Replication of mengovirus. II. General properties of the viral-induced ribonucleic acid polymerase

Plagemann, Peter G. W. (Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio), and H. Earle Swim. Replication of mengovirus. II. General properties of the viral-induced ribonucleic acid polymerase. J. Bacteriol. 91:2327-2332. 1966.-Mengovirus induces the appearance of a ribonucleic acid (RNA) polymerase activity in Novikoff hepatoma cells which is readily distinguished from the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-dependent RNA polymerase since it is not inhibited by actinomycin D or deoxyribonuclease, but is inhibited by ammonium sulfate, and is stable at -17 C. The incorporation of uridine into RNA by infected cells in the presence of actinomycin D does not reflect the viral polymerase activity as measured in cell-free preparations. The viral-induced RNA polymerase is produced in a biphasic fashion. Puromycin inhibits the production of viral polymerase, and in its presence the enzyme appears to be unstable between 4 and 6 hr. Puromycin also prevents the secondary rise in polymerase which begins at the end of replicative cycle. Under these conditions, however, the polymerase appears to be stable. The overall data indicated that some unspecified process is responsible for the apparent instability of viral-induced RNA polymerase between 4 and 6 hr and that it becomes inoperative toward the end of the replicative cycle.     

Inhibition of host protein synthesis by vaccinia virus: fate of cell mRNA and synthesis of small poly (A)-rich polyribonucleotides in the presence of actinomycin D.

Purified vaccinia virus rapidly inhibited HeLa cell protein synthesis in the presence of actinomycin D. Under these conditions host polyribosomes were extensively degraded but the mRNA was stable as indicated by a greater than 90% recovery of prelabeled polyadenylylated RNA. Although actinomycin D prevented the synthesis of host mRNA and poly(A) in uninfected cells, incorporation of adenosine into poly(A) was inhibited by less than 50% in infected cells. Further analysis indicated that there was little or no normal size viral mRNA but that a unique class of small poly(A)-rich RNA was made in the presence of actinomycin D. From measurements of the RNase resistance and base composition of the RNA, approximately 40% of the nucleotide sequence was estimated to be poly(A). The poly(A)-rich RNA was found associated with small polyribosomes and monoribosomes that were inactive in protein synthesis. It was suggested that the poly(A) segment of the RNA is formed by the poly(A) polymerase previously found in vaccinia virus cores and that the inactive RNA, by competing with host mRNA, may contribute to the virus-mediated inhibition of host protein synthesis observed in the presence of actinomycin D.     

Viral proteins and RNAs in BHK cells persistently infected by lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus

Some Syrian hamster cell lines persistently infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) do not produce extracellular virus particles but do contain intracytoplasmic infectious material. The proteins of these cells were labeled with [35S]methionine or with [3H]glucosamine and [3H]mannose, and immunoprecipitates were prepared with anti-LCMV sera. A substantial amount of the LCMV nucleocapsid protein (molecular weight about 58,000) was detected, along with GP-C, the precursor of the virion glycoproteins GP-1 and GP-2. GP-1 and GP-2 themselves were not detected. A new method of transferring proteins electrophoretically from sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels to diazotized paper in high yield revealed several additional LCMV proteins present specifically in the persistently infected cells, at apparent molecular weights (X10(3] of 112, 107, 103, 89, 71 (probably GP-C), 58 (nucleocapsid protein), 42 to 47 (probably GP-1), and 40 (possibly GP-2). By iodinating intact cells with I3, GP-1 but not GP-2 or GP-C was revealed on the surfaces of the persistently infected cells, whereas both GP-1 and GP-C were found on the surfaces of acutely infected cells. The absence of GP-C from the plasma membrane of the persistently infected cells might be related to defective maturation of the virus in these cells. Cytoplasmic viral nucleoprotein complexes were labeled with [3H]uridine in the presence or absence of actinomycin D, purified partially by sedimentation in D2O-sucrose gradients, and adsorbed to fixed Staphylococus aureus cells in the presence of anti-LCMV immunoglobulin G. Several discrete species of viral RNA were released from the immune complexes with sodium dodecyl sulfate. Some were appreciably smaller than the 31S and 23S species of standard LCMV virions, indicating that defective interfering viral RNAs are probably present in the persistently infected cells. Ribosomal 28S and 18S RNAs, labeled only in the absence of actinomycin D, were coprecipitated with anti-LCMV serum but not with control serum, indicating their association with LCMV nucleoproteins in the cells.     

