scholarly journals Dissection of the Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Gene Expression Program by Using the Viral DNA Replication Inhibitor Cidofovir

2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (24) ◽  
pp. 13637-13652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Lu ◽  
Jacqueline Suen ◽  
Carolina Frias ◽  
Ruth Pfeiffer ◽  
Mong-Hsun Tsai ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Treatment of primary effusion lymphoma cells latently infected by Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV; human herpesvirus-8 [HHV-8]) with agents such as 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) induces a lytic viral replication cycle, with an ordered gene expression program. Initial studies of the KSHV expression program following TPA induction using viral microarrays yielded useful information concerning the viral expression program, but precise kinetic assignments for some genes remained unclear. Classically, late herpesvirus genes require viral DNA replication for maximal expression. We used cidofovir (CDV), a nucleotide-analogue KSHV DNA polymerase inhibitor, to dissect KSHV expression into two components: genes expressed without viral DNA replication and those requiring it. The expression of known immediate-early or early genes (e.g., open reading frames [ORFs] 50, K8 bZIP, and 57) serving lytic regulatory roles was relatively unaffected by the presence of CDV, while known late capsid and tegument structural genes (e.g., ORFs 25, 26, 64, and 67) were CDV sensitive. Latency-associated transcript ORF 73 was unaffected by the presence of TPA or CDV, suggesting that it was constitutively expressed. Expression of several viral cellular gene homologs, including K2 (vIL-6), ORF 72 (vCyclin), ORF 74 (vGPCR), and K9 (vIRF-1), was unaffected by the presence of CDV, while that of others, such as K4.1 (vMIP-III), K11.1 (vIRF-2), and K10.5 (LANA2, vIRF-3), was inhibited. The results distinguish KSHV genes whose full expression required viral DNA replication from those that did not require it, providing additional insights into KSHV replication and pathogenesis strategies and helping to show which viral cell homologs are expressed at particular times during the lytic process.

2019 ◽  
Vol 93 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Hu ◽  
Najealicka Armstrong ◽  
Edward Seto ◽  
Wenwei Li ◽  
Fanxiu Zhu ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTKaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV; also called human herpesvirus 8 [HHV-8]), upon being reactivated, causes serious diseases in immunocompromised individuals. Its reactivation, especially how the cellular regulating mechanisms play roles in KSHV gene expression and viral DNA replication, is not fully understood. In searching for the cellular factors that regulate KSHV gene expression, we found that several histone deacetylases (HDACs) and sirtuins (SIRTs), including HDACs 2, 7, 8, and 11 and SIRTs 4 and 6, repress KSHV ori-Lyt promoter activity. Interestingly, the nuclear protein SIRT6 presents the greatest inhibitory effect on ori-Lyt promoter activity. A more detailed investigation revealed that SIRT6 exerts repressive effects on multiple promoters of KSHV. As a consequence of inhibiting the KSHV promoters, SIRT6 not only represses viral protein production but also inhibits viral DNA replication, as investigated in a KSHV-containing cell line, SLK-iBAC-gfpK52. Depletion of the SIRT6 protein using small interfering RNA could not directly reactivate KSHV from SLK-iBAC-gfpK52 cells but made the reactivation of KSHV by use of a small amount of the reactivator (doxycycline) more effective and enhanced viral DNA replication in the KSHV infection system. We performed DNA chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays for SIRT6 in the SLK-iBAC-gfpK52 cell line to determine whether SIRT6 interacts with the KSHV genome in order to exhibit regulatory effects. Our results suggest that SIRT6 interacts with KSHV ori-Lyt and ORF50 promoters. Furthermore, the SIRT6-KSHV DNA interaction is significantly negated by reactivation. Therefore, we identified a cellular regulator, SIRT6, that represses KSHV replication by interacting with KSHV DNA and inhibiting viral gene expression.IMPORTANCEKaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is a pathogen causing cancer in the immune-deficient population. The reactivation of KSHV from latency is important for it to be carcinogenic. Our finding that SIRT6 has inhibitory effects on KSHV reactivation by interacting with the viral genome and suppressing viral gene expression is important because it might lead to a strategy of interfering with KSHV reactivation. Overexpression of SIRT6 repressed the activities of several KSHV promoters, leading to reduced gene expression and DNA replication by KSHV in a KSHV bacterial artificial chromosome-containing cell line. Depletion of SIRT6 favored reactivation of KSHV from SLK-iBACV-gfpK52 cells. More importantly, we reveal that SIRT6 interacts with KSHV DNA. Whether the interaction of SIRT6 with KSHV DNA occurs at a global level will be further studied in the future.


