Viability of poliovirus/rhinovirus VPg chimeric viruses and identification of an amino acid residue in the VPg gene critical for viral RNA replication

Picornaviral RNA replication utilizes a small virus-encoded protein, termed 3B or VPg, as a primer to initiate RNA synthesis. This priming step requires uridylylation of the VPg peptide by the viral polymerase protein 3D(pol), in conjunction with other viral or host cofactors. In this study, we compared the viral specificity in 3D(pol)-catalyzed uridylylation reactions between poliovirus (PV) and human rhinovirus 16 (HRV16). It was found that HRV16 3D(pol) was able to uridylylate PV VPg as efficiently as its own VPg, but PV 3D(pol) could not uridylylate HRV16 VPg. Two chimeric viruses, PV containing HRV16 VPg (PV/R16-VPg) and HRV16 containing PV VPg (R16/PV-VPg), were constructed and tested for replication capability in H1-HeLa cells. Interestingly, only PV/R16-VPg chimeric RNA produced infectious virus particles upon transfection. No viral RNA replication or cytopathic effect was observed in cells transfected with R16/PV-VPg chimeric RNA, despite the ability of HRV16 3D(pol) to uridylylate PV VPg in vitro. Sequencing analysis of virion RNA isolated from the virus particles generated by PV/R16-VPg chimeric RNA identified a single residue mutation in the VPg peptide (Glu(6) to Val). Reverse genetics confirmed that this mutation was highly compensatory in enhancing replication of the chimeric viral RNA. PV/R16-VPg RNA carrying this mutation replicated with similar kinetics and magnitude to wild-type PV RNA. This cell culture-induced mutation in HRV16 VPg moderately increased its uridylylation by PV 3D(pol) in vitro, suggesting that it might be involved in other function(s) in addition to the direct uridylylation reaction. This study demonstrated the use of chimeric viruses to characterize viral specificity and compatibility in vivo between PV and HRV16 and to identify critical amino acid residue(s) for viral RNA replication.     

Picornavirus genome replication. Identification of the surface of the poliovirus (PV) 3C dimer that interacts with PV 3Dpol during VPg uridylylation and construction of a structural model for the PV 3C2-3Dpol complex

Picornaviruses have a peptide termed VPg covalently linked to the 5'-end of the genome. Attachment of VPg to the genome occurs in at least two steps. First, Tyr-3 of VPg, or some precursor thereof, is used as a primer by the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, 3Dpol, to produce VPg-pUpU. Second, VPg-pUpU is used as a primer to produce full-length genomic RNA. Production of VPg-pUpU is templated by a single adenylate residue located in the loop of an RNA stem-loop structure termed oriI by using a slide-back mechanism. Recruitment of 3Dpol to and its stability on oriI have been suggested to require an interaction between the back of the thumb subdomain of 3Dpol and an undefined region of the 3C domain of viral protein 3CD. We have performed surface acidic-to-alanine-scanning mutagenesis of 3C to identify the surface of 3C with which 3Dpol interacts. This analysis identified numerous viable poliovirus mutants with reduced growth kinetics that correlated to reduced kinetics of RNA synthesis that was attributable to a change in VPg-pUpU production. Importantly, these 3C derivatives were all capable of binding to oriI as well as wild-type 3C. Synthetic lethality was observed for these mutants when placed in the context of a poliovirus mutant containing 3Dpol-R455A, a residue on the back of the thumb required for VPg uridylylation. These data were used to guide molecular docking of the structures for a poliovirus 3C dimer and 3Dpol, leading to a structural model for the 3C(2)-3Dpol complex that extrapolates well to all picornaviruses.     

Role of RNA structure and RNA binding activity of foot-and-mouth disease virus 3C protein in VPg uridylylation and virus replication

The uridylylation of the VPg peptide primer is the first stage in the replication of picornavirus RNA. This process can be achieved in vitro using purified components, including 3B (VPg) with the RNA dependent RNA polymerase (3Dpol), the precursor 3CD, and an RNA template containing the cre/bus. We show that certain RNA sequences within the foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) 5' untranslated region but outside of the cre/bus can enhance VPg uridylylation activity. Furthermore, we have shown that the FMDV 3C protein alone can substitute for 3CD, albeit less efficiently. In addition, the VPg precursors, 3B(3)3C and 3B(123)3C, can function as substrates for uridylylation in the absence of added 3C or 3CD. Residues within the FMDV 3C protein involved in interaction with the cre/bus RNA have been identified and are located on the face of the protein opposite from the catalytic site. These residues within 3C are also essential for VPg uridylylation activity and efficient virus replication.     

