Expression of the gene encoding the adenovirus DNA terminal protein precursor in productively infected and transformed cells.

The major product of in vitro translation of early RNA prepared from H5ts125-infected cells and selected by hybridization to adenoviral DNA fragments spanning the region from 14.7 to 31.5 map units had been shown to be identical to the 87-kilodalton terminal protein precursor. A 72- to 75-kilodalton polypeptide whose rRNA can be selected by DNA from this same region and made in the presence of anisomycin was indistinguishable from the 72-kilodalton single-stranded DNA-binding protein encoded by the region from 60.1 to 66.6 map units. The accumulation of cytoplasmic RNA sequences complementary to these l-strand genes under various conditions of infection and in certain lines of transformed cells has been investigated by solution hybridization of cytoplasmic RNA to the separated strands of restriction endonuclease fragments of adenoviral DNA. During the early phase, RNA sequences complementary to the region from 11.6 to 36.7 map units were present at a concentration of 10 to 60 copies per cell, regardless of the nature of the block used to inhibit viral DNA synthesis. By 24 h after infection in the absence of any such block, sequences complementary to the regions from 11.6 to 18.2 map units (IVa2) and from 18.6 to 36.7 map units (E2B) accumulated to concentrations of 4,800 and 280 copies per cell, respectively. The ratio of cytoplasmic E2A RNA sequences to E2B RNA sequences remained close to 10:1 throughout the time period investigated. Of the transformed cell lines which retained E2B DNA sequences that were examined, only the T2C4 line expressed these sequences in cytoplasmic RNA. The implications of these observations for regulation of expression of the adenoviral early l-strand genes are discussed.     

The unmethylated state of the promoter/leader and 5'-regions of integrated adenovirus genes correlates with gene expression.

An inverse correlation has been established between the levels of DNA methylation at 5'-CCGG-3' (MspI/HpaII) sites in specific genes of integrated viral DNA in adenovirus type 12 (Ad12)-transformed hamster cell lines and the extent to which these genes are expressed ( Sutter and Doerfler , 1979, 1980). In general, early genes are transcribed into mRNA, while late genes are permanently switched off in these cell lines. Adenovirus type 2 genes methylated in vitro at 5'-CCGG-3' sites are not transcribed upon microinjection into nuclei of Xenopus laevis oocytes - unmethylated genes are expressed ( Vardimon et al., 1982a ). The MspI sites in the early and in some of the late Ad12 genes in cell lines HA12 /7, T637 , and A2497 -3 have now been precisely mapped. The data presented here reveal that the promoter/leader and 5'-regions of the early genes are unmethylated both at MspI sites and at 5'-GCGC-3' (HhaI) sites. In some instances, e.g., in the E2a regions in all three lines, the main parts of the early genes are partly methylated, even though the genes are expressed. In cell line HA12 /7, the early region E3 is not expressed, and the promoter/leader and 5'-regions of this segment are fully methylated. All late regions are completely methylated. The results suggest that the state of methylation in the promoter/leader and 5'-regions of integrated adenovirus genes is important in the control of gene expression.     

Adenovirus early region 4 encodes two gene products with redundant effects in lytic infection.

In order to assign specific functions to individual gene products encoded by adenovirus type 5 early region 4 (E4), we have constructed and analyzed a set of mutant viruses that express individual E4 open reading frames or combinations of open reading frames. The results of these analyses demonstrate that the gene products of E4 open reading frames 3 and 6 have redundant effects in viral lytic infection. These E4 products independently augment viral DNA replication, viral late protein synthesis, the shutoff of host cell protein synthesis, and the production of infectious virus. The product of open reading frame 6 is more efficient in the regulation of these processes than is the product of open reading frame 3. The regulation of viral DNA replication and the control of viral and cellular protein synthesis appear to be separable functions associated with both E4 gene products. The role of early region 4 in adeno-associated virus helper function, however, is mediated only by the product of open reading frame 6. Finally, we demonstrate that E4 mutant viruses display a multiplicity-leakiness phenotype which is consistent with the regulatory role that this region plays in viral infection.     

