Remodeling the endoplasmic reticulum by poliovirus infection and by individual viral proteins: an autophagy-like origin for virus-induced vesicles

All positive-strand RNA viruses of eukaryotes studied assemble RNA replication complexes on the surfaces of cytoplasmic membranes. Infection of mammalian cells with poliovirus and other picornaviruses results in the accumulation of dramatically rearranged and vesiculated membranes. Poliovirus-induced membranes did not cofractionate with endoplasmic reticulum (ER), lysosomes, mitochondria, or the majority of Golgi-derived or endosomal membranes in buoyant density gradients, although changes in ionic strength affected ER and virus-induced vesicles, but not other cellular organelles, similarly. When expressed in isolation, two viral proteins of the poliovirus RNA replication complex, 3A and 2C, cofractionated with ER membranes. However, in cells that expressed 2BC, a proteolytic precursor of the 2B and 2C proteins, membranes identical in buoyant density to those observed during poliovirus infection were formed. When coexpressed with 2BC, viral protein 3A was quantitatively incorporated into these fractions, and the membranes formed were ultrastructurally similar to those in poliovirus-infected cells. These data argue that poliovirus-induced vesicles derive from the ER by the action of viral proteins 2BC and 3A by a mechanism that excludes resident host proteins. The double-membraned morphology, cytosolic content, and apparent ER origin of poliovirus-induced membranes are all consistent with an autophagic origin for these membranes.     

Molecular dissection of the multifunctional poliovirus RNA-binding protein 3AB.

Genome replication of poliovirus, as yet unsolved, involves numerous viral polypeptides that arise from proteolysis of the viral polyprotein. One of these proteins is 3AB, an RNA-binding protein with multiple functions, that serves also as the precursor for the genome-linked protein VPg (= 3B). Eight clustered charged amino acid-to-alanine mutants in the 3AB coding region of poliovirus were constructed and analyzed, together with three additional single-amino acid exchange mutants in VPg, for viral phenotypes. All mutants expressed severe inhibition in RNA synthesis, but none were temperature sensitive (ts). The 3AB polypeptides of mutants with a lethal phenotype were overexpressed in Escherichia coli, purified to near homogeneity, and studied with respect to four functions: (1) ribonucleoprotein complex formation with 3CDpro and the 5'-terminal cloverleaf of the poliovirus genome; (2) binding to the genomic and negative-sense RNA; (3) stimulation of 3CDpro cleavage; and (4) stimulation of RNA polymerase activity of 3Dpol. The results have allowed mapping of domains important for RNA binding and the formation of certain protein-protein complexes, and correlation of these processes with essential steps in viral genome replication.     

Construction of viable deletion and insertion mutants of the Sabin strain of type 1 poliovirus: function of the 5'' noncoding sequence in viral replication.

A number of deletion and insertion sequences were introduced into the 5' noncoding sequence (742 nucleotides long) of the genome of the Sabin strain of type 1 poliovirus by using an infectious cDNA clone of the virus strain. The genomes of all three poliovirus serotypes contained highly homologous sequences (nucleotide positions 509 to 639) as well as highly variable sequences (positions 640 to 742) in the 5' noncoding region. The viability of mutant viruses was tested by transfecting mutant cDNA clones into African green monkey kidney cells and then estimating the plaque sizes displayed on the cells. The results suggested that the highly variable sequence next to the VP4 coding region did not play an important role, at least in the in vitro culture system used, that the loci of highly conserved nucleotide sequences were not always expected to be the genome regions essential for viral replication, that the sequence between positions 564 and 599 carried genetic information to maintain the efficiency of certain steps in viral replication, and that the sequence between positions 551 to 563 might play an essential role in viral replication. Four-base deletion or insertion mutations were introduced into relatively variable sequences in the genome region upstream of position 509. The results suggest that variable sequences do not always indicate that the corresponding genome regions are less important. Apparent revertants (large-plaque variants) were easily generated from one of the viable mutants with the small-plaque phenotype. The determination of nucleotide sequences of the revertant genomes revealed the second mutation site. The results suggested that the different loci at around positions 200 and 500 might specifically interact with each other. This interaction may result in the formation of a functional structure that influences the efficiency of certain steps in the viral replication.     

