Proteins and messenger RNAs of the transforming region of wild-type and mutant adenoviruses

We have studied the proteins encoded by the transforming region of the closely related human adenovirus serotypes 2 and 5. Messenger RNAs complementary to the two parts of this region, E1A and E1B, were prepared separately by hybridization to cloned DNA fragments encompassing 0.8 to 4.5 map units (for E1A) and 9.8 to 11.1 map units (for E1B). These RNAs were further fractionated by electrophoresis through agarose gels containing methylmercuric hydroxide, and then translated in vitro to identify the proteins encoded by each RNA species. E1A and E1B RNAs isolated at early and at late times after infection were compared. Three size classes of E1A mRNA direct the synthesis of at least five proteins: a28K³ protein encoded by a 0.6 kb mRNA, 42K and 54K proteins encoded by a 0.9 kb mRNA(s), and 48K and 58K proteins encoded by a 1.1 kb mRNA(s). The mRNA for the 28K protein accumulates preferentially at late times. Three size classes of early E1B mRNA direct the synthesis of three proteins: a 15K protein encoded by a 0.9 kb mRNA, an 18K protein encoded by a 1.2 kb mRNA, and a 57K protein encoded by a 2.6 kb mRNA. The mRNA for the 15K protein continues to accumulate at late times, and an additional 22K protein is made, while the 18K and 57K proteins are synthesized poorly, if at all, with late RNA.Substantially different E1A and E1B proteins are encoded by RNA from cells infected with the adenovirus type 5 mutants dl311, dl312, dl313, dl314 and hr1, which are all defective for replication on human cells and, except for dl311, for transformation. dl312, dl314 and hr1 are also defective for early viral gene expression. No viral mRNA could be detected in either dl312 or dl314-infected cells. hr1-infected cells contain a 0.9 kb mRNA encoding E1A 54K and 42K, but instead of 58K and 48K, the 1.1 kb hr1-E1A mRNA is translated into a 26K protein. The E1B mRNAs are present in substantially decreased amounts in hr1-infected cells. dl311-infected cells contain E1A mRNAs of 1.1 and 0.9 kb, encoding 38K and 34K proteins, respectively, and normal E1B mRNAs. The dl313 mRNAs of 1.1 and 0.9 kb contained fused E1A and E1B sequences and were translated into 40K and 36K proteins, respectively. These results are related to the mRNA structures and the biological activity of regions of the individual proteins.     

The adenovirus type 12 early-region 1B 58,000-Mr gene product is required for viral DNA synthesis and for initiation of cell transformation.

An E1B 58K mutant of adenovirus type 12 (Ad12), dl207, was constructed by the deletion of 852 base pairs in the E1B 58K coding region. The mutant could grow efficiently in 293E1 cells but not in HeLa, KB, or human embryo kidney (HEK) cells. Viral DNA replication of dl207 was not detected in HeLa and KB cells and was seldom detected in HEK cells. Analysis of viral DNA synthesis in vitro showed that the Ad12-DNA-protein complex replicated by using the nuclear extract from Ad12 wild-type (WT)-infected HeLa cells but not by using the nuclear extract from dl207-infected cells. In dl207-infected HeLa and KB cells, early mRNAs were detected, but late mRNAs were not detected. The mutant induced fewer transformed foci than the WT in rat 3Y1 cells. Cells transformed by dl207 could grow efficiently in fluid medium, form colonies in soft agar culture, and induce tumors in rats transplanted with the transformed cells at the same efficiency as WT-transformed cells. Tumors were induced in hamsters injected with WT virions but were not induced in hamsters injected with dl207 virions. The results indicate that the E1B 58K protein is required both for viral DNA replication in productive infection and for initiation of cell transformation, but not for maintenance of the transformed phenotype.     

The translational map of the Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcNPV) genome.

