ICP0 is required for efficient reactivation of herpes simplex virus type 1 from neuronal latency

Relative to wild-type herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), ICP0-null mutant viruses reactivate inefficiently from explanted, latently infected mouse trigeminal ganglia (TG), indicating that ICP0 is not essential for reactivation but plays a central role in enhancing the efficiency of reactivation. The validity of these findings has been questioned, however, because the replication of ICP0-null mutants is impaired in animal models during the establishment of latency, such that fewer mutant genomes than wild-type genomes are present in latently infected mouse TG. Therefore, the reduced number of mutant viral genomes available to reactivate, rather than mutations in the ICP0 gene per se, may be responsible for the reduced reactivation efficiency of ICP0-null mutants. We have recently demonstrated that optimization of the size of the ICP0 mutant virus inoculum and transient immunosuppression of mutant-infected mice with cyclophosphamide can be used to establish wild-type levels of ICP0-null mutant genomes in latently infected TG (W. P. Halford and P. A. Schaffer, J. Virol. 74:5957-5967, 2000). Using this procedure to equalize mutant and wild-type genome numbers, the goal of the present study was to determine if, relative to wild-type virus, the absence of ICP0 function in two ICP0-null mutants, n212 and 7134, affects reactivation efficiency from (i) explants of latently infected TG and (ii) primary cultures of latently infected TG cells. Although equivalent numbers of viral genomes were present in TG of mice latently infected with either wild-type or mutant viruses, reactivation of n212 and 7134 from heat-stressed TG explants was inefficient (31 and 37% reactivation, respectively) relative to reactivation of wild-type virus (KOS) (95%). Similarly, n212 and 7134 reactivated inefficiently from primary cultures of dissociated TG cells plated directly after removal from the mouse (7 and 4% reactivation, respectively), relative to KOS (60% reactivation). The efficiency and kinetics of reactivation of KOS, n212, and 7134 from cultured TG cells (treated with acyclovir to facilitate the establishment of latency) in response to heat stress or superinfection with a nonreplicating HSV-1 ICP4(-) mutant, n12, were compared. Whereas heat stress induced reactivation of KOS from 69% of latently infected TG cell cultures, reactivation of n212 and 7134 was detected in only 1 and 7% of cultures, respectively. In contrast, superinfection with the ICP4(-) virus, which expresses high levels of ICP0, resulted in the production of infectious virus in nearly 100% of cultures latently infected with KOS, n212, or 7134 within 72 h. Thus, although latent mutant viral genome loads were equivalent to that of wild-type virus, in the absence of ICP0, n212 and 7134 reactivated inefficiently from latently infected TG cells during culture establishment and following heat stress. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that ICP0 is required to induce efficient reactivation of HSV-1 from neuronal latency.     

Replication of ICP0-null mutant herpes simplex virus type 1 is restricted by both PML and Sp100

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) mutants that fail to express the viral immediate-early protein ICP0 have a pronounced defect in viral gene expression and plaque formation in limited-passage human fibroblasts. ICP0 is a RING finger E3 ubiquitin ligase that induces the degradation of several cellular proteins. PML, the organizer of cellular nuclear substructures known as PML nuclear bodies or ND10, is one of the most notable proteins that is targeted by ICP0. Depletion of PML from human fibroblasts increases ICP0-null mutant HSV-1 gene expression, but not to wild-type levels. In this study, we report that depletion of Sp100, another major ND10 protein, results in a similar increase in ICP0-null mutant gene expression and that simultaneous depletion of both proteins complements the mutant virus to a greater degree. Although chromatin assembly and modification undoubtedly play major roles in the regulation of HSV-1 infection, we found that inhibition of histone deacetylase activity with trichostatin A was unable to complement the defect of ICP0-null mutant HSV-1 in either normal or PML-depleted human fibroblasts. These data lend further weight to the hypothesis that ND10 play an important role in the regulation of HSV-1 gene expression.     