Effect of actinomycin D on the expression of herpes simplex virus-common surface antigen in cells transformed by herpes simplex virus type 2.

Using rabbit antiserum hyperimmune to herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1, the expression of HSV-common surface antigen(s) was studied by indirect immunofluorescence tests in cells transformed by HSV type 2 and in derived tumor cells. The following results were obtained. (i) Antiserum to HSV type 1 reacted specifically with surface antigen present on the plasma membrane of both HSV type 2-infected and HSV type 2-transformed hamster cells. (ii) The expression of this antigen was enhanced in the absence of active protein synthesis in transformed cells, but not in tumor cells, after culture for 3 to 5 h at 37 degrees C. (iii) This enhancement of expression was maintained for 20 h in the presence of actinomycin D, but this prolonged expression required active protein synthesis. (iv) The enhancing effect observed in the presence of actinomycin D continued for some time after removal of the drug, for example, for 20 h after 5 h of treatment with 2 microgram/ml of actinomycin D per ml. Actinomycin D had no detectable effect on antigen expression in tumor cells. (v) The protease inhibitor antipain inhibited the actinomycin D-enhanced expression without causing significant cell damage but did not modify the transient enhanced expression of antigen when cells were seeded in the absence of actinomycin D. These results indicate that in transformed cells antigen expression can be enhanced in at least two ways.     

The stimulatory effect of actinomycin D on avian reovirus replication in L cells suggests that translational competition dictates the fate of the infection.

Indirect immunostaining of avian reovirus S1133-infected L-cell monolayers showed that most of the cells can support viral replication. However, the number of cells in which the virus was actually replicating depended on the multiplicity of virus infection. The presence of actinomycin D during infection increased viral protein synthesis, viral growth, and the number of actively infected cells at late infection times. The antibiotic elicited these effects by triggering viral replication in cells that already contained unproductive cytoplasmic virus but that would not get productively infected in the absence of the drug. From these results, we propose a model for the interaction between L cells and avian reovirus S1133 in which viral versus host mRNA competition for the translational machinery determines the fate of the virus infection.     

Autoradiographic method for detection of lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus-infected cells in primary mouse macrophage cultures.

Peritoneal cells from starch-injected Swiss mice were propagated in plastic petri dishes and on cover slips in a mouse L-cell-conditioned medium for 12 to 24 h and then infected with various multiplicities of lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus (LDV). Over 95% of the cells in these cultures phagocytosed latex particles and were, therefore, considered macrophages. Infected and mock infected macrophage cultures were supplemented with [3H]uridine at various times after infection and with actinomycin D 30 min before addition of the [3H]uridine. After 1 or 2 h of further incubation, plate cultures were analyzed for LDV-specific RNA, and cover slip cultures were investigated by autoradiography. Other cultures were labeled in the absence of actinomycin D, and the culture fluid was analyzed for labeled LDV. There was a good correlation between the production of LDV-specific RNA and LDV and the number of heavily labeled cells in these cultures. The labeled cells in these cultures. The labeled cells, therefore, were equated with productively infected cells. Only a maximum of about 20% of the macrophages, however, became heavily labeled regardless of the multiplicity of infection or the time, after infection, at which the cells were exposed to [3H]uridine. Only background labeling was observed in the remainder of the cells and in mock-infected cells treated with actinomycin D. The highest proportion of labeled cells was observed when the cells were infected with a multiplicity of infection of about 2,000 mouse infectious units per cell and labeled from 6 to 8 h after infection. Thereafter, the proportion of productively infected cells decreased progressively, concomitant with a decrease in the amounts of viral specific RNA and of LDV produced by the cultures. The results indicate that the majority of the macrophages in primary macrophage cultures do not support LDV replication. Their nonpermissiveness may depend on the physiological state of the cells or reflect the presence of subpopulations of macrophages, but no morphological differences between productively infected an uninfected cells were detectable.     

In vivo stability of bacteriophage T4 messenger ribonucleic acid

Cohen, Paul S. (St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tenn.), and Herbert L. Ennis. In vivo stability of bacteriophage T4 messenger ribonucleic acid. J. Bacteriol. 92:1345-1350. 1966.-A mutant of Escherichia coli B, defective in its transport and concentration of K(+), synthesizes ribonucleic acid (RNA) without the simultaneous synthesis of protein when depleted of this cation. The mutant was used to study the in vivo stability of phage T4 messenger RNA (mRNA) in the presence and absence of K(+). Experiments were performed in which the turnover of phage T4 mRNA was determined in infected cells continuously synthesizing RNA and in cells in which RNA synthesis was inhibited by actinomycin D. Phage mRNA was found to be more stable in the absence of K(+) than in the presence of either the cation or chloramphenicol.     