We have mapped early and late viral gene products expressed in Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus ( AcNPV )-infected Spodoptera frugiperda cells by cell-free translation of virus-specific RNA which was selected by hybridization to cloned restriction endonuclease fragments of AcNPV DNA. Proteins synthesized in vitro were labeled with [35S]methionine and analyzed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by fluorography. At least four early AcNPV -specific polypeptides were found which mapped in two regions of the genome (9-25 and 43-59 map units). These early mRNAs are also synthesized at late times in the infection cycle. Cell-free translation of restriction fragment-selected late AcNPV -specific RNA (24 h post-infection) resulted in the identification and mapping of 24 viral proteins. Curiously, the region between approximately 70 and 80 map units on the viral genome has been found silent with respect to mRNA which is translatable in a cell-free system. However, there may be RNA transcribed from this viral DNA segment.     

Deletion of the gene encoding the adenovirus 5 early region 1b 21,000-molecular-weight polypeptide leads to degradation of viral and host cell DNA.

The adenovirus 5 mutant H5dl337 lacks 146 base pairs within early region 1B. The deletion removes a portion of the region encoding the E1B 21,000-molecular-weight (21K) polypeptide, but does not disturb the E1B-55K/17K coding region. The virus is slightly defective for growth in cultured HeLa cells, in which its final yield is reduced ca. 10-fold compared with wild-type virus. The mutant displays a striking phenotype in HeLa cells. The onset of cytopathic effect is dramatically accelerated, and both host cell and viral DNAs are extensively degraded late after infection. This defect has been described previously for a variety of adenovirus mutants and has been termed a cytocidal (cyt) phenotype. H5dl337 serves to map this defect to the loss of E1B-21K polypeptide function. In addition to its defect in the productive growth cycle, H5dl337 is unable to transform rat cells at normal efficiency.     

Cell-free translation of frog virus 3 messenger RNAs. Initiation factors from infected cells discriminate between early and late viral mRNAs

Cell-free protein-synthesizing extracts prepared from rabbit reticulocytes, wheat germ, or cultured baby hamster kidney cells efficiently translated frog virus 3 early mRNAs; in contrast, late mRNAs were translated poorly under similar conditions. However, the translational efficiency of the late viral mRNAs was markedly enhanced in cell-free extracts prepared from frog virus 3 (FV 3)-infected baby hamster kidney cells and in nuclease-treated rabbit reticulocyte extracts by the addition of a 0.5 M KCl wash from FV 3-infected cell ribosomes; the 0.5 M KCl wash (initiation factors) from uninfected cells had no such effect. Total cytoplasmic RNA from infected cells was fractionated according to size on sucrose gradients and fractions containing different concentrations, and relative proportions of early and late mRNAs were translated in either native or initiation factor-supplemented extracts. Under these conditions, the translation efficiency of early mRNAs was unchanged, while the translation of late mRNAs increased 2-7-fold. Thus, the in vitro discriminatory activity of the 0.5 M wash was not dependent on the complexity of the mRNAs present in the translation mixture. We show also that in native extracts, under conditions of blocked polypeptide chain elongation, early mRNAs are initiated preferentially. However, late as well as early mRNAs are initiated equally well in reticulocyte extracts under similar experimental conditions when supplemented with crude initiation factors from infected cells. These data support the conclusion that the translational enhancement of FV 3 mRNAs in vitro is mediated by a virus-specified or virus-modified initiation factor(s) and likely represents a regulatory mechanism of protein synthesis operative in vivo (Willis, D. B., Goorha, R., Miles, M., and Granoff, A. (1977) J. Virol. 24, 326-342).     

Effect on transformation of mutations in the early region 1b-encoded 21- and 55-kilodalton proteins of adenovirus 5.