Minimum internal ribosome entry site required for poliovirus infectivity.

Translation initiation by internal ribosome binding is a recently discovered mechanism of eukaryotic viral and cellular protein synthesis in which ribosome subunits interact with the mRNAs at internal sites in the 5' untranslated RNA sequences and not with the 5' methylguanosine cap structure present at the extreme 5' ends of mRNA molecules. Uncapped poliovirus mRNAs harbor internal ribosome entry sites (IRES) in their long and highly structured 5' noncoding regions. Such IRES sequences are required for viral protein synthesis. In this study, a novel poliovirus was isolated whose genomic RNA contains two gross deletions removing approximately 100 nucleotides from the predicted IRES sequences within the 5' noncoding region. The deletions originated from previously in vivo-selected viral revertants displaying non-temperature-sensitive phenotypes. Each revertant had a different predicted stem-loop structure within the 5' noncoding region of their genomic RNAs deleted. The mutant poliovirus (Se1-5NC-delta DG) described in this study contains both stem-loop deletions in a single RNA genome, thereby creating a minimum IRES. Se1-5NC-delta DG exhibited slow growth and a pinpoint plaque phenotype following infection of HeLa cells, delayed onset of protein synthesis in vivo, and defective initiation during in vitro translation of the mutated poliovirus mRNAs. Interestingly, the peak levels of viral RNA synthesis in cells infected with Se1-5NC-delta DG occurred at slightly later times in infection than those achieved by wild-type poliovirus, but these mutant virus RNAs accumulated in the host cells during the late phases of virus infection. UV cross-linking assays with the 5' noncoding regions of wild-type and mutated RNAs were carried out in cytoplasmic extracts from HeLa cells and neuronal cells and in reticulocyte lysates to identify the cellular factors that interact with the putative IRES elements. The cellular proteins that were cross-linked to the minimum IRES may represent factors playing an essential role in internal translation initiation of poliovirus mRNAs.     

Visualizing the dynamic behavior of poliovirus plus-strand RNA in living host cells

Dynamic analysis of viral nucleic acids in host cells is important for understanding virus–host interaction. By labeling endogenous RNA with molecular beacon, we have realized the direct visualization of viral nucleic acids in living host cells and have studied the dynamic behavior of poliovirus plus-strand RNA. Poliovirus plus-strand RNA was observed to display different distribution patterns in living Vero cells at different post-infection time points. Real-time imaging suggested that the translocation of poliovirus plus-strand RNA is a characteristic rearrangement process requiring intact microtubule network of host cells. Confocal-FRAP measurements showed that 49.4 ± 3.2% of the poliovirus plus-strand RNA molecules diffused freely (with a D-value of 9.6 ± 1.6 × 10⁻¹⁰ cm²/s) within their distribution region, while the remaining (50.5 ± 2.9%) were almost immobile and moved very slowly only with change of the RNA distribution region. Under the electron microscope, it was found that virus-induced membrane rearrangement is microtubule-associated in poliovirus-infected Vero cells. These results reveal an entrapment and diffusion mechanism for the movement of poliovirus plus-strand RNA in living mammalian cells, and demonstrate that the mechanism is mainly associated with microtubules and virus-induced membrane structures.     