Structure-function relationships of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase from poliovirus (3Dpol). A surface of the primary oligomerization domain functions in capsid precursor processing and VPg uridylylation

The primary oligomerization domain of poliovirus polymerase, 3Dpol, is stabilized by the interaction of the back of the thumb subdomain of one molecule with the back of the palm subdomain of a second molecule, thus permitting the head-to-tail assembly of 3Dpol monomers into long fibers. The interaction of Arg-455 and Arg-456 of the thumb with Asp-339, Ser-341, and Asp-349 of the palm is key to the stability of this interface. We show that mutations predicted to completely disrupt this interface do not produce equivalent growth phenotypes. Virus encoding a polymerase with changes of both residues of the thumb to alanine is not viable; however, virus encoding a polymerase with changes of all three residues of the palm to alanine is viable. Biochemical analysis of 3Dpol derivatives containing the thumb or palm substitutions revealed that these derivatives are both incapable of forming long fibers, suggesting that polymerase fibers are not essential for virus viability. The RNA binding activity, polymerase activity, and thermal stability of these derivatives were equivalent to that of the wild-type enzyme. The two significant differences observed for the thumb mutant were a modest reduction in the ability of the altered 3CD proteinase to process the VP0/VP3 capsid precursor and a substantial reduction in the ability of the altered 3Dpol to catalyze oriI-templated uridylylation of VPg. The defect to uridylylation was a result of the inability of 3CD to stimulate this reaction. Because 3C alone can substitute for 3CD in this reaction, we conclude that the lethal replication phenotype associated with the thumb mutant is caused, in part, by the disruption of an interaction between the back of the thumb of 3Dpol and some undefined domain of 3C. We speculate that this interaction may also be critical for assembly of other complexes required for poliovirus genome replication.     

The crystal structure of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase from human rhinovirus: a dual function target for common cold antiviral therapy

Human rhinoviruses (HRV), the predominant members of the Picornaviridae family of positive-strand RNA viruses, are the major causative agents of the common cold. Given the lack of effective treatments for rhinoviral infections, virally encoded proteins have become attractive therapeutic targets. The HRV genome encodes an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) denoted 3Dpol, which is responsible for replicating the viral genome and for synthesizing a protein primer used in the replication. Here the crystal structures for three viral serotypes (1B, 14, and 16) of HRV 3Dpol have been determined. The three structures are very similar to one another, and to the closely related poliovirus (PV) 3Dpol enzyme. Because the reported PV crystal structure shows significant disorder, HRV 3Dpol provides the first complete view of a picornaviral RdRp. The folding topology of HRV 3Dpol also resembles that of RdRps from hepatitis C virus (HCV) and rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) despite very low sequence homology.     

Similar structural basis for membrane localization and protein priming by an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase

Protein primers are used to initiate genomic synthesis of several RNA and DNA viruses, although the structural details of the primer-polymerase interactions are not yet known. Poliovirus polymerase binds with high affinity to the membrane-bound viral protein 3AB but uridylylates only the smaller peptide 3B in vitro. Mutational analysis of the polymerase identified four surface residues on the three-dimensional structure of poliovirus polymerase whose wild-type identity is required for 3AB binding. These mutants also decreased 3B uridylylation, arguing that the binding sites for the membrane tether and the protein primer overlap. Mutation of flanking residues between the 3AB binding site and the polymerase active site specifically decreased 3B uridylylation, likely affecting steps subsequent to binding. The physical overlap of sites for protein priming and membrane association should facilitate replication initiation in the membrane-associated complex.     

The structure of a protein primer-polymerase complex in the initiation of genome replication

Picornavirus RNA replication is initiated by the covalent attachment of a UMP molecule to the hydroxyl group of a tyrosine in the terminal protein VPg. This reaction is carried out by the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (3D). Here, we report the X-ray structure of two complexes between foot-and-mouth disease virus 3D, VPg1, the substrate UTP and divalent cations, in the absence and in the presence of an oligoadenylate of 10 residues. In both complexes, VPg fits the RNA binding cleft of the polymerase and projects the key residue Tyr3 into the active site of 3D. This is achieved by multiple interactions with residues of motif F and helix alpha8 of the fingers domain and helix alpha13 of the thumb domain of the polymerase. The complex obtained in the presence of the oligoadenylate showed the product of the VPg uridylylation (VPg-UMP). Two metal ions and the catalytic aspartic acids of the polymerase active site, together with the basic residues of motif F, have been identified as participating in the priming reaction.     