It is well established that the adenovirus 5 genes responsible for the initiation and maintenance of the transformed cell reside in the early region 1a and 1b genes, but it remains unclear how the polypeptides encoded in these genes mediate their functions. To probe the function of the early region 1b-encoded 55- and 21-kilodalton (kd) polypeptides during this process, a series of viral mutants was engineered so that they contained deletions or insertions at 5.4, 5.7, 7.9, or 9.6 map units. By means of either an overlap recombination procedure involving H5dl314 (delta 3.7 to 4.6 map units) cleaved with ClaI, or a marker rescue procedure involving H5dl312 (delta 1.2 to 3.8 map units), viral mutants were isolated by their ability to produce plaques on KB cell line 18 cells, which constitutively express only viral early region 1b functions. DNA sequence analysis confirmed that the series of mutants generated differed in their abilities to express the 21- or the 55-kd polypeptides, or both. Upon infection of cloned rat embryo fibroblast cells with viruses containing mutations affecting the 55-kd protein, the transformation frequency decreased as the size of the predicted truncated polypeptide decreased. Although all of the foci generated by the 55-kd protein mutants were indistinguishable from the foci induced by wild-type virus, they displayed an inefficient ability to grow in soft agar, again in relation to the size of the truncated polypeptide. In contrast, if cloned rat embryo fibroblast cells were transfected with viral DNA, the defectiveness in transformation observed after infection with virions was not as dramatic. However, all of the viruses containing 21-kd mutations were transformation defective, regardless of the mode by which the viral nucleic acid was introduced into the cell.     

A 32-kilodalton protein binds to AU-rich domains in the 3'' untranslated regions of rapidly degraded mRNAs.

An AU-rich sequence present within the 3' untranslated region has been shown to mark some short-lived mRNAs for rapid degradation. We demonstrate by label transfer and gel shift experiments that a 32-kDa polypeptide, present in nuclear extracts, specifically interacts with the AU-rich domains present within the 3' untranslated region of human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, c-fos, and c-myc mRNAs and a similar domain downstream of the poly(A) addition site of the adenovirus IVa2 mRNA. Competition experiments and partial protease analysis indicated that the same polypeptide interacts with all four RNAs. A single AUUUA sequence in a U-rich context was sufficient to signal binding of the 32-kDa polypeptide. Insertion of three copies of this minimal recognition site led to markedly reduced accumulation of beta-globin RNA, while the same insert carrying a series of U-to-G changes had little effect on RNA levels. Steady-state levels of beta-globin-specific nuclear RNA, including incompletely processed RNA, and cytoplasmic mRNA were reduced. Cytoplasmic mRNA containing the AU-rich recognition sites for the 32-kDa polypeptide exhibited a half-life shorter than that of mRNA with a mutated insert. We suggest that binding of the 32-kDa polypeptide may be involved in the regulation of mRNA half-life.     

Adenovirus ubiquitin-protein ligase stimulates viral late mRNA nuclear export

Theadenovirus type 5 (Ad5) E1B-55K and E4orf6 proteins are required together to stimulate viral late nuclear mRNA export to the cytoplasm and to restrict host cell nuclear mRNA export during the late phase of infection. Previous studies have shown that these two viral proteins interact with the cellular proteins elongins B and C, cullin 5, RBX1, and additional cellular proteins to form an E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase that polyubiquitinates p53 and probably one or more subunits of the MRE11-RAD50-NBS1 (MRN) complex, directing their proteasomal degradation. The MRN complex is required for cellular DNA double-strand break repair and induction of the DNA damage response by adenovirus infection. To determine if the ability of E1B-55K and E4orf6 to stimulate viral late mRNA nuclear export requires the ubiquitin-protein ligase activity of this viral ubiquitin-protein ligase complex, we designed and expressed a dominant-negative mutant form of cullin 5 in HeLa cells before infection with wild-type Ad5 or the E1B-55K null mutant dl1520. The dominant-negative cullin 5 protein stabilized p53 and the MRN complex, indicating that it inhibited the viral ubiquitin-protein ligase but had no effect on viral early mRNA synthesis, early protein synthesis, or viral DNA replication. However, expression of the dominant-negative cullin 5 protein caused a decrease in viral late protein synthesis and viral nuclear mRNA export similar to the phenotype produced by mutations in E1B-55K. We conclude that the stimulation of adenovirus late mRNA nuclear export by E1B-55K and E4orf6 results from the ubiquitin-protein ligase activity of the adenovirus ubiquitin-protein ligase complex.     

