scholarly journals Murine Gammaherpesvirus 68 Open Reading Frame 75c Tegument Protein Induces the Degradation of PML and Is Essential for Production of Infectious Virus

2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (16) ◽  
pp. 8000-8012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul D. Ling ◽  
Jie Tan ◽  
Jaturong Sewatanon ◽  
RongSheng Peng

ABSTRACT Promyelocytic Leukemia nuclear body (PML NB) proteins mediate an intrinsic cellular host defense response against virus infections. Herpesviruses express proteins that modulate PML or PML-associated proteins by a variety of strategies, including degradation of PML or relocalization of PML NB proteins. The consequences of PML-herpesvirus interactions during infection in vivo have yet to be investigated in detail, largely because of the species-specific tropism of many human herpesviruses. Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (γHV68) is emerging as a suitable model to study basic biological questions of virus-host interactions because it naturally infects mice. Therefore, we sought to determine whether γHV68 targets PML NBs as part of its natural life cycle. We found that γHV68 induces PML degradation through a proteasome-dependent mechanism and that loss of PML results in more robust virus replication in mouse fibroblasts. Surprisingly, γHV68-mediated PML degradation was mediated by the virion tegument protein ORF75c, which shares homology with the cellular formylglycinamide ribotide amidotransferase enzyme. In addition, we show that ORF75c is essential for production of infectious virus. ORF75 homologs are conserved in all rhadinoviruses but so far have no assigned functions. Our studies shed light on a potential role for this unusual protein in rhadinovirus biology and suggest that γHV68 will be a useful model for investigation of PML-herpesvirus interactions in vivo.

2005 ◽  
Vol 79 (5) ◽  
pp. 3163-3168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica M. Boname ◽  
Janet S. May ◽  
Philip G. Stevenson

ABSTRACT Open reading frame 11 (ORF11) is a conserved gammaherpesvirus gene that remains undefined. We identified the product of murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV-68) ORF11, p43, as a virion component with a predominantly perinuclear distribution in infected cells. MHV-68 lacking p43 grew normally in vitro but showed reduced lytic replication in vivo and a delay in seeding to the spleen. Subsequent latency amplification was normal. Thus, MHV-68 ORF11 encoded a virion component that was important for in vivo lytic replication but dispensable for the establishment of latency.


2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (13) ◽  
pp. 6532-6544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric T. Clambey ◽  
Herbert W. Virgin ◽  
Samuel H. Speck

ABSTRACT Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (γHV68 [also known as MHV-68]) establishes a latent infection in mice, providing a small-animal model with which to identify host and viral factors that regulate gammaherpesvirus latency. While γHV68 establishes a latent infection in multiple tissues, including splenocytes and peritoneal cells, the requirements for latent infection within these tissues are poorly defined. Here we report the characterization of a spontaneous 9.5-kb-deletion mutant of γHV68 that lacks the M1, M2, M3, and M4 genes and eight viral tRNA-like genes. Previously, this locus has been shown to contain the latency-associated M2, M3, and viral tRNA-like genes. Through characterization of this mutant, we found that the M1, M2, M3, M4 genes and the viral tRNA-like genes are dispensable for (i) in vitro replication and (ii) the establishment and maintenance of latency in vivo and reactivation from latency following intraperitoneal infection. In contrast, following intranasal infection with this mutant, there was a defect in splenic latency at both early and late times, a phenotype not observed in peritoneal cells. These results indicate (i) that there are different genetic requirements for the establishment of latency in different latent reservoirs and (ii) that the genetic requirements for latency depend on the route of infection. While some of these phenotypes have been observed with specific mutations in the M1 and M2 genes, other phenotypes have never been observed with the available γHV68 mutants. These studies highlight the importance of loss-of-function mutations in defining the genetic requirements for the establishment and maintenance of herpesvirus latency.


2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 624-630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristian K. Jensen ◽  
Shu-Cheng Chen ◽  
R. William Hipkin ◽  
Maria T. Wiekowski ◽  
Martin A. Schwarz ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Chemokine-binding proteins represent a novel class of antichemokine agents encoded by poxviruses and herpesviruses. One such protein is encoded by the M3 gene present in the murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV-68) genome. The M3 gene encodes a secreted 44-kDa protein that binds with high affinity to certain murine and human chemokines and has been shown to block chemokine signaling in vitro. However, there has been no direct evidence that M3 blocks chemokine activity in vivo, nor has the nature of M3-chemokine interaction been defined. To better understand the ability of M3 to block chemokine activity in vivo, we examined its interaction with a specific subset of chemokines expressed in lymphoid tissues, areas where gammaherpesviruses characteristically establish latency. Here we show that M3 blocks in vitro chemotaxis induced by CCL19 and CCL21, chemokines expressed constitutively in secondary lymphoid tissues. Moreover, we provide evidence that chemokine M3 binding exhibits positive cooperativity. In vivo, the expression of M3 in the pancreas of transgenic mice inhibits recruitment of lymphocytes induced by transgenic expression of CCL21 in this organ. The ability of M3 to block the biological activity of chemokines may represent an important strategy used by MHV-68 to evade immune detection and favor viral replication in the infected host.