A human virus protein, poliovirus protein 2BC, induces membrane proliferation and blocks the exocytic pathway in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Inducible synthesis of poliovirus protein 2BC in Saccharomyces cerevisiae arrests cell growth in the G2 phase of the cell cycle, while no effects are observed upon expression of poliovirus genes 2B or 2C, either individually or in combination. Expression of 2BC induces a number of morphological modifications in yeast cells, one of the most striking being the proliferation of small membranous vesicles that fill most of the cytoplasm. These vesicles are morphologically similar to the cytopathic vacuoles that proliferate during the infection of human cells by poliovirus. The transport and processing of several yeast proteins, including vacuolar carboxypeptidase Y, aminopeptidase I or yeast alpha-mating factor, is hampered upon expression of poliovirus 2BC, suggesting that transport of proteins through the Golgi apparatus is impaired by this viral protein. Finally, a number of 2BC variants were generated and the effects of their expression on yeast growth, cellular morphology and protein processing were analyzed. 2BC variants defective in the NTPase activity were still able to interfere with yeast growth and the exocytic system, while deletion of 30 amino acids at the N-terminus of 2BC impairs its function. These findings lend support to the idea that 2BC, but not 2B or 2C, is the protein responsible for vesicle proliferation in poliovirus-infected cells. In addition, the activity of a human virus protein in yeast cells opens new avenues to investigate the exact location at which poliovirus 2BC interferes with the vesicular system and to test the action of other animal virus proteins potentially involved in modifying the vesicular system in mammalian cells.     

Cell-dependent role for the poliovirus 3' noncoding region in positive-strand RNA synthesis

We previously reported the isolation of a mutant poliovirus lacking the entire genomic RNA 3' noncoding region. Infection of HeLa cell monolayers with this deletion mutant revealed only a minor defect in the levels of viral RNA replication. To further analyze the consequences of the genomic 3' noncoding region deletion, we examined viral RNA replication in a neuroblastoma cell line, SK-N-SH cells. The minor genomic RNA replication defect in HeLa cells was significantly exacerbated in the SK-N-SH cells, resulting in a decreased capacity for mutant virus growth. Analysis of the nature of the RNA replication deficiency revealed that deleting the poliovirus genomic 3' noncoding region resulted in a positive-strand RNA synthesis defect. The RNA replication deficiency in SK-N-SH cells was not due to a major defect in viral translation or viral protein processing. Neurovirulence of the mutant virus was determined in a transgenic mouse line expressing the human poliovirus receptor. Greater than 1,000 times more mutant virus was required to paralyze 50% of inoculated mice, compared to that with wild-type virus. These data suggest that, together with a cellular factor(s) that is limiting in neuronal cells, the poliovirus 3' noncoding region is involved in positive-strand synthesis during genome replication.     

Precise missense and silent point mutations are fixed in the genomes of poliovirus mutants from persistently infected cells.

Poliovirus mutants selected in persistently infected human neuroblastoma cells have a modified cell tropism and can establish a secondary persistent infection in nonneural cells, such as HEp-2c cells. Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed that the genome of a persistent mutant, S11, differed from that of the parental lytic Sabin 1 poliovirus strain by 31 point mutations. Three mutations occurred in the noncoding regions. The other mutations resulted in 12 amino acid substitutions; 1 substitution occurred in a nonstructural protein (3A), while the other 11 substitutions were clustered in the capsid proteins VP2 and VP1. The same missense mutations, as well as many of the silent mutations that we observed in mutant S11, also accumulated in the genome of two other persistent viruses isolated from independent infections. This finding indicates that both missense and silent mutations are selected during the persistent infection of neuroblastoma cells and suggests that the secondary structure of RNA in the coding region may play a role in viral infection.     

An RNA hairpin at the extreme 5'' end of the poliovirus RNA genome modulates viral translation in human cells.

Several mutations were introduced into an infectious poliovirus cDNA clone by inserting different oligodeoxynucleotide linkers into preexisting DNA restriction endonuclease sites in the viral cDNA. Ten mutated DNAs were constructed whose lesions mapped in the 5' noncoding region or in the capsid coding region of the viral genome. Eight of these mutated cDNAs did not give rise to infectious virus upon transfection into human cells, one yielded virus with a wild-type phenotype, and one gave rise to a viral mutant with a small-plaque phenotype. This last mutant, designated 1-5NC-S21, bears a 6-nucleotide insertion in the loop of a stable RNA hairpin at the very 5' end of the viral genome. Detailed analysis of the biological properties of 1-5NC-S21 showed that the primary defect in mutant-infected cells is a fivefold decrease in translation relative to wild-type-infected cells. Transfection into HeLa cells of in vitro-synthesized RNA molecules bearing either the 5' noncoding region of 1-5NC-S21 or wild-type poliovirus upstream of a luciferase reporter gene showed that the mutated RNA hairpin was responsible for the observed decrease in viral translation in mutant-infected cells and conferred this defect to heterologous RNAs. These findings indicate that an RNA hairpin located at the extreme 5' end of the viral RNA and highly conserved among enteroviruses and rhinoviruses profoundly affects the translation efficiency of poliovirus RNA in infected cells.     