The herpes simplex virus type 1 regulatory protein ICP27 is required for the prevention of apoptosis in infected human cells

The herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) ICP27 protein is an immediate-early or alpha protein which is essential for the optimal expression of late genes as well as the synthesis of viral DNA in cultures of Vero cells. Our specific goal was to characterize the replication of a virus incapable of synthesizing ICP27 in cultured human cells. We found that infection with an HSV-1 ICP27 deletion virus of at least three separate strains of human cells did not produce immediate-early or late proteins at the levels observed following wild-type virus infections. Cell morphology, chromatin condensation, and genomic DNA fragmentation measurements demonstrated that the human cells died by apoptosis after infection with the ICP27 deletion virus. These features of the apoptosis were identical to those which occur during wild-type infections of human cells when total protein synthesis has been inhibited. Vero cells infected with the ICP27 deletion virus did not exhibit any of the features of apoptosis. Based on these results, we conclude that while HSV-1 infection likely induced apoptosis in all cells, viral evasion of the response differed among the cells tested in this study.     

PML contributes to a cellular mechanism of repression of herpes simplex virus type 1 infection that is inactivated by ICP0

Promyelocytic leukemia (PML) nuclear bodies (also known as ND10) are nuclear substructures that contain several proteins, including PML itself, Sp100, and hDaxx. PML has been implicated in many cellular processes, and ND10 are frequently associated with the replicating genomes of DNA viruses. During herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection, the viral regulatory protein ICP0 localizes to ND10 and induces the degradation of PML, thereby disrupting ND10 and dispersing their constituent proteins. ICP0-null mutant viruses are defective in PML degradation and ND10 disruption, and concomitantly they initiate productive infection very inefficiently. Although these data are consistent with a repressive role for PML and/or ND10 during HSV-1 infection, evidence in support of this hypothesis has been inconclusive. By use of short interfering RNA technology, we demonstrate that depletion of PML increases both gene expression and plaque formation by an ICP0-negative HSV-1 mutant, while having no effect on wild-type HSV-1. We conclude that PML contributes to a cellular antiviral repression mechanism that is countered by the activity of ICP0.     

Physical interaction between the herpes simplex virus type 1 immediate-early regulatory proteins ICP0 and ICP4.

The herpes simplex virus type 1 immediate-early protein ICP0 enhances expression of a spectrum of viral genes alone and synergistically with ICP4. To test whether ICP0 and ICP4 interact physically, we performed far-Western blotting analysis of proteins from mock-, wild-type-, and ICP4 mutant virus-infected cells with in vitro-synthesized [35S]Met-labeled ICP0 and ICP4 as probes. The ICP4 and ICP0 polypeptides synthesized in vitro exhibited molecular weights similar to those of their counterparts in herpes simplex virus type 1-infected cells, and the in vitro-synthesized ICP4 was able to bind to a probe containing the ICP4 consensus binding site. Far-Western blotting experiments demonstrated that ICP0 interacts directly and specifically with ICP4 and with itself. To further define the interaction between ICP0 and ICP4, we generated a set of glutathione S-transferase (GST)-ICP0 fusion proteins that contain GST and either ICP0 N-terminal amino acids 1 to 244 or 1 to 394 or C-terminal amino acids 395 to 616 or 395 to 775. Using GST-ICP0 fusion protein affinity chromatography and in vitro-synthesized [35S]Met-labeled ICP0 and ICP4, ICP4 was shown to interact preferentially with the fusion protein containing ICP0 C-terminal amino acids 395 to 775, whereas ICP0 interacted efficiently with both the N-terminal GST-ICP0 fusion proteins and the C-terminal GST-ICP0 fusion proteins containing amino acids 395 to 775. Fusion protein affinity chromatography also demonstrated that the C-terminal 235 amino acid residues of ICP4 are important for efficient interaction with ICP0. Collectively, these results reveal a direct and specific physical interaction between ICP0 and ICP4.     