2007 ◽  
Vol 81 (23) ◽  
pp. 13082-13091 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent Gillet ◽  
Philip G. Stevenson

ABSTRACT Herpesviruses use multiple virion glycoproteins to enter cells. How these work together is not well understood: some may act separately or they may form a single complex. Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV-68) gB, gH, gL, and gp150 all participate in entry. gB and gL are involved in binding, gB and gH are conserved fusion proteins, and gp150 inhibits cell binding until glycosaminoglycans are engaged. Here we show that a gH-specific antibody coprecipitates gB and thus that gH and gB are associated in the virion membrane. A gH/gL-specific antibody also coprecipitated gB, implying a tripartite complex of gL/gH/gB, although the gH/gB association did not require gL. The association was also independent of gp150, and gp150 was not demonstrably bound to gB or gH. However, gp150 incorporation into virions was partly gL dependent, suggesting that it too contributes to a single entry complex. gp150− and gL− gp150− mutants bound better than the wild type to B cells and readily colonized B cells in vivo. Thus, gp150 and gL appear to be epithelial cell-adapted accessories of a core gB/gH entry complex. The cell binding revealed by gp150 disruption did not require gL and therefore seemed most likely to involve gB.


2015 ◽  
Vol 89 (11) ◽  
pp. 5788-5800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Qi ◽  
Chuanhui Han ◽  
Danyang Gong ◽  
Ping Liu ◽  
Sheng Zhou ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTReplication and transcription activator (RTA) of gammaherpesvirus is an immediate early gene product and regulates the expression of many downstream viral lytic genes. ORF48 is also conserved among gammaherpesviruses; however, its expression regulation and function remained largely unknown. In this study, we characterized the transcription unit ofORF48from murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV-68) and analyzed its transcriptional regulation. We showed that RTA activates theORF48promoter via an RTA-responsive element (48pRRE). RTA binds to 48pRRE directlyin vitroand also associates with ORF48 promoterin vivo. Mutagenesis of 48pRRE in the context of the viral genome demonstrated that the expression of ORF48 is activated by RTA through 48pRRE duringde novoinfection. Through site-specific mutagenesis, we generated an ORF48-null virus and examined the function of ORF48in vitroandin vivo. The ORF48-null mutation remarkably reduced the viral replication efficiency in cell culture. Moreover, through intranasal or intraperitoneal infection of laboratory mice, we showed that ORF48 is important for viral lytic replication in the lung and establishment of latency in the spleen, as well as viral reactivation from latency. Collectively, our study identifiedORF48as an RTA-responsive gene and showed that ORF48 is important for MHV-68 replication bothin vitroandin vivo.IMPORTANCEThe replication and transcription activator (RTA), conserved among gammaherpesviruses, serves as a molecular switch for the virus life cycle. It works as a transcriptional regulator to activate the expression of many viral lytic genes. However, only a limited number of such downstream genes have been uncovered for MHV-68. In this study, we identifiedORF48as an RTA-responsive gene of MHV-68 and mapped theciselement involved. By constructing a mutant virus that is deficient in ORF48 expression and through infection of laboratory mice, we showed that ORF48 plays important roles in different stages of viral infectionin vivo. Our study provides insights into the transcriptional regulation and protein function of MHV-68, a desired model for studying gammaherpesviruses.


2009 ◽  
Vol 83 (9) ◽  
pp. 4700-4703 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen A. Stuller ◽  
Emilio Flaño

ABSTRACT CD4 T cells are critical for the control of gammaherpesvirus persistence, but their direct effector mechanisms of virus control in vivo are still poorly understood. In this study, we use murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (γHV68) in in vitro and in vivo cytotoxicity assays to show CD4-dependent killing of γHV68-loaded cells in mice persistently infected with γHV68. Our results underscore the cytotoxic capacity of CD4 T cells during γHV68 persistence.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel A Nelson ◽  
Vinita S Chauhan ◽  
Melanie D Tolbert ◽  
Kenneth L Bost

2008 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 1474-1482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa M. Gargano ◽  
J. Craig Forrest ◽  
Samuel H. Speck

ABSTRACT Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV68) establishes a lifelong infection in mice and is used as a model pathogen to study the role of viral and host factors in chronic infection. The maintenance of chronic MHV68 infection, at least in some latency reservoirs, appears to be dependent on the capacity of the virus to reactivate from latency in vivo. However, the signals that lead to MHV68 reactivation in vivo are not well characterized. Toll-like receptors (TLRs), by recognizing the specific patterns of microbial components, play an essential role in the activation of innate immunity. In the present study, we investigated the capacity of TLR ligands to induce MHV68 reactivation, both in vitro and in vivo. The stimulation of latently infected B cell lines with ligands for TLRs 3, 4, 5, and 9 enhanced MHV68 reactivation; the ex vivo stimulation of latently infected primary splenocytes, recovered from infected mice, with poly(I:C), lipopolysaccharide, flagellin, or CpG DNA led to early B-cell activation, B-cell proliferation, and a significant increase in the frequency of latently infected cells reactivating the virus. In vivo TLR stimulation also induced B-cell activation and MHV68 reactivation, resulting in heightened levels of virus replication in the lungs which correlated with an increase in MHV68-specific CD8+ T-cell responses. Importantly, TLR stimulation also led to an increase in MHV68 latency, as evidenced by an increase in viral genome-positive cells 2 weeks post-in vivo stimulation by specific TLR ligands. Thus, these data demonstrate that TLR stimulation can drive MHV68 reactivation from latency and suggests that periodic pathogen exposure may contribute to the homeostatic maintenance of chronic gammaherpesvirus infection through stimulating virus reactivation and reseeding latency reservoirs.


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