Purification of influenza viral complementary RNA: its genetic content and activity in wheat germ cell-free extracts.

Influenza viral complementary RNA (cRNA) was purified free from any detectable virion-type RNA (vRNA), and its genetic content and activity in wheat germ cell-free extracts were examined. After phenol-chloroform extraction of cytoplasmic fractions from infected cells, poly(A)-containing viral cRNA is found in two forms: in single-stranded RNA and associated with vRNA in partially and fully double-stranded RNA. To purify single-stranded cRNA free of these double-stranded forms, it was necessary to employ, as starting material, RNA fractions in which cRNA was predominantly single stranded. Two RNA fractions were successfully employed as starting material: polyribosomal RNA and the total cytoplasmic RNA from infected cells treated with 100 mug of cycloheximide (CM) per ml at 3 h after infection. In WSN virus-infected canine kidney (MDCK) cells, the addition of CM at 3 h after infection stimulates the production of cRNA threefold and causes a very large increase in the proportion of the cytoplasmic cRNA which is single stranded; double-stranded RNA forms are greatly reduced in amount. Total cRNA was obtained by oligo(dT)-cellulose chromatography, and single-stranded cRNA was separated from double-stranded forms by Sepharose 4B chromatography. The cRNA preparation purified from polyribosomes consists of 95% single-stranded cRNA, with the remaining 5% apparently being double-stranded RNA forms. The cRNA preparation purified from CM-treated cells (CM cRNA) is even more pure: 100% of the radiolabeled RNA is single-stranded cRNA. Annealing experiments, in which a limited amount of 32P-labeled genome RNA was annealed to the cRNA, indicate that the purified cRNA contains at least 84 to 90% of the genetic information in the vRNA genome. Purified viral cRNA (CM cRNA) is very active in directing the synthesis of virus-specific proteins in wheat germ cell-free extracts.     

Adenylic acid - rich sequences in influenza virus RNA.

Some influenza virus complementary RNA (cRNA) from infected chick cells is polyadenylated as judged by oligo(dT)-cellulose chromatography. However, none of the virion RNA or the vRNA synthesised in infected cells contain poly(A) sequences. cRNA containing poly(A) sequences was further characterised by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and under the conditions used only some size classes of cRNA were polyadenylated.     

Influenza A Virus Assembly Intermediates Fuse in the Cytoplasm

Reassortment of influenza viral RNA (vRNA) segments in co-infected cells can lead to the emergence of viruses with pandemic potential. Replication of influenza vRNA occurs in the nucleus of infected cells, while progeny virions bud from the plasma membrane. However, the intracellular mechanics of vRNA assembly into progeny virions is not well understood. Here we used recent advances in microscopy to explore vRNA assembly and transport during a productive infection. We visualized four distinct vRNA segments within a single cell using fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and observed that foci containing more than one vRNA segment were found at the external nuclear periphery, suggesting that vRNA segments are not exported to the cytoplasm individually. Although many cytoplasmic foci contain multiple vRNA segments, not all vRNA species are present in every focus, indicating that assembly of all eight vRNA segments does not occur prior to export from the nucleus. To extend the observations made in fixed cells, we used a virus that encodes GFP fused to the viral polymerase acidic (PA) protein (WSN PA-GFP) to explore the dynamics of vRNA assembly in live cells during a productive infection. Since WSN PA-GFP colocalizes with viral nucleoprotein and influenza vRNA segments, we used it as a surrogate for visualizing vRNA transport in 3D and at high speed by inverted selective-plane illumination microscopy. We observed cytoplasmic PA-GFP foci colocalizing and traveling together en route to the plasma membrane. Our data strongly support a model in which vRNA segments are exported from the nucleus as complexes that assemble en route to the plasma membrane through dynamic colocalization events in the cytoplasm.     

Characterization of polysome-associated RNA from influenza virus-infected cells.

Virus-specific polysome-associated RNA (psRNA) and RNA after dissociation of polysomes were analyzed by direct hybridization with unlabeled viral RNA (vRNA) and complementary RNA (cRNA). psRNA after a 30-min pulse with [3H]uridine contained 28% labeled cRNA, 70% host RNA, and no vRNA. After dissociation, psRNA sedimented heterogeneously. Heavy RNA (greater than 60S), ribosomal subunit RNA (rsuRNA, 30-60S), free mRNA (fmRNA, 10-30S), and light RNA (less than 10S) contained 16%, 54%, 70% and 28% cRNA, respectively, but no vRNA. When actinomycin D (AcD) was added at 2 h postinfection, the nature of the psRNA depended on the concentration of AcD and the condition of the labeling. At AcD concentrations of 1 mug or more per ml, no detectable vRNA or cRNA was associated with polysomes. At 0.2 mug of AcD per ml (a concentration that partially inhibited cRNA synthesis) and 2 h of labeling at 2.5 h postinfection, psRNA contained 40% viral-specific RNA, which included both vRNA and cRNA in almost equal amounts. When polysomes were dissociated, however, viral-specific fm RNA from AcD-treated cells contained exclusively cRNA and no detectable vRNA. Increasing amounts of labeled vRNA were present in the heavy region of the gradient (and in the pellet), which also contained varying amounts of cRNA. The labeled vRNA appears to be associated with polysomes in a cesium chloride density gradient (rho = 1.525 g/ml). Although we have ruled out the trivial explanation of viral ribonucleoprotein contamination,the nature of the complex containing both polysomes and vRNA is unknown.     