Genetic evidence for an interaction between a picornaviral cis-acting RNA replication element and 3CD protein

Internally located, cis-acting RNA replication elements, termed cres, are essential for replication of the genomes of picornaviruses such as human rhinovirus 14 (HRV-14) and poliovirus because they template uridylylation of the protein primer, VPg, by the polymerase 3D(pol). These cres form stem-loop structures sharing a common loop motif, and the HRV-14 cre can substitute functionally for the poliovirus cre in both uridylylation in vitro and RNA replication in vivo. We show, however, that the poliovirus cre is unable to support HRV-14 RNA replication. This lack of complementation maps to the stem of the poliovirus cre and was reversed by single nucleotide substitutions in the stem as well as the base of the loop. Replication-competent, revertant viruses rescued from dicistronic HRV-14 RNAs containing the poliovirus cre, or a chimeric cre containing the poliovirus stem, contained adaptive amino acid substitutions. These mapped to the surface of both the polymerase 3D(pol), at the tip of the "thumb" domain, and the protease 3C(pro), on the side opposing the active site and near the end of an extended strand segment implicated previously in RNA binding. These mutations substantially enhanced replication competence when introduced into HRV-14 RNAs containing the poliovirus cre, and they were additive in their effects. The data support a model in which 3CD or its derivatives 3C(pro) and 3D(pol) interact directly with the stem of the cre during uridylylation of VPg.     

Human rhinovirus type 14 gain-of-function mutants for oriI utilization define residues of 3C(D) and 3Dpol that contribute to assembly and stability of the picornavirus VPg uridylylation complex

VPg linkage to the 5' ends of picornavirus RNAs requires production of VPg-pUpU. VPg-pUpU is templated by an RNA stem-loop (the cre or oriI) found at different locations in picornavirus genomes. At least one adaptive mutation is required for human rhinovirus type 14 (HRV-14) to use poliovirus type 3 (PV-3) or PV-1 oriI efficiently. One mutation changes Leu-94 of 3C to Pro; the other changes Asp-406 of 3Dpol to Asn. By using an in vitro VPg uridylylation system for HRV-14 that recapitulates biological phenotypes, we show that the 3C adaptive mutation functions at the level of 3C(D) and the 3D adaptive mutation functions at the level of 3Dpol. Pro-94 3C(D) has an expanded specificity and enhanced stability relative to wild-type 3C(D) that leads to production of more processive uridylylation complexes. PV-1/HRV-14 oriI chimeras reveal sequence specificity in 3C(D) recognition of oriI that resides in the upper stem. Asn-406 3Dpol is as active as wild-type 3Dpol in RNA-primed reactions but exhibits greater VPg uridylylation activity due to more efficient recruitment to and retention in the VPg uridylylation complex. Asn-406 3Dpol from PV-1 exhibits identical behavior. These studies suggest a two-step binding mechanism in the assembly of the 3C(D)-oriI complex that leads to unwinding of at least the upper stem of oriI and provide additional support for a direct interaction between the back of the thumb of 3Dpol and 3C that is required for 3Dpol recruitment to and retention in the uridylylation complex.     

Picornavirus genome replication: assembly and organization of the VPg uridylylation ribonucleoprotein (initiation) complex

All picornaviruses have a protein, VPg, covalently linked to the 5'-ends of their genomes. Uridylylated VPg (VPg-pUpU) is thought to serve as the protein primer for RNA synthesis. VPg-pUpU can be produced in vitro by the viral polymerase, 3Dpol, in a reaction in which a single adenylate residue of a stem-loop structure, termed oriI, templates processive incorporation of UMP into VPg by using a "slide-back" mechanism. This reaction is greatly stimulated by viral precursor protein 3CD or its processed derivative, 3C; both contain RNA-binding and protease activities. We show that the 3C domain encodes specificity for oriI, and the 3D domain enhances the overall affinity for oriI. Thus, 3C(D) stimulation exhibits an RNA length dependence. By using a minimal system to evaluate the mechanism of VPg uridylylation, we show that the active complex contains polymerase, oriI, and 3C(D) at stoichiometry of 1:1:2. Dimerization of 3C(D) is supported by physical and structural data. Polymerase recruitment to and retention in this complex require a protein-protein interaction between the polymerase and 3C(D). Physical and functional data for this interaction are provided for three picornaviruses. VPg association with this complex is weak, suggesting that formation of a complex containing all necessary components of the reaction is rate-limiting for the reaction. We suggest that assembly of this complex in vivo would be facilitated by use of precursor proteins instead of processed proteins. These data provide a glimpse into the organization of the ribonucleoprotein complex that catalyzes this key step in picornavirus genome replication.     