Genome delivery and ion channel properties are altered in VP4 mutants of poliovirus

During entry into host cells, poliovirus undergoes a receptor-mediated conformational transition to form 135S particles with irreversible exposure of VP4 capsid sequences and VP1 N termini. To understand the role of VP4 during virus entry, the fate of VP4 during infection by site-specific mutants at threonine-28 of VP4 (4028T) was compared with that of the parental Mahoney type 1 virus. Three virus mutants were studied: the entry-defective, nonviable mutant 4028T.G and the viable mutants 4028T.S and 4028T.V, in which residue threonine-28 was changed to glycine, serine, and valine, respectively. We show that mutant and wild-type (WT) VP4 proteins are localized to cellular membranes after the 135S conformational transition. Both WT and viable 4028T mutant particles interact with lipid bilayers to form ion channels, whereas the entry-defective 4028T.G particles do not. In addition, the electrical properties of the channels induced by the mutant viruses are different from each other and from those of WT Mahoney and Sabin type 3 viruses. Finally, uncoating and/or cytoplasmic delivery of the viral genome is altered in the 4028T mutants: the 4028T.G lethal mutant does not release its genome into the cytoplasm, and genome delivery is slower during infection by mutant 4028T.V 135S particles than by mutant 4028T.S or WT 135S particles. The distinctive electrical characteristics of the different 4028T mutant channels indicate that VP4 sequences might form part of the channel structure. The different entry phenotypes of these VP4 mutants suggest that the ion channels may be related to VP4's role during genome uncoating and/or delivery.     

Cold-adapted poliovirus mutants bypass a postentry replication block.

In the current model of poliovirus entry, the initial interaction of the native virion with its cellular receptor is followed by a transition to an altered form, which then acts as an intermediate in viral entry. While the native virion sediments at 160S in a sucrose gradient, the altered particle sediments at 135S, has lost the coat protein VP4, and has become more hydrophobic. Altered particles can be found both associated with cells and in the culture medium. It has been hypothesized that the cell-associated 135S particle releases the viral genome into the cell cytoplasm and that nonproductive transitions to the 135S form are responsible for the high particle-to-PFU ratio observed for polioviruses. At 25 degrees C, a temperature at which the transition to 135S particles does not occur, the P1/Mahoney strain of poliovirus was unable to replicate, and cold-adapted (ca) mutants were selected from the population. These mutants have not gained the ability to convert to 135S particles at 25 degrees C, and the block to wild-type (wt) infection at low temperatures is not at the level of cellular entry. The particle-to-PFU ratio of poliovirus does not change at 25 degrees C in the absence of alteration. Three independent amino acid changes in the 2C coding region were identified in ca mutants, at positions 218 (Val to Ile), 241 (Arg to Ala), and 309 (Met to Val). Introduction of any of these mutations individually into wt poliovirus by site-directed mutagenesis confers the ca phenotype. All three serotypes of the Sabin vaccine strains and the P3/Leon strain of poliovirus also exhibit the ca phenotype. These results do not support a model of poliovirus entry into cells that includes an obligatory transition to the 135S particle.     

A poliovirus 2A(pro) mutant unable to cleave 3CD shows inefficient viral protein synthesis and transactivation defects.

