs used to prime reverse transcription in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), Rous sarcoma virus (RSV), and Moloney murine leukemia virus (Mo-MuLV) are \batchmode \documentclass[fleqn,10pt,legalpaper]{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \(tRNA_{3}^{Lys}\) \end{document} , tRNATrp, and tRNAPro, respectively. Using antibodies to the three cognate human aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, we found that only lysyl-tRNA synthetase (LysRS) is present in HIV-1, only tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase (TrpRS) is present in RSV, and neither these two synthetases nor prolyl-tRNA synthetase (ProRS) is present in Mo-MuLV. LysRS and TrpRS are present in HIV-1 and RSV at approximately 25 and 12 molecules/virion, respectively. These results support the hypothesis that, in HIV-1 and RSV, the cognate aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase may be used as the signal for targeting the selective packaging of primer tRNAs into retroviruses. The absence of ProRS in Mo-MuLV is consistent with reports that selective packaging of tRNAPro in this virus is less important for achieving optimum annealing of the primer to Mo-MuLV genomic RNA.


2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (19) ◽  
pp. 10606-10616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jared L. Spidel ◽  
Rebecca C. Craven ◽  
Carol B. Wilson ◽  
Akash Patnaik ◽  
Huating Wang ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The release of retroviruses from the plasma membrane requires host factors that are believed to be recruited to the site of budding by the late (L) domain of the virus-encoded Gag protein. The L domain of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) has been shown to interact with a ubiquitin (Ub) ligase, and budding of this virus is dependent on Ub. RSV is similar to other retroviruses in that it contains ∼100 molecules of Ub, but it is unique in that none of these molecules has been found to be conjugated to Gag. If transient ubiquitination of RSV Gag is required for budding, then replacement of the target lysine(s) with arginine should prevent the addition of Ub and reduce budding. Based on known sites of ubiquitination in other viruses, the important lysines would likely reside near the L domain. In RSV, there are five lysines located just upstream of the L domain in a region of the matrix (MA) protein that is dispensable for membrane binding, and replacement of these with arginine (mutant 1-5KR) reduced budding 80 to 90%. The block to budding was found to be on the plasma membrane; however, the few virions that were released had normal size, morphology, and infectivity. Budding was restored when any one of the residues was changed back to lysine or when lysines were inserted in novel positions, either within this region of MA or within the downstream p10 sequence. Moreover, the 1-5KR mutant could be rescued into particles by coexpression of budding-competent Gag molecules. These data argue that the phenotype of mutant 1-5KR is not due to a conformational defect. Consistent with the idea that efficient budding requires a specific role for lysines, human T-cell leukemia virus type 1, which does not bud well compared to RSV and lacks lysines close to its L domain, was found to be released at a higher level upon introduction of lysines near its L domain. This report strongly supports the hypothesis that ubiquitination of the RSV Gag protein (and perhaps those of other retroviruses) is needed for efficient budding.


1999 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 2045-2051 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert P. Bennett ◽  
John W. Wills

ABSTRACT Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) and murine leukemia virus (MLV) are examples of distantly related retroviruses that normally do not encounter one another in nature. Their Gag proteins direct particle assembly at the plasma membrane but possess very little sequence similarity. As expected, coexpression of these two Gag proteins did not result in particles that contain both. However, when the N-terminal membrane-binding domain of each molecule was replaced with that of the Src oncoprotein, which is also targeted to the cytoplasmic face of the plasma membrane, efficient copackaging was observed in genetic complementation and coimmunoprecipitation assays. We hypothesize that the RSV and MLV Gag proteins normally use distinct locations on the plasma membrane for particle assembly but otherwise have assembly domains that are sufficiently similar in function (but not sequence) to allow heterologous interactions when these proteins are redirected to a common membrane location.


Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 903
Author(s):  
Eunice C. Chen ◽  
Rebecca J. Kaddis Maldonado ◽  
Leslie J. Parent

