Phosphorylation mutants of JC virus agnoprotein are unable to sustain the viral infection cycle

Many eukaryotic and viral regulatory proteins are known to undergo posttranslational modifications including phosphorylation, which plays a critical role in many aspects of cell function. Previous studies from our and other laboratories indicated that the JC virus (JCV) late regulatory protein, agnoprotein, plays an important role in the JCV life cycle. Agnoprotein contains several potential phosphorylation sites, including Ser7, Ser11, and Thr21, which are potential targets for the serine/threonine-specific protein kinase C (PKC). In this study, we investigated the functional significance of these phosphorylation sites for the activity of agnoprotein. In vitro and in vivo kinase assays demonstrated that agnoprotein is a target for phosphorylation by PKC. In addition, each of the PKC phosphorylation sites was mutated to Ala singly and in combination, and the effects of these mutations on the JCV life cycle were analyzed. Although the expression of each mutant agnoprotein was detectable during the infection cycle, virus containing each of these mutations failed to propagate. These results contrast with those obtained with an agnoprotein start codon point (Pt) mutant where agnoprotein expression was completely inhibited. The Pt mutant was viable but replicates less efficiently than the wild type (WT). Moreover, conservative substitutions at PKC phosphorylation sites (Ser7, Ser11, and Thr21 to Asp) resulted in a viable virus, which further demonstrate the importance of these sites on agnoprotein function. Further analysis of the mutants by viral release assay and electron microscopy studies revealed that viral particles were efficiently released from infected cells and morphologically indistinguishable from those of WT but were deficient in DNA content. This may account for the defective propagation of the mutants. These results imply that phosphorylated forms of agnoprotein may have essential functions in the viral life cycle and serve as potential targets for therapeutic interventions to limit JCV propagation and JCV-induced diseases.