Four poliovirus mutants with modifications of tyrosine 88 in 2A(pro) were generated and introduced into the cloned poliovirus genome. Mutants Y88P and Y88L were nonviable, mutant Y88F showed a wild-type (WT) phenotype, and mutant Y88S showed a delayed cytopathic effect and formed small plaques in HeLa cells. Growth of Y88S in HeLa cells was restricted, giving rise to about 20% of the PFU production of the WT poliovirus. The 2A (Y88S) mutant synthesized significantly lower levels of viral proteins in HeLa cells than did the WT poliovirus, while the kinetics of p220 cleavage were identical for both viruses. Strikingly, the 2A (Y88S) mutant was unable to cleave 3CD, as shown by analysis of poliovirus proteins labeled with [35S]methionine or immunoblotted with a specific anti-3C serum. The ability of the Y88S mutant to form infectious virus and cleave 3CD can be complemented by the WT poliovirus. Synthesis of viral RNA was diminished in the Y88S mutant but less than the inhibition of translation of viral RNA. Experiments in which guanidine was used to inhibit poliovirus RNA synthesis suggest that the primary defect of the Y88S mutant virus is at the level of poliovirus RNA translation, while viral genome replication is much less affected. Transfection of HeLa cells infected with the WT poliovirus with a luciferase mRNA containing the poliovirus 5' untranslated sequence gives rise to a severalfold increase in luciferase activity. This enhanced translation of leader-luc mRNA was not observed when the transfected cells were infected with the 2A (Y88S) mutant. Moreover, cotransfection with mRNA encoding WT poliovirus 2A(pro) enhanced translation of leader-luc mRNA. This enhancement was much lower upon transfection with mRNA encoding 2A(Y88S), 2A(Y88L), or 2A(Y88P). These findings support the view that 2A(pro) itself, rather than the 3C' and/or 3D' products, is necessary for efficient translation of poliovirus RNA in HeLa cells.     

Intracellular topology and epitope shielding of poliovirus 3A protein

The poliovirus RNA replication complex comprises multiple viral and possibly cellular proteins assembled on the cytoplasmic surface of rearranged intracellular membranes. Viral proteins 3A and 3AB perform several functions during the poliovirus replicative cycle, including significant roles in rearranging membranes, anchoring the viral polymerase to these membranes, inhibiting host protein secretion, and possibly providing the 3B protein primer for RNA synthesis. During poliovirus infection, the immunofluorescence signal of an amino-terminal epitope of 3A-containing proteins is markedly shielded compared to 3A protein expressed in the absence of other poliovirus proteins. This is not due to luminal orientation of all or a subset of the 3A-containing polypeptides, as shown by immunofluorescence following differential permeabilization and proteolysis experiments. Shielding of the 3A epitope is more pronounced in cells infected with wild-type poliovirus than in cells with temperature-sensitive mutant virus that contains a mutation in the 3D polymerase coding region adjacent to the 3AB binding site. Therefore, it is likely that direct binding of the poliovirus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase occludes the amino terminus of 3A-containing polypeptides in the RNA replication complex.     

Clustered charged-to-alanine mutagenesis of poliovirus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase yields multiple temperature-sensitive mutants defective in RNA synthesis.

To generate a collection of conditionally defective poliovirus mutants, clustered charged-to-alanine mutagenesis of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 3D was performed. Clusters of charged residues in the polymerase coding region were replaced with alanines by deoxyoligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis of a full-length poliovirus cDNA clone. Following transfection of 27 mutagenized cDNA clones, 10 (37%) gave rise to viruses with temperature-sensitive (ts) phenotypes. Three of the ts mutants displayed severe ts plaque reduction phenotypes, producing at least 10(3)-fold fewer plaques at 39.5 degrees C than at 32.5 degrees C; the other seven mutants displayed ts small-plaque phenotypes. Constant-temperature, single-cycle infections showed defects in virus yield or RNA accumulation at the nonpermissive temperature for eight stable ts mutants. In temperature shift experiments, seven of the ts mutants showed reduced accumulation of viral RNA at the nonpermissive temperature and showed no other ts defects. The mutations responsible for the phenotypes of most of these ts mutants lie in the N-terminal third of the 3D coding region, where no well-characterized mutations responsible for viable mutants had been previously identified. Clustered charged-to-alanine mutagenesis (S. H. Bass, M. G. Mulkerrin, and J. A. Wells, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88:4498-4502, 1991; W. F. Bennett, N. F. Paoni, B. A. Keyt, D. Botstein, J. J. S. Jones, L. Presta, F. M. Wurm, and M. J. Zoller, J. Biol. Chem. 266:5191-5201, 1991; and K. F. Wertman, D. G. Drubin, and D. Botstein, Genetics 132:337-350, 1992) is designed to target residues on the surfaces of folded proteins; thus, extragenic suppression analysis of such mutant viruses may be very useful in identifying components of the viral replication complex.     