Export of adenoviral late mRNA from the nucleus requires the Nxf1/Tap export receptor

One important function of the human adenovirus E1B 55-kDa protein is induction of selective nuclear export of viral late mRNAs. This protein interacts with the viral E4 Orf6 and four cellular proteins to form an infected-cell-specific E3 ubiquitin ligase. The assembly of this enzyme is required for efficient viral late mRNA export, but neither the relevant substrates nor the cellular pathway that exports viral late mRNAs has been identified. We therefore examined the effects on viral late gene expression of inhibition of the synthesis or activity of the mRNA export receptor Nxf1, which was observed to colocalize with the E1B 55-kDa protein in infected cells. When production of Nxf1 was impaired by using RNA interference, the efficiency of viral late mRNA export was reduced to a corresponding degree. Furthermore, synthesis of a dominant-negative derivative of Nxf1 during the late phase of infection interfered with production of a late structural protein. These observations indicate that the Nxf1 pathway is responsible for export of viral late mRNAs. As the infected-cell-specific E3 ubiquitin ligase targets its known substrates for proteasomal degradation, we compared the concentrations of several components of this pathway (Nxf1, Thox1, and Thoc4) in infected cells that did or did not contain this enzyme. Although the concentration of a well-established substrate, Mre11, decreased significantly in cells infected by adenovirus type 5 (Ad5), but not in those infected by the E1B 55-kDa protein-null mutant Hr6, no E1B 55-kDa protein-dependent degradation of the Nxf1 pathway proteins was observed.     

Adenovirus E1B 55-kilodalton protein is required for both regulation of mRNA export and efficient entry into the late phase of infection in normal human fibroblasts

The human adenovirus type 5 (Ad5) E1B 55-kDa protein is required for selective nuclear export of viral late mRNAs from the nucleus and concomitant inhibition of export of cellular mRNAs in HeLa cells and some other human cell lines, but its contributions(s) to replication in normal human cells is not well understood. We have therefore examined the phenotypes exhibited by viruses carrying mutations in the E1B 55-kDa protein coding sequence in normal human fibroblast (HFFs). Ad5 replicated significantly more slowly in HFFs than it does in tumor cells, a difference that is the result of delayed entry into the late phase of infection. The A143 mutation, which specifically impaired export of viral late mRNAs from the nucleus in infected HeLa cells (R. A. Gonzalez and S. J. Flint, J. Virol. 76:4507-4519, 2002), induced a more severe defect in viral mRNA export in HFFs. This observation indicates that the E1B 55-kDa protein regulates mRNA export during the late phase of infection of normal human cells. Other mutants exhibited phenotypes not observed in HeLa cells. In HFFs infected by the null mutant Hr6, synthesis of viral late mRNAs and proteins was severely impaired. Such defects in late gene expression were the result of inefficient progression into the late phase of infection, for viral DNA synthesis was 10-fold less efficient in Hr6-infected HFFs than in cells infected by Ad5. Similar, but less severe, defects in viral DNA synthesis were induced by the insertion mutation H224, which has been reported to inhibit binding of the E1B 55-kDa protein to p53 (C. C. Kao, P. R. Yew, and A. J. Berk, Virology 179:806-814, 1990).     

Biosynthesis and properties of the adenovirus 2 L1-encoded 52,000- and 55,000-Mr proteins