Nucleotide sequence analysis of the linked left and right hand terminal regions of adenovirus type 5 DNA present in the transformed rat cell line 5RK20.

A peculiar phenomenon is observed in several adenovirus type 2 or 5 (Ad2 or Ad5) transformed cell lines: the right hand and left hand terminal regions of the viral genome present in the viral DNA insertions of these cell lines are found to be linked together. A large part of the viral DNA insertion present in the Ad5 transformed rat cell line 5RK20 has been cloned in the lambda vector Charon21A, including the segment containing the linked terminal regions. Sequence analysis of the linkage region showed a perfect homology with the Ad5 DNA sequence and a direct linkage of basepair (bp) 63 of the left hand end of the viral genome to bp 108 of the right hand end. No cellular or rearranged viral sequences were present. Our findings suggest that the joining of viral sequences into the cellular genome.     

Genetic identification of adenovirus type 5 genes that influence viral spread

The mechanisms that control cell-to-cell spread of human adenoviruses (Ad) are not well understood. Two early viral proteins, E1B-19K and E3-ADP, appear to have opposing effects since viral mutants that are individually deficient in E1B-19K produce large plaques (G. Chinnadurai, Cell 33:759-766, 1983), while mutants deficient in E3-ADP produce small plaques (A. E. Tollefson et al., J. Virol. 70:2296-2306, 1996) on infected cell monolayers. We have used a genetic strategy to identify different viral genes that influence adenovirus type 5 (Ad5) spread in an epithelial cancer cell line. An Ad5 mutant (dl327; lacking most of the E3 region) with the restricted-spread (small-plaque) phenotype was randomly mutagenized with UV, and 27 large-plaque (lp) mutants were isolated. A combination of analyses of viral proteins and genomic DNA sequences have indicated that 23 mutants contained lesions in the E1B region affecting either 19K or both 19K and 55K proteins. Four other lp mutants contained lesions in early regions E1A and E4, in the early L1 region that codes for the i-leader protein, and in late regions that code for the viral structural proteins, penton base, and fiber. Our results suggest that the requirement of E3-ADP for Ad spread could be readily compensated for by abrogation of the functions of E1B-19K and provide genetic evidence that these two viral proteins influence viral spread in opposing manners. In addition to E1B and E3 proteins, other early and late proteins that regulate viral replication and infectivity also influence lateral viral spread. Our studies have identified novel mutations that could be exploited in designing efficient oncolytic Ad vectors.     

The hr-t gene of polyoma virus

Malignant transformation of cells by polyoma virus results from the continual expression of a viral gene (hr-t) the normal function of which is to facilitate productive viral infection. The series of investigations described here on the polyoma hr-t gene originated with attempts to understand polyoma virus-cell interactions along lines suggested by temperate bacteriophage. Nucleic acid hybridization experiments indicated clearly that viral DNA persists in transformed cells and continues to be expressed. Radiobiological and other experiments, however, suggested a function for the expressed gene(s) which was not expected of a prophage: the promotion, rather than repression, of lytic virus growth. The hr-t gene acts pleiotropically to alter the physiological state of the host in a manner which facilitates virus production and induces a transformed cellular phenotype. The cellular alterations are manifested transiently during productive infection or abortive transformation, but permanently when the viral genome is integrated in stably transformed cells. hr-t mutants are defective in their growth in mice and in most cultured mouse cell lines. They are also unable to induce tumors or any of the morphological, structural, or growth-related changes which accompany cells transformation by the wild-type virus.The 22 kDa and 56 kDa proteins encoded in the early region of the viral DNA constitute dual products of the hr-t gene. hr-t mutants are localized in a narrow segment of the early region that specifies an amino acid sequence shared by these two overlapping proteins. Current efforts to link structural (i.e., mutational) changes with functional changes in these proteins center around the 56 kDa middle T antigen and its associated protein kinase activity. Assayed in vitro, this activity leads to phosphorylation of the 56 kDa protein itself, predominantly at a specific tyrosine residue in the C-terminal portion of the molecule. The middle T protein is anchored in cellular membranes by a hydrophobic tail close to the C-terminus. Membrane association is essential for transformation, as well as for the kinase activity. The common region of the 22 kDa/56 kDa proteins where hr-t mutants map has local regions of homology with highly conserved sequences in the pituitary glycoprotein hormones. The integrity of this region is also essential for transformation and for kinase activity. In vivo, the 56 kDa protein is a substrate for cellular kinase(s) and undergoes multiple phosphorylations (serine and/or threonine) that may affect the tyrosine-specific activity. These kinase reactions, originating in cellular membrane but potentially affecting pathways into the cytoplasm and nucleus, currently provide the most plausible biochemical mechanism underlying the pleiotropic effects of the hr-t gene.     