Complementation of a poliovirus defective genome by a recombinant vaccinia virus which provides poliovirus P1 capsid precursor in trans.

Defective interfering (DI) RNA genomes of poliovirus which contain in-frame deletions in the P1 capsid protein-encoding region have been described. DI genomes are capable of replication and can be encapsidated by capsid proteins provided in trans from wild-type poliovirus. In this report, we demonstrate that a previously described poliovirus DI genome (K. Hagino-Yamagishi and A. Nomoto, J. Virol. 63:5386-5392, 1989) can be complemented by a recombinant vaccinia virus, VVP1 (D. C. Ansardi, D. C. Porter, and C. D. Morrow, J. Virol. 65:2088-2092, 1991), which expresses the poliovirus capsid precursor polyprotein, P1. Stocks of defective polioviruses were generated by transfecting in vitro-transcribed defective genome RNA derived from plasmid pSM1(T7)1 into HeLa cells infected with VVP1 and were maintained by serial passage in the presence of VVP1. Encapsidation of the defective poliovirus genome was demonstrated by characterizing poliovirus-specific protein expression in cells infected with preparations of defective poliovirus and by Northern (RNA) blot analysis of poliovirus-specific RNA incorporated into defective poliovirus particles. Cells infected with preparations of defective poliovirus expressed poliovirus protein 3CD but did not express capsid proteins derived from a full-length P1 precursor. Poliovirus-specific RNA encapsidated in viral particles generated in cells coinfected with VVP1 and defective poliovirus migrated slightly faster on formaldehyde-agarose gels than wild-type poliovirus RNA, demonstrating maintenance of the genomic deletion. By metabolic radiolabeling with [35S]methionine-cysteine, the defective poliovirus particles were shown to contain appropriate mature-virion proteins. This is the first report of the generation of a pure population of defective polioviruses free of contaminating wild-type poliovirus. We demonstrate the use of this recombinant vaccinia virus-defective poliovirus genome complementation system for studying the effects of a defined mutation in the P1 capsid precursor on virus assembly. Following removal of residual VVP1 from defective poliovirus preparations, processing and assembly of poliovirus capsid proteins derived from a nonmyristylated P1 precursor expressed by a recombinant vaccinia virus, VVP1 myr- (D. C. Ansardi, D. C. Porter, and C. D. Morrow, J. Virol. 66:4556-4563, 1992), in cells coinfected with defective poliovirus were analyzed. Capsid proteins generated from nonmyristylated P1 did not assemble detectable levels of mature virions but did assemble, at low levels, into empty capsids.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Site-specific mutagenesis of cDNA clones expressing a poliovirus proteinase

The cleavage of poliovirus precursor polypeptides occurs at specific amino acid pairs that are recognized by viral proteinases. Most of the polio-specific cleavages occur at glutamine-glycine (Q-G) pairs that are recognized by the viral-encoded proteinase 3C (formerly called P3-7c). In order to carry out a defined molecular genetic study of the enzymatic activity of protein 3C, we have made cDNA clones of the poliovirus genome. The cDNA region corresponding to protein 3C was inserted into an inducible bacterial expression vector. This recombinant plasmid (called pIN-III-C3-7c) utilizes the bacterial lipoprotein promoter to direct the synthesis of a precursor polypeptide that contains the amino acid sequence of protein 3C as well as the amino- and carboxy-terminal Q-G cleavage signals. These signals have been previously shown to allow autocatalytic production of protein 3C in bacteria transformed with plasmid pIN-III-C3-7c. We have taken advantage of the autocatalytic cleavage of 3C in a bacterial expression system to study the effects of site-specific mutagenesis on its proteolytic activity. One mutation that we have introduced into the cDNA region encoding 3C is a single amino acid insertion near the carboxy-terminal Q-G cleavage site. The mutant recombinant plasmid (designated pIN-III-C3-mu 10) directs the synthesis of a bacterial-polio precursor polypeptide that is like the wild-type construct (pIN-III-C3-7c). However, unlike the wild-type precursor, the mutant precursor cannot undergo autocatalytic cleavage to generate the mature proteinase 3C. Rather, the precursor is able to carry out cleavage at the amino-terminal Q-G site but not at the carboxy-terminal site. Thus, we have generated an altered poliovirus proteinase that is still able to carry out at least part of its cleavage activities but is unable to be a suitable substrate for self-cleavage at its carboxy-terminal Q-G pair.     