2018 ◽  
Vol 92 (13) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tenaya K. Vallery ◽  
Johanna B. Withers ◽  
Joana A. Andoh ◽  
Joan A. Steitz

ABSTRACTKaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), like other herpesviruses, replicates within the nuclei of its human cell host and hijacks host machinery for expression of its genes. The activities that culminate in viral DNA synthesis and assembly of viral proteins into capsids physically concentrate in nuclear areas termed viral replication compartments. We sought to better understand the spatiotemporal regulation of viral RNAs during the KSHV lytic phase by examining and quantifying the subcellular localization of select viral transcripts. We found that viral mRNAs, as expected, localized to the cytoplasm throughout the lytic phase. However, dependent on active viral DNA replication, viral transcripts also accumulated in the nucleus, often in foci in and around replication compartments, independent of the host shutoff effect. Our data point to involvement of the viral long noncoding polyadenylated nuclear (PAN) RNA in the localization of an early, intronless viral mRNA encoding ORF59-58 to nuclear foci that are associated with replication compartments.IMPORTANCELate in the lytic phase, mRNAs from Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus accumulate in the host cell nucleus near viral replication compartments, centers of viral DNA synthesis and virion production. This work contributes spatiotemporal data on herpesviral mRNAs within the lytic host cell and suggests a mechanism for viral RNA accumulation. Our findings indicate that the mechanism is independent of the host shutoff effect and splicing but dependent on active viral DNA synthesis and in part on the viral noncoding RNA, PAN RNA. PAN RNA is essential for the viral life cycle, and its contribution to the nuclear accumulation of viral messages may facilitate propagation of the virus.


2009 ◽  
Vol 83 (11) ◽  
pp. 5869-5880 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvain Lefort ◽  
Louis Flamand

ABSTRACT Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the causative agent of three human proliferative disorders, namely, Kaposi's sarcoma, primary effusion lymphomas (PEL), and multicentric Castleman's disease. Lytic DNA replication of KSHV, which is essential for viral propagation, requires the binding of at least two KSHV proteins, replication and transactivation activator (RTA) and K-bZIP, on the lytic origin of replication. Moreover, K-bZIP physically interacts with RTA and represses its transactivation activity on several viral promoters in transient transfection assays. To evaluate the physiological roles of K-bZIP in the context of PEL, we generated BCBL-1 cells with a tetracycline (Tet)-inducible small hairpin RNA (shRNA) directed against the K8 mRNA to knock down K-bZIP expression at different points during KSHV's life cycle. Using this model, we demonstrate that in the absence of K-bZIP expression, dramatic decreases in orf50, orf57, and orf26 transcript expression are observed. Similar effects were seen at the protein level for RTA (immediate-early protein) and K8.1 (late protein) expression. Interestingly, a direct correlation between K-bZIP levels and viral lytic mRNAs was noticed. As a consequence of K-bZIP knockdown, viral DNA replication and virion production were severely impaired. The same effects were observed following knockdown of K-bZIP in another PEL cell line, BC3. Finally, using shRNA-K8-inducible 293 cells, we report that de novo synthesis of K-bZIP is not necessary for initiation of infection and latency establishment. These data support the concept that K-bZIP is essential for lytic viral gene expression, viral DNA replication, and virus propagation in PEL cells.