Viral gene products in adenovirus type-2 transformed hamster cells.

I have analyzed viral gene products expressed in five adenovirus type 2 (Ad2)- cytoplasmic, viral RNA which was selected by hybridization to cloned restriction endonuclease fragments of Ad2 DNA. Proteins synthesized in vitro were analyzed by electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels and compared with those directed by RNAs prepared from productively infected cells. The early regions E1 and E4 of adenovirus type 2 (Ad2) were found to be expressed in all of five Ad2-transformed hamster embryo cells lines. RNA transcribed from early region E2, which codes for the 72,000-molecular-weight (72K) DNA-binding protein was detected in cell line HE1 only, and early region E3 was expressed exclusively in cell line HE4. RNA transcribed from the region between approximately 12 and 35 map units, coding for immediate early (13.5K, 52/53K) and immediate early proteins (13.6K, 16K, 17K, 87K), as well as RNA from late genes, was not found in any of the cell lines HE1 to HE5 had electrophoretic mobilities similar to those programmed by RNA from productively infected cells.     

Transient replication of human papillomavirus DNAs.

Information on papillomavirus DNA replication has primarily derived from studies with bovine papillomavirus type 1 (BPV-1). Our knowledge of DNA replication of the human papillomaviruses (HPVs) is quite limited, in part because of the lack of a cell culture system capable of supporting the stable replication of HPV DNA. This study demonstrates that the full-length genomic DNAs of HPV types 11 and 18 (HPV-11 and HPV-18), but not HPV-16, are able to replicate transiently after transfection into several different human squamous cell carcinoma cell lines. This system was used to identify the viral cis and trans elements required for DNA replication. The viral origins of replication were localized to a region of the viral long control region. Like BPV-1, E1 and E2 were the only viral factors required in trans for the replication of plasmids containing the origin. Cotransfection of a plasmid expressing the E1 open reading frame (ORF) from HPV-11 with a plasmid that expresses the E2 ORF from HPV-6, HPV-11, HPV-16, or HPV-18 supported the replication of plasmid DNAs containing the origin regions of HPV-11, HPV-16, or HPV-18, indicating that there are functions shared among the corresponding E1 and E2 proteins and origins of these viruses. Although HPV-16 genomic DNA did not replicate by itself under experimental conditions that supported the replication of HPV-11 and HPV-18 genomic DNAs, expression of the HPV-16 early region functions from a strong heterologous promoter supported the replication of a cotransfected plasmid containing the HPV-16 origin of replication. This finding suggests that the inability of the HPV-16 genomic DNA to replicate transiently in the cell lines tested was most likely due to insufficient expression of the viral E1 and/or E2 genes required for DNA replication.     

Establishment and characterization of hamster cell lines transformed by restriction endonuclease fragments of adenovirus 5.