Contrasting effects of matrix protein on apoptosis in HeLa and BHK cells infected with vesicular stomatitis virus are due to inhibition of host gene expression

Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is a potent inducer of apoptosis in host cells. Recently, it has been shown that two VSV products are involved in the induction of apoptosis, the matrix (M) protein, and another viral product that has yet to be identified (S. A. Kopecky et. al., J. Virol. 75:12169-12181, 2001). Comparison of recombinant viruses containing wild-type (wt) or mutant M proteins showed that wt M protein accelerates VSV-induced apoptosis in HeLa cells, while wt M protein delays apoptosis in VSV-infected BHK cells. Our hypothesis to explain these results is that both effects of M protein are due to the ability of M protein to inhibit host gene expression. This hypothesis was tested by infecting cells with an M protein mutant virus defective in the inhibition of host gene expression (rM51R-M virus) in the presence or absence of actinomycin D, another inhibitor of host gene expression. Actinomycin D accelerated induction of apoptosis of HeLa cells infected with rM51R-M virus and delayed apoptosis in BHK cells infected with rM51R-M virus, similar to the effects of wt M protein. The idea that the induction of apoptosis by M protein in HeLa cells is due to its ability to inhibit host gene expression was further tested by comparing the activation of upstream caspase pathways by M protein versus that by actinomycin D or 5,6-dichlorobenzimidazole riboside (DRB). Expression of M protein activated both caspase-8 and caspase-9-like enzymes, as did treatment with actinomycin D or DRB. Induction of apoptosis by M protein, actinomycin D, and DRB was inhibited in stably transfected HeLa cell lines that overexpress Bcl-2, an antiapoptotic protein that inhibits the caspase-9 pathway. A synthetic inhibitor of caspase-8, Z-IETD-FMK, did not inhibit induction of apoptosis by M protein, actinomycin D, or DRB. Taken together, our data support the hypothesis that the induction of apoptosis by M protein is caused by the inhibition of host gene expression and that the caspase-9 pathway is more important than the caspase-8 pathway for the induction of apoptosis by M protein and other inhibitors of host gene expression.     

Lifetimes of mRNA molecules directing the synthesis of viral proteins in herpes simplex virus-infected cells.

Possible variations in the functional lifetimes of herpes simplex virus type 1 mRNA molecules in infected HeLa cells were studied. As shown by the rate of decrease of radioactive amino acid incorporation into viral proteins after the addition of actinomycin, the average lifetime of early viral mRNA's are shorter than those for the late messenger species. In addition, when the viral proteins made after the addition of actinomycin were further analyzed by gel electrophoresis, it was found that messengers for individual viral proteins translated within the early or late time period also had some differences in their functional lifetimes. These results indicate that the synthesis of herpes simplex virus type 1 proteins during the replicative cycle is regulated in part by mechanisms controlling the functional lifetimes of viral mRNA's.     

Regulation of Herpesvirus Macromolecular Synthesis I. Cascade Regulation of the Synthesis of Three Groups of Viral Proteins

Based on evidence that 50% of herpes simplex 1 DNA is transcribed in HEp-2 cells in the absence of protein synthesis we examined the order and rates of synthesis of viral polypeptides in infected cells after reversal of cycloheximide- or puromycin-mediated inhibition of protein synthesis. These experiments showed that viral polypeptides formed three sequentially synthesized, coordinately regulated groups designated alpha, beta, and gamma. Specifically: (i) The alpha group, containing one minor structural and several nonstructural polypeptides, was synthesized at highest rates from 3 to 4 h postinfection in untreated cells and at diminishing rates thereafter. The beta group, also containing minor structural and nonstructural polypeptides, was synthesized at highest rates from 5 to 7 h and at decreasing rates thereafter. The gamma group containing major structural polypeptides was synthesized at increasing rates until at least 12 h postinfection. (ii) The synthesis of alpha polypeptides did not require prior infected cell protein synthesis. In contrast, the synthesis of beta polypeptides required both prior alpha polypeptide synthesis as well as new RNA synthesis, since the addition of actinomycin D immediately after removal of cycloheximide precluded beta polypeptide synthesis. The function supplied by the alpha polypeptides was stable since interruption of protein synthesis after alpha polypeptide synthesis began and before beta polypeptides were made did not prevent the immediate synthesis of beta polypeptides once the drug was withdrawn. The requirement of gamma polypeptide synthesis for prior synthesis of beta polypeptides seemed to be similar to that of beta polypeptides for prior synthesis of the alpha group. (iii) The rates of synthesis of alpha polypeptides were highest immediately after removal of cycloheximide and declined thereafter concomitant with the initiation of beta polypeptide synthesis; this decline in alpha polypeptide synthesis was less rapid in the presence of actinomycin D which prevented the appearance of beta and gamma polypeptides. The decrease in rates of synthesis of beta polypeptides normally occurring after 7 h postinfection was also less rapid in the presence of actinomycin D than in its absence, whereas ongoing synthesis of gamma polypeptides at this time was rapidly reduced by actinomycin D. (iv) Inhibitors of DNA synthesis (cytosine arabinoside or hydroxyurea) did not prevent the synthesis of alpha, beta, or gamma polypeptides, but did reduce the amounts of gamma polypeptides made.     