mBio ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Manzano ◽  
Thomas Günther ◽  
Hyunwoo Ju ◽  
John Nicholas ◽  
Elizabeth T. Bartom ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) causes primary effusion lymphoma (PEL). The cellular transcription factor (TF) interferon (IFN) regulatory factor 4 (IRF4) is an essential oncogene in PEL, but its specific role in PEL and how KSHV deregulates IRF4 remain unknown. Here, we report that the KSHV latency protein viral interferon regulatory factor 3 (vIRF3) cooperates with IRF4 and cellular BATF (basic leucine zipper ATF-like TF) to drive a super-enhancer (SE)-mediated oncogenic transcriptional program in PEL. Chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with next-generation sequencing (ChIP-Seq) experiments demonstrated that IRF4, vIRF3, and BATF cooccupy the SEs of key survival genes, in a pattern that is distinct from those seen with other IRF4-driven malignancies. All three proteins cooperatively drive SE-mediated IRF4 overexpression. Inactivation of vIRF3 and, to a lesser extent, BATF phenocopies the gene expression changes and loss of cellular viability observed upon inactivation of IRF4. In sum, this work suggests that KSHV vIRF3 and cellular IRF4 and BATF cooperate as oncogenic transcription factors on SEs to promote cellular survival and proliferation in KSHV-associated lymphomas. IMPORTANCE Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) causes the aggressive disease primary effusion lymphoma (PEL). Here, we show that a viral transcription factor (vIRF3) cooperates with the cellular transcription factor IRF4 to control an oncogenic gene expression program in PEL cells. These proteins promote KSHV-mediated B cell transformation by activating the expression of prosurvival genes through super-enhancers. Our report thus demonstrates that this DNA tumor virus encodes a transcription factor that functions with cellular IRF4 to drive oncogenic transcriptional reprogramming.


2006 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 1072-1082 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshihiro Izumiya ◽  
Chie Izumiya ◽  
Albert Van Geelen ◽  
Don-Hong Wang ◽  
Kit S. Lam ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The oncogenic herpesvirus, Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, also identified as human herpesvirus 8, contains genes producing proteins that control transcription and influence cell signaling. Open reading frame 36 (ORF36) of this virus encodes a serine/threonine protein kinase, which is designated the viral protein kinase (vPK). Our recent efforts to elucidate the role of vPK in the viral life cycle have focused on identifying viral protein substrates and determining the effects of vPK-mediated phosphorylation on specific steps in viral replication. The vPK gene was transcribed into 4.2-kb and 3.6-kb mRNAs during the early and late phases of viral reactivation. vPK is colocalized with viral DNA replication/transcription compartments as marked by a polymerase processivity factor, and K-bZIP, a protein known to bind the viral DNA replication origin (Ori-Lyt) and to regulate viral transcription. The vPK physically associated with and strongly phosphorylated K-bZIP at threonine 111, a site also recognized by the cyclin-dependent kinase Cdk2. Both K-bZIP and vPK were corecruited to viral promoters targeted by K-bZIP as well as to the Ori-Lyt region. Phosphorylation of K-bZIP by vPK had a negative impact on K-bZIP transcription repression activity. The extent of posttranslational modification of K-bZIP by sumoylation, a process that influences its repression function, was decreased by vPK phosphorylation at threonine 111. Our data thus identify a new role of vPK as a modulator of viral transcription.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Divya Nandakumar ◽  
Britt Glaunsinger

AbstractThe structural proteins of DNA viruses are generally encoded by late genes, whose expression relies on recruitment of the host transcriptional machinery only after the onset of viral genome replication. β and γ-herpesviruses encode a unique six-member viral pre-initiation complex (vPIC) for this purpose, although how the vPIC directs specific activation of late genes remains largely unknown. The specificity underlying late transcription is particularly notable given that late gene promoters are unusually small, with a modified TATA-box being the only recognizable element. Here, we explored the basis for this specificity using an integrative approach to evaluate vPIC-dependent gene expression combined with promoter occupancy during Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) infection. This approach distinguished the direct and indirect targets of the vPIC, ultimately revealing a novel promoter motif critical for KSHV vPIC binding. Additionally, we found that the KSHV vPIC component ORF24 is required for efficient viral DNA replication. Together, these results identify an elusive element that contributes to vPIC specificity and suggest novel links between KSHV DNA replication and late transcription.Author summaryGene expression in DNA viruses often occurs in temporal waves, with expression of essential structural proteins occurring late in infection, after viral genome replication has begun. Strategies underlying expression of these viral late genes are often sophisticated; for example, the β- and γ-herpesviruses encode a six-component viral complex that directs late gene transcription, largely by unknown mechanisms. Here, we evaluated how this complex specifically recognizes late promoters during infection with the oncogenic human γ-herpesvirus Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). We found that one of the components of the late transcription complex was required for robust viral DNA replication, suggesting new links between KSHV replication and transcription. Combined measurements of late gene expression and promoter occupancy then revealed which KHSV genes are directly controlled by the late gene transcription complex, leading to identification of a key new regulatory element in KSHV late promoters. Together, these data help explain how the late gene transcription complex is able to bind seemingly minimal promoters with high specificity, ensuring robust expression of viral factors necessary for assembly of progeny virions.