We have established a library of hamster cells transformed by adenovirus 5 DNA fragments comprising all (XhoI-C, 0 to 16 map units) or only a part (HindIII-G, 0 to 7.8 map units) of early region 1 (E1: 0 to 11.2 map units). These lines have been analyzed in terms of content of viral DNA, expression of E1 antigens, and capacity to induce tumors in hamsters. All cells tested were found to express up to eight proteins encoded within E1A (0 to 4.5 map units) with apparent molecular weights between 52,000 (52K) and 25K. Both G and C fragment-transformed lines expressed a 19K antigen encoded within E1B (4.5 to 11.2 map units), whereas an E1B 58K protein was detected in C fragment-transformed, but not G-fragment-transformed, lines. No clear distinction could be drawn between cells transformed by HindIII-G and by XhoI-C in terms of morphology or tumorigenicity, suggesting that the E1B 58K antigen plays no major role in the maintenance of oncogenic transformation, although possible involvement of truncated forms of 58K cannot be ruled out. Sera were collected from tumor-bearing animals and examined for ability to immunoprecipitate proteins from infected cells. The relative avidity of sera for different proteins was characteristic of the cell line used for tumor induction, and the specificity generally reflected the array of viral proteins expressed by the corresponding transformed cells. However, one notable observation was that even though all transformed lines examined expressed antigens encoded by both the 1.1- and 0.9-kilobase mRNAs transcribed from E1A, tumor sera made against these lines only precipitated products of the 1.1-kilobase message. Thus, two families of E1A proteins, highly related in terms of primary amino acid sequence, appear to be immunologically quite distinct.     

Integration Sites of Adenovirus Type 12 DNA in Transformed Hamster Cells and Hamster Tumor Cells

The patterns and sites of integration of adenovirus type 12 (Ad12) DNA were determined in three lines of Ad12-transformed hamster cells and in two lines of Ad12-induced hamster tumor cells. The results of a detailed analysis can be summarized as follows. (i) All cell lines investigated contained multiple copies (3 to 22 genome equivalents per cell in different lines) of the entire Ad12 genome. In addition, fragments of Ad12 DNA also persisted separately in non-stoichiometric amounts. (ii) All Ad12 DNA copies were integrated into cellular DNA. Free viral DNA molecules did not occur. The terminal regions of Ad12 DNA were linked to cellular DNA. The internal parts of the integrated viral genomes, and perhaps the entire viral genome, remained colinear with virion DNA. (iii) Except for line HA12/7, there were fewer sites of integration than Ad12 DNA molecules persisting. This finding suggested either that viral DNA was integrated at identical sites in repetitive DNA or, more likely, that one or a few viral DNA molecules were amplified upon integration together with the adjacent cellular DNA sequences, leading to a serial arrangement of viral DNA molecules separated by cellular DNA sequences. Likewise, in the Ad12-induced hamster tumor lines (CLAC1 and CLAC3), viral DNA was linked to repetitive cellular sequences. Serial arrangement of Ad12 DNA molecules in these lines was not likely. (iv) In general, true tandem integration with integrated viral DNA molecules directly abutting each other was not found. Instead, the data suggested that the integrated viral DNA molecules were separated by cellular or rearranged viral DNA sequences. (v) The results of hybridization experiments, in which a highly specific probe (143-base pair DNA fragment) derived from the termini of Ad12 DNA was used, were not consistent with models of integration involving true tandem integration of Ad12 DNA or covalent circularization of Ad12 DNA before insertion into the cellular genome. (vi) Evidence was presented that a small segment at the termini of the integrated Ad12 DNA in cell lines HA12/7, T637, and A2497-3 was repeated several times. The exact structures of these repeat units remained to be determined. The occurrence of these units might reflect the mechanism of amplification of viral and cellular sequences in transformed cell lines.     