蛋白激酶抑制剂Flavopiridol对流感病毒复制的体外抑制作用

【目的】在细胞水平上研究黄酮类化合物flavopiridol的抗流感病毒效果,初步探索了其抗流感病毒的机制。【方法】首先用Western blot初步检测了在蛋白激酶抑制剂flavopiridol处理下流感病毒NP和M1蛋白的水平,然后通过免疫荧光实验观察了宿主细胞中流感病毒vRNP的合成,又利用噬斑实验检测了flavopiridol对病毒复制的影响,最后通过检测flavopiridol处理的宿主细胞内RNA聚合酶Ⅱ的磷酸化状态和病毒各种RNA的合成量,探究了flavopiridol抑制流感病毒复制的机理。【结果】结果表明,flavopiridol在细胞水平上可以显著抑制流感病毒蛋白质和vRNP的合成及病毒的复制,同时flavopiridol也可以抑制宿主RNA聚合酶Ⅱ大亚基CTD结构域七肽重复序列中的2位丝氨酸的磷酸化来抑制聚合酶的转录延伸活性,显著地减少病毒vRNA的合成。【结论】Flavopiridol可以通过抑制宿主细胞RNA聚合酶Ⅱ的转录延伸活性有效地抑制流感病毒的复制。     

Distinct regions of influenza virus PB1 polymerase subunit recognize vRNA and cRNA templates.

The influenza virus RNA polymerase is a heterotrimer comprising the PB1, PB2 and PA subunits. PB1 is the core of the complex and accounts for the polymerase activity. We have studied the interaction of PB1 with model cRNA template by in vitro binding and Northwestern analyses. The binding to model cRNA was specific and showed an apparent Kd of approximately 7x10(-8) M. In contrast to the interaction with vRNA, PB1 was able to bind equally the 5' and 3' arm of the cRNA panhandle. The N-terminal 139 amino acids of PB1 and sequences between positions 267 and 493 proved positive for binding to cRNA, whereas the interaction with vRNA template previously was mapped to the N- and C-terminal regions. Competition experiments using the 5' and 3' arms of either the vRNA or cRNA panhandle indicated that the N-terminal binding site is shared by both templates. The data indicate that the PB1 RNA-binding sites are constituted by: (i) residues located at the N-terminus (probably common for vRNA and cRNA binding) and, either (ii) residues from the central part of PB1 (for cRNA) or (iii) residues from the C-terminal region of PB1 (for vRNA), and suggest that PB1 undergoes a conformational change upon binding to cRNA versus vRNA templates.     

Use of specific single stranded DNA probes cloned in M13 to study the RNA synthesis of four temperature-sensitive mutants of HK/68 influenza virus.

Specific single stranded DNA probes have been obtained for both influenza virion RNA (vRNA) and complementary RNA (cRNA) by cloning a hemagglutinin gene fragment in the single stranded DNA phase M13. These probes were used for hybridization with the total labeled RNA from cytoplasmic extracts of infected cells. MDCK cells were infected with temperature-sensitive mutants of influenza HK/68 and the production of the virus specific RNA species was analysed at both permissive and restrictive temperatures. Results show that two NP mutants which undergo intracistronic complementation exhibit two different phenotypes at the non permissive temperature: ts2C is poly A cRNA and vRNA negative whereas ts463 is RNA positive. Two mutants of P genes were also analysed and we discuss the relationship existing between the synthesis of the three RNA species especially between poly A and non poly A cRNA.     

Mutational analysis of the influenza virus cRNA promoter and identification of nucleotides critical for replication

Replication of the influenza A virus virion RNA (vRNA) requires the synthesis of full-length cRNA, which in turn is used as a template for the synthesis of more vRNA. A "corkscrew" secondary-structure model of the cRNA promoter has been proposed recently. However the data in support of that model were indirect, since they were derived from measurement, by use of a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter in 293T cells, of mRNA levels from a modified cRNA promoter rather than the authentic cRNA promoter found in influenza A viruses. Here we measured steady-state cRNA and vRNA levels from a CAT reporter in 293T cells, directly measuring the replication of the authentic influenza A virus wild-type cRNA promoter. We found that (i) base pairing between the 5' and 3' ends and (ii) base pairing in the stems of both the 5' and 3' hairpin loops of the cRNA promoter were required for in vivo replication. Moreover, nucleotides in the tetraloop at positions 4, 5, and 7 and nucleotides forming the 2-9 base pair of the 3' hairpin loop were crucial for promoter activity in vivo. However, the 3' hairpin loop was not required for polymerase binding in vitro. Overall, our results suggest that the corkscrew secondary-structure model is required for authentic cRNA promoter activity in vivo, although the precise role of the 3' hairpin loop remains unknown.     

Solution structure of the influenza A virus cRNA promoter: implications for differential recognition of viral promoter structures by RNA-dependent RNA polymerase

Influenza A virus replication requires the interaction of viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) with promoters in both the RNA genome (vRNA) and the full-length complementary RNA (cRNA) which serve as templates for the generation of new vRNAs. Although RdRp binds both promoters effectively, it must also discriminate between them because they serve different functional roles in the viral life cycle. Even though the inherent asymmetry between two RNA promoters is considered as a cause of the differential recognition by the RdRp, the structural basis for the ability of the RdRp to recognize the RNA promoters and discriminate effectively between them remains unsolved. Here we report the structure of the cRNA promoter of influenza A virus as determined by heteronuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The terminal region is extremely unstable and does not have a rigid structure. The major groove of the internal loop is widened by the displacement of a novel A*(UU) motif toward the minor groove. These internal loop residues show distinguishable dynamic characters, with differing motional timescales for each residue. Comparison of the cRNA promoter structure with that of the vRNA promoter reveals common structural and dynamic elements in the internal loop, but also differences that provide insight into how the viral RdRp differentially recognizes the cRNA and vRNA promoters.