Analysis of the phosphorylation sites of herpes simplex virus type 1 regulatory protein ICP27

The herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) regulatory protein ICP27 is a 63-kDa phosphoprotein required for viral replication. ICP27 has been shown to contain both stable phosphate groups and phosphate groups that cycle on and off during infection (K. W. Wilcox, A. Kohn, E. Sklyanskaya, and B. Roizman, J. Virol. 33:167-182, 1980). Despite extensive genetic analysis of the ICP27 gene, there is no information available about the sites of the ICP27 molecule that are phosphorylated during viral infection. In this study, we mapped several of the phosphorylation sites of ICP27 following in vivo radiolabeling. Phosphoamino acid analysis showed that serine is the only amino acid that is phosphorylated during infection. Two-dimensional phosphopeptide mapping showed a complex tryptic phosphopeptide pattern with at least four major peptides and several minor peptides. In addition, ICP27 purified from transfected cells yielded a similar phosphopeptide pattern, suggesting that cellular kinases phosphorylate ICP27 during viral infection. In vitro labeling showed that protein kinase A (PKA), PKC, and casein kinase II (CKII) were able to differentially phosphorylate ICP27, resulting in distinct phosphopeptide patterns. The major phosphorylation sites of ICP27 appeared to cluster in the N-terminal portion of the protein, such that a frameshift mutant that encodes amino acids 1 to 163 yielded a phosphopeptide pattern very similar to that seen with the wild-type protein. Further, using small deletion and point mutations in kinase consensus sites, we have elucidated individual serine residues that are phosphorylated in vivo. Specifically, the serine at residue 114 was highly phosphorylated by PKA and the serine residues at positions 16 and 18 serve as targets for CKII phosphorylation in vivo. These kinase consensus site mutants were still capable of complementing the growth of an ICP27-null mutant virus. Interestingly, phosphorylation of the serine at residue 114, which lies within the major nuclear localization signal, appeared to modulate the efficiency of nuclear import of ICP27.     

Phenotype of a herpes simplex virus type 1 mutant that fails to express immediate-early regulatory protein ICP0

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) immediate-early (IE) regulatory protein ICP0 is required for efficient progression of infected cells into productive lytic infection, especially in low-multiplicity infections of limited-passage human fibroblasts. We have used single-cell-based assays that allow detailed analysis of the ICP0-null phenotype in low-multiplicity infections of restrictive cell types. The major conclusions are as follows: (i) there is a threshold input multiplicity above which the mutant virus replicates normally; (ii) individual cells infected below the threshold multiplicity have a high probability of establishing a nonproductive infection; (iii) such nonproductively infected cells have a high probability of expressing IE products at 6 h postinfection; (iv) even at 24 h postinfection, IE protein-positive nonproductively infected human fibroblast cells exceed the number of cells that lead to plaque formation by up to 2 orders of magnitude; (v) expression of individual IE proteins in a proportion of the nonproductively infected cells is incompletely coordinated; (vi) the nonproductive cells can also express early gene products at low frequencies and in a stochastic manner; and (vii) significant numbers of human fibroblast cells infected at low multiplicity by an ICP0-deficient virus are lost through cell death. We propose that in the absence of ICP0 expression, HSV-1 infected human fibroblasts can undergo a great variety of fates, including quiescence, stalled infection at a variety of different stages, cell death, and, for a minor population, initiation of formation of a plaque.     

DNA binding by the herpes simplex virus type 1 ICP4 protein is necessary for efficient down regulation of the ICP0 promoter.

The herpes simplex virus type 1 ICP4 and ICP0 polypeptides are immediate-early proteins that positively and negatively regulate expression of other viral genes in trans. ICP4 has recently been shown to bind DNA bearing the consensus sequence 5'-ATCGTCNNNN(T/C)CG(A/G)C-3', present upstream of a number of viral genes. To test the hypothesis that this DNA-binding activity is involved in ICP4-mediated gene regulation, site-specific mutagenesis was employed to mutate the version of this sequence in the promoter of the ICP0 gene. The mutation eliminated detectable binding of ICP4 to the promoter as measured in vitro by a gel electrophoresis band shift assay. The ability of the mutated ICP0 promoter to direct synthesis of a reporter gene was also investigated in a transient transfection assay. Whereas ICP4 was found to transactivate the wild-type ICP0 promoter two- to threefold, the mutated promoter was transactivated seven- to ninefold. In assays containing the ICP0 transactivator gene, ICP4 down regulated the wild-type promoter far more efficiently than the mutated promoter. Finally, both the wild-type and mutated ICP0 promoters exhibited a similar response to ICP4 in transfections that included a vector expressing the viral transactivator protein VP16. These experiments suggest that the sequence-specific DNA-binding activity of ICP4 is an essential element of its role as a negative regulator of gene expression.     