Gene organization of the transforming region of adenovirus type 7 DNA

The sequence of the leftmost 11% of the weakly oncogenic human adenovirus type 7 (Ad7) DNA has been determined. This part of the Ad7 viral genome encompasses early region E1 which has been shown to be involved in the process of cell transformation in vitro (Dijkema et al., 1979). From the nucleotide sequence and determined coordinates of the E1 mRNAs, we are able to predict the primary structure of the polypeptides encoded by the transforming region of Ad7. The organization of the E1 region of Ad7 and of other adenovirus serotypes (Bos et al. 1981) leads to the proposal of a novel mechanism for gene regulation at the translational level in which protein synthesis can initiate at either the first or the second AUG triplet available in mRNA. The differences between the large E1b-specific tumor antigens of adenovirus types 12, 7 and 5 may explain the differences in oncogenicity of these viruses.     

Integration and expression of several molecular forms of Rous sarcoma virus DNA used for transfection of mouse cells.

To assess the factors required for integration and expression of retroviral DNA, we have examined viral DNA, RNA, and protein in NIH/3T3 mouse cells transformed by transfection with various forms of cloned Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) DNA. Linear RSV DNA molecules, derived from circular DNA containing two long terminal repeats (LTRs) and permuted by cleavage at the SacI restriction endonuclease site in the leader sequence, were integrated near the ends of the linear molecule, with the LTRs on the 3' side of the src gene. Integration of a subgenomic RSV DNA fragment containing the viral src gene without intact LTRs also occurred near the ends of the linear molecule. Head-to-tail tandem arrays of RSV DNA species were observed in some transformed cell lines that received fully digested DNA and in all cell lines that received DNA ligated to produce oligomers before transfection. Closed circular RSV DNA, with one or two LTRs, integrated without apparent specificity within several regions of the viral genome. After transfection with SacI-permuted RSV DNA still linked to arms of the lambda bacteriophage vector DNA, bacteriophage sequences were joined to host DNA. Transformed cell lines produced by transfection with the various forms of RSV DNA produced similar levels of viral src protein, although the efficiency of successful transformation varied by at least two orders of magnitude. Analyses of viral polyadenylated RNA, together with the patterns of viral DNA in transformed cells, indicated that viral DNA can be integrated and expressed without regard to LTR sequences, with adjacent host DNA presumably supplying signals required for the promotion and processing of functional src mRNA.     

Expression of adenovirus E1a and E1b gene products and the Escherichia coli XGPRT gene in KB cells

The recombinant plasmid pSV2-gpt, which contains the Escherichia coli XGPRT gene under the control of a simian virus 40 early promoter, was modified to contain the type 2 adenovirus (Ad2) XhoI-C (0 to 15.5 map units) restriction endonuclease fragment. Plasmid (pLB206) DNA was introduced into human KB cells by Ca2+-mediated DNA transfection, and transformants were selected in medium containing xanthine, aminopterin, and mycophenolic acid, as a consequence of expression of the dominant, selectable XGPRT gene. A series of 13 gpt+ cell lines were isolated and tested for their ability to complement Ad5 deletion mutants in E1a (H5dl312) and E1b (H5dl315). Four classes of gpt+ KB cell lines were identified, including clones constitutively expressing both E1a and E1b, only E1a, or only E1b or not expressing either E1a or E1b. DNA and RNA filter transfer hybridization analysis substantiated the conclusions that those cell lines capable of complementing viral host range mutants contained the appropriate viral DNA sequences and cytoplasmic polyadenylated RNA species. DNA filter transfer hybridization studies also revealed that the transfected vector DNA was stably integrated into chromosomal DNA in the KB transformants and the number of integrated sites ranged from 1 to 3. The gpt+ KB cell line that only expressed E1b gene functions only contained viral E1b gene sequences; those cell lines that expressed neither E1a nor E1b gene function contained only small or no regions of Ad2 DNA. When weaned off the selective medium, transformed KB cell lines stably maintained their inserted DNA in the absence of selective pressure and could easily be adapted to growth in suspension culture.