2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (5) ◽  
pp. 2609-2614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuang Tang ◽  
Koji Yamanegi ◽  
Zhi-Ming Zheng

ABSTRACT Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) K8.1 late promoter consists of a minimal 24-bp sequence, with a TATA-like, 12-bp promoter core, AATATTAAAGGG, and is active on a reporter only in butyrate-induced KSHV-infected cells. The activity of the K8.1 promoter can be enhanced (>15-fold) by the KSHV left-end lytic origin of DNA replication (oriLyt-L) sequence while providing inefficient replication of plasmid DNA and is inhibited by viral DNA replication inhibitors, suggesting that activation of the K8.1 promoter on the reporter is involved in KSHV lytic DNA replication largely by trans.


2005 ◽  
Vol 79 (21) ◽  
pp. 13829-13836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lai-Yee Wong ◽  
Angus C. Wilson

ABSTRACT During latency, the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus genome is maintained as a circular episome, replicating in synchrony with host chromosomes. Replication requires the latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) and an origin of latent DNA replication located in the viral terminal repeats, consisting of two LANA binding sites (LBSs) and a GC-rich sequence. Here, we show that the recruitment of a LANA dimer to high-affinity site LBS-1 bends DNA by 57° and towards the major groove. The cooccupancy of LBS-1 and lower-affinity LBS-2 induces a symmetrical bend of 110°. By changing the origin architecture, LANA may help to assemble a specific nucleoprotein structure important for the initiation of DNA replication.


2006 ◽  
Vol 80 (24) ◽  
pp. 12171-12186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Wang ◽  
Qiyi Tang ◽  
Gerd G. Maul ◽  
Yan Yuan

ABSTRACT Lytic replication of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is essential for viral propagation and pathogenicity. In Kaposi's sarcoma lesions, constant lytic replication plays a role in sustaining the population of latently infected cells that otherwise are quickly lost by segregation of latent viral episomes as spindle cells divide. Lytic DNA replication initiates from an origin (ori-Lyt) and requires trans-acting elements. Two functional ori-Lyts have been identified in the KSHV genome. Some cis-acting and trans-acting elements for ori-Lyt-dependent DNA replication have been found. Among these, K8 binding sites, a cluster of C/EBP binding motifs, and a replication and transcription activator (RTA) responsive element (RRE) are crucial cis-acting elements. Binding of K8 and RTA proteins to these motifs in ori-Lyt DNA was demonstrated to be absolutely essential for DNA replication. In the present study, functional roles of RTA in ori-Lyt-dependent DNA replication have been investigated. Two distinct functions of RTA were revealed. First, RTA activates an ori-Lyt promoter and initiates transcription across GC-rich tandem repeats. This RTA-mediated transcription is indispensable for DNA replication. Second, RTA is a component of the replication compartment, where RTA interacts with prereplication complexes composed of at least six core machinery proteins and K8. The prereplication complexes are recruited to ori-Lyt DNA through RTA, which interacts with the RRE, as well as K8, which binds to a cluster of C/EBP binding motifs with the aid of C/EBP α. The revelation of these two functions of RTA, together with its role in initiation of a transcriptional cascade that leads to transcription of all viral lytic genes, shows that RTA is a critical initiator and regulator of KSHV lytic DNA replication and viral propagation.


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