Varicella-zoster virus open reading frame 61 protein is functionally homologous to herpes simplex virus type 1 ICP0.

The varicella-zoster virus (VZV) open reading frame 61 (ORF61) protein is thought to be the homolog of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) ICP0, based on gene location and limited amino acid homology. However, HSV-1 ICP0 trans activates HSV-1 genes, while VZV ORF61 protein trans represses the function of VZV trans activators on VZV promoters in transient expression assays. To investigate the functional relatedness of HSV-1 ICP0 and VZV ORF61 protein, we established Vero and MeWo cell lines which stably express VZV ORF61 under the control of a metallothionein promoter and performed complementation studies with an HSV-1 ICP0 deletion mutant (7134). Mutant 7134 is impaired for plaque formation and replication at a low multiplicity of infection in cell culture, but these defects were complemented by up to 200-fold in Vero cell lines expressing VZV ORF61. Likewise, the efficiency of plaque formation was improved by up to 100-fold in MeWo cell lines expressing VZV ORF61. A cell line expressing another VZV immediate-early gene product (ORF62) was unable to complement mutant 7134. HSV-1 mutants which are deleted for other HSV-1 immediate-early gene products (ICP4, ICP27) were unable to grow in VZV ORF61-expressing cell lines. These results indicate that, despite marked differences in their sequences and in effects on their cognate promoters in transient expression assays, VZV ORF61 protein is the functional homolog of HSV-1 ICP0.     

The herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) regulatory protein ICP0 interacts with and Ubiquitinates p53

Herpes simplex virus type 1 regulatory protein ICP0 contains a zinc-binding RING finger and has been shown to induce the proteasome-dependent degradation of a number of cellular proteins in a RING finger-dependent manner during infection. This domain of ICP0 is also required to induce the formation of unanchored polyubiquitin chains in vitro in the presence of ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes UbcH5a and UbcH6. These data indicate that ICP0 has the potential to act as a RING finger ubiquitin ubiquitin-protein isopeptide ligase (E3) and to induce the degradation of certain cellular proteins through ubiquitination and proteasome-mediated degradation. Here we demonstrate that ICP0 is a genuine RING finger ubiquitin E3 ligase that can interact with and mediate the ubiquitination of the major oncoprotein p53 both in vitro and in vivo. Ubiquitination of p53 requires ICP0 to have an intact RING finger domain and occurs independently of its ability to bind to the ubiquitin-specific protease USP7.     

ICP0 is not required for efficient stress-induced reactivation of herpes simplex virus type 1 from cultured quiescently infected neuronal cells

Viral genes sufficient and required for herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) reactivation were identified using neuronally differentiated PC12 cells (ND-PC12 cells) in which quiescent infections with wild-type and recombinant strains were established. In this model, the expression of ICP0, VP16, and ICP4 from adenovirus vectors was sufficient to reactivate strains 17⁺ and KOS. The transactivators induced similar levels of reactivation with KOS; however, 17⁺ responded more efficiently to ICP0. To identify viral transactivators required for reactivation, we examined quiescently infected PC12 cell cultures (QIF-PC12 cell cultures) established with HSV-1 deletion mutants R7910 (ΔICP0), KD6 (ΔICP4), and in1814, a virus containing an insertion mutation in VP16. Although growth of these mutant viruses was impaired in ND-PC12 cells, R7910 and in1814 reactivated at levels equivalent to or better than their respective parental controls following stress (i.e., heat or forskolin) treatment. After treatment with trichostatin A, in1814 and 17⁺ reactivated efficiently, whereas the F strain and R7910 reactivated inefficiently. In contrast, KD6 failed to reactivate. In experiments with the recombinant KM100, which contains the in1814 mutation in VP16 and the n212 mutation in ICP0, spontaneous and stress-induced reactivation was observed. However, two strains, V422 and KM110, which lack the acidic activation domain of VP16, did not reactivate above low spontaneous levels after stress. These results demonstrate that in QIF-PC12 cells ICP0 is not required for efficient reactivation of HSV-1, the acidic activation domain of VP16 is essential for stress-induced HSV-1 reactivation, and HSV-1 reactivation is modulated uniquely by different treatment constraints and phenotypes.