Analysis of RNA synthesis of type 1 poliovirus by using an in vitro molecular genetic approach.

Membranous crude replication complexes (CRC) were isolated from poliovirus-infected HeLa cells as recently described (N. Takeda, R.J. Kuhn, C.-F. Yang, T. Takegami, and E. Wimmer, J. Virol. 60:43-53, 1986). Viruses used to produce the CRC were poliovirus type 1 (Mahoney), [PV-1(M)], poliovirus type 1 (Sabin) [PV-1(S)], and four in vitro recombinants that were constructed from infectious cDNA clones. RNA synthesis in CRC was studied. No end-linked, full-length double-stranded poliovirus RNA was detected in CRC regardless of whether nonionic detergent (Nonidet P-40) was added prior to incubation. Synthesis of VPg-pU and VPg-pUpU, two nucleotidyl proteins presumed to be involved in the initiation of RNA synthesis, was slower at 30 degrees C in CRC induced by PV-1(S) than by PV-1(M). This observation was used to design a pulse-chase experiment whose result suggested that synthesis of VPg-pUpU occurred by uridylylation of VPg-pU. Synthesis of VPg-pU(pU) was thermosensitive in CRC induced by PV-1(S). With CRC of recombinant viruses, the thermosensitive block covaried to nucleotide substitutions in PV-1(S) that mapped to the virus-induced RNA polymerase 3Dpol. We conclude that plus-stranded RNA synthesis in CRC does not proceed via hairpin structures. The results of VPg-pU----VPg-pUpU synthesis are consistent with a model in which VPg-pU is the primer of RNA synthesis mediated by 3Dpol. The data suggest that uridylylation of VPg or a precursor thereof may be catalyzed by 3Dpol itself, a mechanism resembling events occurring in adenovirus DNA replication.     

Structural basis for proteolysis-dependent activation of the poliovirus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase

The active RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of poliovirus, 3Dpol, is generated by cleavage of the 3CDpro precursor protein, a protease that has no polymerase activity despite containing the entire polymerase domain. By intentionally disrupting a known and persistent crystal packing interaction, we have crystallized the poliovirus polymerase in a new space group and solved the complete structure of the protein at 2.0 A resolution. It shows that the N-terminus of fully processed 3Dpol is buried in a surface pocket where it makes hydrogen bonds that act to position Asp238 in the active site. Asp238 is an essential residue that selects for the 2' OH group of substrate rNTPs, as shown by a 2.35 A structure of a 3Dpol-GTP complex. Mutational, biochemical, and structural data further demonstrate that 3Dpol activity is exquisitely sensitive to mutations at the N-terminus. This sensitivity is the result of allosteric effects where the structure around the buried N-terminus directly affects the positioning of Asp238 in the active site.     

Nucleotide channel of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase used for intermolecular uridylylation of protein primer

Poliovirus VPg is a 22 amino acid residue peptide that serves as the protein primer for replication of the viral RNA genome. VPg is known to bind directly to the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, 3D, for covalent uridylylation, yielding mono and di-uridylylated products, VPg-pU and VPg-pUpU, which are subsequently elongated. To model the docking of the VPg substrate to a putative VPg-binding site on the 3D polymerase molecule, we performed a variety of structure-based computations followed by experimental verification. First, potential VPg folded structures were identified, yielding a suite of predicted beta-hairpin structures. These putative VPg structures were then docked to the region of the polymerase implicated by genetic experiments to bind VPg, using grid-based and fragment-based methods. Residues in VPg predicted to affect binding were identified through molecular dynamics simulations, and their effects on the 3D-VPg interaction were tested computationally and biochemically. Experiments with mutant VPg and mutant polymerase molecules confirmed the predicted binding site for VPg on the back side of the polymerase molecule during the uridylylation reaction, opposite to that predicted to bind elongating RNA primers.     