The adenovirus type 2 L1 region, which is located at 30.7 to 39.2 map units on the viral genome, is transcribed from the major late promoter during both early and late stages of virus replication, and a 52,000-Mr (52K) protein-55K protein doublet has been translated in vitro on L1-specific RNA. To investigate the biosynthesis and properties of the L1 52K and 55K proteins, we prepared antibody against a synthetic peptide encoded near the predicted N terminus. As determined by immunoprecipitation and immunoblot analysis, the antipeptide antibody recognized major 52K and 55K proteins synthesized in adenovirus type 2-infected cells that appeared to be identical to the 52K-55K doublet translated in vitro. The immunoprecipitated 52K and 55K proteins were very closely related, as shown by a peptide map analysis. Both L1 proteins were phosphorylated, and they were phosphorylated at similar sites. No precursor-product relationship was detected between the 52K and 55K proteins by a pulse-chase analysis. Biosynthesis of the L1 52K and 55K proteins began about 6 to 7 h postinfection, after biosynthesis of the early region 1A and early region 1B 19K (175R) T antigens, and reached a maximum rate at about 15 h; the maximum rate was maintained until at least 25 h postinfection. At all times, the 55K protein appeared to be synthesized at a severalfold-higher level than the 52K protein. Both proteins were quite stable and accumulated until late times after infection. Viral DNA replication was not essential for formation of the L1 proteins. Thus, the L1 52K-55K gene appears to be regulated in a manner different from the classical early and late viral genes but similar to the protein encoded by the i-leader (Symington et al., J. Virol. 57:849-856, 1986). The L1 proteins were detected in the cell nucleus by immunofluorescence microscopy with antipeptide antibody and were found to be primarily associated with the nuclear membrane by an immunoblot analysis of subcellular fractions.     

Characterization of a temperature-sensitive, hexon transport mutant of type 5 adenovirus.

Infection of KB cells at 39.5 degrees C with H5ts147, a temperature-sensitive (ts) mutant of type 5 adenovirus, resulted in the cytoplasmic accumulation of hexon antigen; all other virion proteins measured, however, were normally transported into the nucleus. Immunofluorescence techniques were used to study the intracellular location of viral proteins. Genetic studies revealed that H5ts147 was the single member of a nonoverlapping complementation group and occupied a unique locus on the adenovirus genetic map, distinct from mutants that failed to produce immunologically reactive hexons at 39.5 degrees C ("hexon-minus" mutants). Sedimentation studies of extracts of H5ts147-infected cells cultured and labeled at 39.5 degrees C revealed the production of 12S hexon capsomers (the native, trimeric structures), which were immunoprecipitable to the same extent as hexons synthesized in wild type (WT)-infected cells. In contrast, only 3.4S polypeptide chains were found in extracts of cells infected with the class of mutants unable to produce immunologically reactive hexon protein at 39.5 degrees C. Hexons synthesized in H5ts147-infected cells at 39.5 degrees C were capable of being assembled into virions, to the same extent as hexons synthesized in WT-infected cells, when the temperature was shifted down to the permissive temperature, 32 degrees C. Infectious virus production was initiated within 2 to 6 h after shift-down to 32 degrees C; de novo protein synthesis was required to allow this increase in viral titer. If ts147-infected cells were shifted up to 39.5 degrees C late in the viral multiplication cycle, viral production was arrested within 1 to 2 h. The kinetics of shutoff was similar to that of a WT-infected culture treated with cycloheximide at the time of shift-up. The P-VI nonvirion polypeptide, the precursor to virion protein VI, was unstable at 39.5 degrees C, whereas the hexon polypeptide was not degraded during the chase. It appears that there is a structural requirement for the transport of hexons into the nucleus more stringent than the acquisition of immunological reactivity and folding into the 12S form.     

Adenovirus VAI RNA facilitates the initiation of translation in virus-infected cells

The adenovirus VAI RNA is a small polymerase III-transcribed species that is required for optimal translation of mRNAs late after infection. Mutant dl331 fails to produce this RNA species and, as a result, grows poorly. Mutant-infected cells contain normal levels of late mRNAs, but reduced levels of polypeptides are synthesized late after infection. Translational elongation occurs at normal rates in mutant, as compared to wild-type, virus-infected cells. Initiation of translation occurs with reduced efficiency in dl331 -infected cells. VAI RNA is required for formation of a stable 48S preinitiation complex and very likely functions to facilitate the interaction between 43S preinitiation complex and mRNA to form the 48S species.