Studies on the Action of the Nuclear Factor Promoting Actinomycin D-Binding Capacity of Chromatin

It is well known that actinomycin D binds to C-G pairs of DNA. The amount of actinomycin D bound to chromatin thus depends directly on the demasked sites of chromatin DNA. The actinomycin D binding of rat liver chromatin, obtained by the method of Dingman and Sporn, was studied in the presence and absence of liver and kidney nuclear extracts (NE). The actinomycin D binding of liver chromatin increases greatly under the action of liver nuclear extract. No changes occur in liver chromatin actinomycin D binding capacity after the action of kidney NE. The removal of protein or RNA from liver NE removes its ability to change the actinomycin D binding capacity of the liver chromatin. According to the obtained results it may be assumed that the nuclear extract contains the factor which plays a role in controlling cell differentiation.     

Expression of a P-glycoprotein gene is inducible in a multidrug-resistant human leukemia cell line

A human T lymphoblastoid CCRF-CEM cell line exhibiting cross resistance to a variety of drugs was selected with increasing doses of actinomycin D. A subline, designated CCRF ACTD400+, was permanently cultured in the presence of 400 ng/ml Actinomycin D for several months. Using a fragment of the human mdr1 cDNA we found high expression of a 5 kb mRNA species which was not detectable in the sensitive parental CCRF-CEM cell line. The extent of the mdr-mRNA expression in resistant cells, however, depended on the presence or absence of actinomycin D in the culture medium: when the inhibitor was omitted, the expression decreased to about 60% after one month. In reverse, the steady state level of the P-glycoprotein mRNA increased about 2.5-fold within 72 h after the original dose of the drug was added again. In further experiments we recorded the actinomycin D or adriamycin dose response curves of the variously treated sublines by evaluation of [3H]uridine or [3H]thymidine incorporation, respectively, into acid insoluble material. Consistently, the drug sensitivity of the respective macromolecular synthesis was found to decrease with increasing mdr-mRNA levels.     

Studies on the action of the nuclear factor promoting actinomycin D-binding capacity of chromatin

It is well known that actinomycin D binds to C-G pairs of DNA. The amount of actinomycin D bound to chromatin thus depends directly on the demasked sites of chromatin DNA. The actinomycin D binding of rat liver chromatin, obtained by the method of Dingman and Sporn, was studied in the presence and absence of liver and kidney nuclear extracts (NE). The actinomycin D binding of liver chromatin increases greatly under the action of liver nuclear extract. No changes occur in liver chromatin actinomycin D binding capacity after the action of kidney NE. The removal of protein or RNA from liver NE removes its ability to change the actinomycin D binding capacity of the liver chromatin. According to the obtained results it may be assumed that the nuclear extract contains the factor which plays a role in controlling cell differentiation.     

Antiviral activities and the mechanism of 9-beta-D-ribofuranosyl-6-alkylthiopurines on several RNA viruses from animals

A series of 9-beta-D-ribofuranosyl-6-alkylthiopurines (6-alkyl TI) were found to inhibit in vitro replication of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV), human influenza virus (IFV) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) with IC50 values of about 0.06 microgram/ml, 0.7-1.5 micrograms/ml and 1-3 micrograms/ml, respectively. Viral RNA synthesis in infected cells in the presence of actinomycin D was inhibited by treatment with the compounds dose-dependently. It was also found that the decrease of rNTP pool size in infected cells was remarkably dose-dependent. From these findings, the mode of antiviral action of these compounds may be explained by rNTP imbalance in the treated group.     