Biochemical and genetic studies of the initiation of human rhinovirus 2 RNA replication: purification and enzymatic analysis of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 3D(pol)

The replication of human rhinovirus 2 (HRV2), a positive-stranded RNA virus belonging to the Picornaviridae, requires a virus-encoded RNA polymerase. We have expressed in Escherichia coli and purified both a glutathione S-transferase fusion polypeptide and an untagged form of the HRV2 RNA polymerase 3D(pol). Using in vitro assay systems previously described for poliovirus RNA polymerase 3D(pol) (J. B. Flanegan and D. Baltimore, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 74:3677-3680, 1977; A. V. Paul, J. H. van Boom, D. Filippov, and E. Wimmer, Nature 393:280-284, 1998), we have analyzed the biochemical properties of the two different enzyme preparations. HRV2 3D(pol) is both template and primer dependent, and it catalyzes two types of synthetic reactions in the presence of UTP, Mn(2+), and a poly(A) template. The first consists of an elongation reaction of an oligo(dT)(15) primer into poly(U). The second is a protein-priming reaction in which the enzyme covalently links UMP to the hydroxyl group of tyrosine in the terminal protein VPg, yielding VPgpU. This precursor is elongated first into VPgpUpU and then into VPg-linked poly(U), which is identical to the 5' end of picornavirus minus strands. The two forms of the enzyme are about equally active both in the oligonucleotide elongation and in the VPg-primed reaction. Various synthetic mutant VPgs were tested as substrates in the VPg uridylylation reaction.     

Template/primer requirements and single nucleotide incorporation by hepatitis C virus nonstructural protein 5B polymerase

Nonstructural protein 5B (NS5B) of hepatitis C virus (HCV) possesses an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase activity responsible for viral genome RNA replication. Despite several reports on the characterization of this essential viral enzyme, little is known about the reaction pathway of NS5B-catalyzed nucleotide incorporation due to the lack of a kinetic system offering efficient assembly of a catalytically competent polymerase/template/primer/nucleotide quaternary complex. In this report, specific template/primer requirements for efficient RNA synthesis by HCV NS5B were investigated. For intramolecular copy-back RNA synthesis, NS5B utilizes templates with an unstable stem-loop at the 3' terminus which exists as a single-stranded molecule in solution. A template with a stable tetraloop at the 3' terminus failed to support RNA synthesis by HCV NS5B. Based on these observations, a number of single-stranded RNA templates were synthesized and tested along with short RNA primers ranging from two to five nucleotides. It was found that HCV NS5B utilized di- or trinucleotides efficiently to initiate RNA replication. Furthermore, the polymerase, template, and primer assembled initiation-competent complexes at the 3' terminus of the template RNA where the template and primer base paired within the active site cavity of the polymerase. The minimum length of the template is five nucleotides, consistent with a structural model of the NS5B/RNA complex in which a pentanucleotide single-stranded RNA template occupies a groove located along the fingers subdomain of the polymerase. This observation suggests that the initial docking of RNA on NS5B polymerase requires a single-stranded RNA molecule. A unique beta-hairpin loop in the thumb subdomain may play an important role in properly positioning the single-stranded template for initiation of RNA synthesis. Identification of the template/primer requirements will facilitate the mechanistic characterization of HCV NS5B and its inhibitors.     

Allosteric effects of ligands and mutations on poliovirus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase

Protein priming of viral RNA synthesis plays an essential role in the replication of picornavirus RNA. Both poliovirus and coxsackievirus encode a small polypeptide, VPg, which serves as a primer for addition of the first nucleotide during synthesis of both positive and negative strands. This study examined the effects on the VPg uridylylation reaction of the RNA template sequence, the origin of VPg (coxsackievirus or poliovirus), the origin of 3D polymerase (coxsackievirus or poliovirus), the presence and origin of interacting protein 3CD, and the introduction of mutations at specific regions in the poliovirus 3D polymerase. Substantial effects associated with VPg origin were traced to differences in VPg-polymerase interactions. The effects of 3CD proteins and mutations at polymerase-polymerase intermolecular Interface I were most consistent with allosteric effects on the catalytic 3D polymerase molecule. In conclusion, the efficiency and specificity of VPg uridylylation by picornavirus polymerases is greatly influenced by allosteric effects of ligand binding that are likely to be relevant during the viral replicative cycle.