Purification and characterization of poliovirus polypeptide 3CD, a proteinase and a precursor for RNA polymerase.

A cDNA clone encoding the 3CD proteinase (3CDpro) of poliovirus type 2 (Sabin), the precursor to proteinase 3Cpro and RNA polymerase 3Dpol, was expressed in bacteria by using a T7 expression system. Site-specific mutagenesis of the 3C/3D cleavage site was performed to generate active proteolytic precursors impaired in their ability to process themselves to 3Cpro and 3Dpol. Of these mutations, the exchange of the Thr residue at the P4 position of the 3C/3D cleavage site for a Lys residue (3CDpro T181K) resulted in a mutant polypeptide exhibiting the smallest amount of autoprocessing. This mutant was purified to 86% homogeneity and used for subsequent proteolytic studies. Purified 3CDproM (M designates the cleavage site mutant 3CDpro T181K) was capable of cleaving the P1 capsid precursor, a peptide representing the 2BC cleavage site, and the 2BC precursor polypeptide. Purified 3CDproM demonstrated the same detergent sensitivity in processing experiments with the capsid precursor as was observed by using P1 and crude extracts of poliovirus-infected HeLa cell lysates. Purified 3CDproM did not have any detectable RNA polymerase activity, whereas 3Dpol, separated from 3CDproM by gel filtration in the last step of purification, did. We conclude that 3CDproM can process both structural and nonstructural precursors of the poliovirus polyprotein and that it is active against a synthetic peptide substrate. Moreover, cleavage of 3CD to 3Dpol is needed to activate the 3D RNA polymerase.     

Functional interaction of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein C with poliovirus RNA synthesis initiation complexes

We had previously demonstrated that a cellular protein specifically interacts with the 3' end of poliovirus negative-strand RNA. We now report the identity of this protein as heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) C1/C2. Formation of an RNP complex with poliovirus RNA was severely impaired by substitution of a lysine, highly conserved among vertebrates, with glutamine in the RNA recognition motif (RRM) of recombinant hnRNP C1, suggesting that the binding is mediated by the RRM in the protein. We have also shown that in a glutathione S-transferase (GST) pull-down assay, GST/hnRNP C1 binds to poliovirus polypeptide 3CD, a precursor to the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, 3D(pol), as well as to P2 and P3, precursors to the nonstructural proteins. Truncation of the auxiliary domain in hnRNP C1 (C1DeltaC) diminished these protein-protein interactions. When GST/hnRNP C1DeltaC was added to in vitro replication reactions, a significant reduction in RNA synthesis was observed in contrast to reactions supplemented with wild-type fusion protein. Indirect functional depletion of hnRNP C from in vitro replication reactions, using poliovirus negative-strand cloverleaf RNA, led to a decrease in RNA synthesis. The addition of GST/hnRNP C1 to the reactions rescued RNA synthesis to near mock-depleted levels. Furthermore, we demonstrated that poliovirus positive-strand and negative-strand RNA present in cytoplasmic extracts prepared from infected HeLa cells coimmunoprecipitated with hnRNP C1/C2. Our findings suggest that hnRNP C1 has a role in positive-strand RNA synthesis in poliovirus-infected cells, possibly at the level of initiation.