Properties of 42S and 26S Sindbis Viral Ribonucleic Acid Species

Increases in ribonucleic acid (RNA) polymerase activity were detected in both the nuclear and ribosomal fractions of chick embryo cells infected with fowl-plague virus. These were observed only in the presence of all four nucleoside triphosphates and were not affected by actinomycin D. The RNA polymerase activity of the ribosomal fraction was shown to be associated with a component of infected cells of sedimentation coefficient approximately 70S. This component also contained infected cell-specific RNA and protein molecules.     

Origin of the actinomycin D insensitive RNA species in Aedes albopictus cells.

In the presence of actinomycin D or a combination of actinomycin D and either camptothecin or alpha-amanatin. Aedes albopictus cells synthesize a variety of single stranded RNA species. These actinomycin D resistant species are ethidium bromide sensitive and they are present in the cell cytoplasm in an RNase resistant structure which has the sedimentation and buoyant density characteristics of mitochondria. Twelve actinomycin D insensitive RNA species can be detected by electrophoresis in 7M urea and 11 of these bind to oligo(dT)-cellulose. An identical set of oligo(dT)-cellulose binding RNA species is obtained when A. albopictus cells are labeled in the presence of camptothecin alone. The actinomycin D insensitive RNA species which bind to oligo(dT)-cellulose hybridize to mitochondrial DNA. These data indicate that the actinomycin D insensitive RNA species have a mitochondrial origin and are not associated with the replication of an inapparent contaminating virus.     

Role of the VP16-binding domain of vhs in viral growth, host shutoff activity, and pathogenesis

The virion host shutoff (vhs) protein of herpes simplex virus type 1 causes the degradation of host and viral mRNA immediately upon infection of permissive cells. vhs can interact with VP16 through a 20-amino-acid binding domain, and viruses containing a deletion of this VP16-binding domain of vhs (Delta20) and a corresponding marker rescue (Delta20R) were constructed and characterized. Transient-transfection assays showed that this domain was dispensable for vhs activity. The Delta20 recombinant virus, however, was unable to induce mRNA degradation in the presence of actinomycin D, while degradation induced by Delta20R was equivalent to that for wild-type virus. Delta20, Delta20R, and KOS caused comparable RNA degradation in the absence of actinomycin D. Western blot analysis of infected cells indicated that comparable levels of vhs were expressed by Delta20, Delta20R, and KOS, and there was only a modest reduction of vhs packaging in Delta20. Immunoprecipitation of protein from cells infected with Delta20 and Delta20R showed equivalent coprecipitation of vhs and VP16. Pathogenesis studies with Delta20 showed a significant decrease in replication in the corneas, trigeminal ganglia, and brains, as well as a significant reduction in clinical disease and lethality, but no significant difference in the establishment of, or reactivation from, latency compared to results with KOS and Delta20R. These results suggest that the previously described VP16-binding domain is not required for vhs packaging or for binding to VP16. It is required, however, for RNA degradation activity of tegument-derived vhs and wild-type replication and virulence in mice.     

REPOPULATION OF THE POSTMITOTIC NUCLEOLUS BY PREFORMED RNA

This study is concerned with the fate of the nucleolar contents, particularly nucleolar RNA, during mitosis Mitotic cells harvested from monolayer cultures of Chinese hamster embryonal cells, KB6 (human) cells, or L929 (mouse) cells were allowed to proceed into interphase in the presence or absence (control) of 0.04–0 08 µg/ml of actinomycin D, a concentration which preferentially inhibits nucleolar (ribosomal) RNA synthesis 3 hr after mitosis, control cells had large, irregularly shaped nucleoli which stained intensely for RNA with azure B and for protein with fast green. In cells which had returned to interphase in the presence of actinomycin D, nucleoli were segregated into two components easily resolvable in the light microscope, and one of these components stained intensely for RNA with azure B. Both nucleolar components stained for protein with fast green In parallel experiments, cultures were incubated with 0.04–0 08 µg/ml actinomycin D for 3 hr before harvesting of mitotic cells, then mitotic cells were washed and allowed to return to interphase in the absence of actinomycin D. 3 hr after mitosis, nuclei of such cells were devoid of large RNA-containing structures, though small, refractile nucleolus-like bodies were observed by phase-contrast microscopy or in material stained for total protein. These experiments indicate that nucleolar RNA made several hours before mitosis persists in the mitotic cell and repopulates nucleoli when they reform after mitosis