Retroviruses are unique in that they package their RNA genomes as non-covalently linked dimers. Failure to dimerize their genomes results in decreased infectivity and reduced packaging of genomic RNA into virus particles. Two models of retrovirus genome dimerization have been characterized: in murine leukemia virus (MLV), genomic RNA dimerization occurs co-transcriptionally in the nucleus, resulting in the preferential formation of genome homodimers; whereas in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1), genomic RNA dimerization occurs in the cytoplasm and at the plasma membrane, with a random distribution of heterodimers and homodimers. Although in vitro studies have identified the genomic RNA sequences that facilitate dimerization in Rous sarcoma virus (RSV), in vivo characterization of the location and preferences of genome dimerization has not been performed. In this study, we utilized three single molecule RNA imaging approaches to visualize genome dimers of RSV in cultured quail fibroblasts. The formation of genomic RNA heterodimers within cells was dependent on the presence of the dimerization initiation site (DIS) sequence in the L3 stem. Subcellular localization analysis revealed that heterodimers were present the nucleus, cytoplasm, and at the plasma membrane, indicating that genome dimers can form in the nucleus. Furthermore, single virion analysis revealed that RSV preferentially packages genome homodimers into virus particles. Therefore, the mechanism of RSV genomic RNA dimer formation appears more similar to MLV than HIV-1.


mBio ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca J. Kaddis Maldonado ◽  
Breanna Rice ◽  
Eunice C. Chen ◽  
Kevin M. Tuffy ◽  
Estelle F. Chiari ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Packaging of genomic RNA (gRNA) by retroviruses is essential for infectivity, yet the subcellular site of the initial interaction between the Gag polyprotein and gRNA remains poorly defined. Because retroviral particles are released from the plasma membrane, it was previously thought that Gag proteins initially bound to gRNA in the cytoplasm or at the plasma membrane. However, the Gag protein of the avian retrovirus Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) undergoes active nuclear trafficking, which is required for efficient gRNA encapsidation (L. Z. Scheifele, R. A. Garbitt, J. D. Rhoads, and L. J. Parent, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 99:3944–3949, 2002, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.062652199; R. Garbitt-Hirst, S. P. Kenney, and L. J. Parent, J Virol 83:6790–6797, 2009, https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.00101-09). These results raise the intriguing possibility that the primary contact between Gag and gRNA might occur in the nucleus. To examine this possibility, we created a RSV proviral construct that includes 24 tandem repeats of MS2 RNA stem-loops, making it possible to track RSV viral RNA (vRNA) in live cells in which a fluorophore-conjugated MS2 coat protein is coexpressed. Using confocal microscopy, we observed that both wild-type Gag and a nuclear export mutant (Gag.L219A) colocalized with vRNA in the nucleus. In live-cell time-lapse images, the wild-type Gag protein trafficked together with vRNA as a single ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex in the nucleoplasm near the nuclear periphery, appearing to traverse the nuclear envelope into the cytoplasm. Furthermore, biophysical imaging methods suggest that Gag and the unspliced vRNA physically interact in the nucleus. Taken together, these data suggest that RSV Gag binds unspliced vRNA to export it from the nucleus, possibly for packaging into virions as the viral genome. IMPORTANCE Retroviruses cause severe diseases in animals and humans, including cancer and acquired immunodeficiency syndromes. To propagate infection, retroviruses assemble new virus particles that contain viral proteins and unspliced vRNA to use as gRNA. Despite the critical requirement for gRNA packaging, the molecular mechanisms governing the identification and selection of gRNA by the Gag protein remain poorly understood. In this report, we demonstrate that the Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) Gag protein colocalizes with unspliced vRNA in the nucleus in the interchromatin space. Using live-cell confocal imaging, RSV Gag and unspliced vRNA were observed to move together from inside the nucleus across the nuclear envelope, suggesting that the Gag-gRNA complex initially forms in the nucleus and undergoes nuclear export into the cytoplasm as a viral ribonucleoprotein (vRNP) complex.


2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (50) ◽  
pp. 25269-25277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nairi Pezeshkian ◽  
Nicholas S. Groves ◽  
Schuyler B. van Engelenburg

The HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) is sparsely incorporated onto assembling virus particles on the host cell plasma membrane in order for the virus to balance infectivity and evade the immune response. Env becomes trapped in a nascent particle on encounter with the polymeric viral protein Gag, which forms a dense protein lattice on the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane. While Env incorporation efficiency is readily measured biochemically from released particles, very little is known about the spatiotemporal dynamics of Env trapping events. Herein, we demonstrate, via high-resolution single-molecule tracking, that retention of Env trimers within single virus assembly sites requires the Env cytoplasmic tail (CT) and the L12 residue in the matrix (MA) domain of Gag but does not require curvature of the viral lattice. We further demonstrate that Env trimers are confined to subviral regions of a budding Gag lattice, supporting a model where direct interactions and/or steric corralling between the Env-CT and a lattice of MA trimers promote Env trapping and infectious HIV-1 assembly.


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