Influenza virus M2 protein is an integral membrane protein expressed on the infected-cell surface

The influenza A virus M2 protein is expressed abundantly at the cell surface, and in addition to the hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA), is a third virus-specific membrane protein. M2 has an internal hydrophobic membrane anchorage domain and associates with the same cellular membrane fractions as HA and NA. Trypsin treatment of infected cells and immunoprecipitation with site-specific antisera indicate that a minimum of 18 NH2-terminal amino acids of M2 are exposed at the cell surface. Ten NH2-terminal residues are conserved in all strains of influenza A virus for which sequences are available. Antibodies can recognize M2 on the cell surface and therefore it may be an infected-cell surface antigen. We discuss properties of M2 that match it to the elusive major target molecule on influenza A virus-infected cells for cross-reactive cytotoxic T cells.     

Cell surface expression of fusogenic vesicular stomatitis virus G protein from cloned cDNA.

Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) enters the host cell by the receptor-mediated endocytotic pathway. This brings the virus particle into acidic vesicles inside the cell where infection occurs through a fusion event between the viral and the host vesicle membrane. In this work we have shown that the VSV glycoprotein (G) carries the fusion activity of this virus. The G protein was expressed on the surface of baby hamster kidney 21 cells from cloned cDNA which had been engineered into an expression vector and introduced into cell nuclei with the aid of a glass microneedle. A short (60 s) treatment with acid (pH less than or equal to 6.0) medium induced fusion of cells having G protein on their surface. For efficient G protein expression and cell-cell fusion we had to trim the 5' end of the G cDNA and to use as promoter the long terminal repeat of the mouse Moloney sarcoma virus.     

Total chemical synthesis of the integral membrane protein influenza A virus M2: role of its C-terminal domain in tetramer assembly.

The M2 protein from influenza A virus is a 97-residue homotetrameric membrane protein that functions as a proton channel. To determine the features required for the assembly of this protein into its native tetrameric state, the protein was prepared by total synthesis using native chemical ligation of unprotected peptide segments. Circular dichroism spectroscopy of synthetic M2 protein in dodecylphosphocholine (DPC) micelles indicated that approximately 40 residues were in an alpha-helical secondary structure. The tetramerization of the full-length protein was compared to that of a 25-residue transmembrane (TM) fragment. Analytical ultracentrifugation demonstrated that both the peptide and the full-length protein in DPC micelles existed in a monomer-tetramer equilibrium. Comparison of the association constants for the two sequences showed the free energy of tetramerization of the full-length protein was more favorable by approximately 7 kcal/mol. Partial proteolysis of DPC-solubilized M2 was used as a further probe of the structure of the full-length protein. A 15-20-residue segment C-terminal to the membrane-spanning region was found to be highly resistant to digestion by chymotrypsin and trypsin. This region, which we have modeled as an extension of the TM helices, may help to stabilize the tetrameric assembly.     

Characterization of a cloned cDNA encoding rabbit myelin P2 protein

Myelin P2 is a 14,800-Da cytosolic protein found in rabbit sciatic nerves. It belongs to a family of fatty acid binding proteins and shows a 72% amino acid sequence similarity to aP2/422, the adipocyte lipid binding protein, a 58% sequence similarity to rat heart fatty acid binding protein, and a 40% sequence similarity to cellular retinoic acid binding protein. In order to isolate cDNA clones representing P2, a cDNA library was constructed from poly(A+) RNA isolated from sciatic nerves of 10-day-old rabbit pups. By use of a mixed synthetic oligonucleotide probe based on the rabbit P2 amino sequence, 12 cDNA clones were selected from about 25,000 recombinants. Four of these were further characterized. They contained an open reading frame, which when translated, agreed at 128 out of 131 residues with the known rabbit P2 amino acid sequence. These cDNAs recognize a 1.9-kilobase mRNA present in sciatic nerve, spinal cord, and brain, but not present in liver or heart. The levels of P2 mRNA parallel myelin formation in sciatic nerve and spinal cord with maximal amounts being detected at about 15 postnatal days. This initial study will allow characterization of the P2 gene and its regulation, as well as further studies into the role of P2, the first metabolically active myelin-specific protein to be characterized at the genetic level.     

The influenza virus M2 protein cytoplasmic tail interacts with the M1 protein and influences virus assembly at the site of virus budding

The cytoplasmic tail of the influenza A virus M2 proton-selective ion channel has been shown to be important for virus replication. Previous analysis of M2 cytoplasmic tail truncation mutants demonstrated a defect in incorporation of viral RNA (vRNA) into virions, suggesting a role for M2 in the recruitment of M1-vRNA complexes. To further characterize the effect of the M2 cytoplasmic tail mutations on virus assembly and budding, we constructed a series of alanine substitution mutants of M2 with mutations in the cytoplasmic tail, from residues 71 to 97. Mutant proteins M2-Mut1 and M2-Mut2, with mutations of residues 71 to 73 and 74 to 76, respectively, appeared to have the greatest effect on virus-like particle and virus budding, showing a defect in M1 incorporation. Mutant viruses containing M2-Mut1 and M2-Mut2 failed to replicate in multistep growth analyses on wild-type (wt) MDCK cells and were able to form plaques only on MDCK cells stably expressing wt M2 protein. Compared to wt M2 protein, M2-Mut1 and M2-Mut2 were unable to efficiently coimmunoprecipitate with M1. Furthermore, statistical analysis of planar sheets of membrane from cells infected by virus containing M2-Mut1 revealed a reduction in M1-hemagglutinin (HA) and M2-HA clustering as well as a severe loss of clustering between M1 and M2. These results suggest an essential, direct interaction between the cytoplasmic tail of M2 and M1 that promotes the recruitment of the internal viral proteins and vRNA to the plasma membrane for efficient virus assembly to occur.     

Intracellular localization of the viral polymerase proteins in cells infected with influenza virus and cells expressing PB1 protein from cloned cDNA.

The biosynthesis, nuclear transport, and formation of a complex among the influenza polymerase proteins were studied in influenza virus-infected MDBK cells by using monospecific antisera. To obtain these monospecific antisera, portions of cloned cDNAs encoding the individual polymerase proteins (PB1, PB2, or PA) of A/WSN/33 influenza virus were expressed as fusion proteins in Escherichia coli, and the purified fusion proteins were injected into rabbits. Studies using indirect immunofluorescence showed that early in the infectious cycle (4 h postinfection) of influenza virus, PB1 and PB2 are present mainly in the nucleus, whereas PA is predominantly present in the cytoplasm of the virus-infected cells. Later, at 6 to 8 h postinfection, all three polymerase proteins are apparent both in the cytoplasm as well as the nucleus. Radiolabeling and immunoprecipitation analyses showed that the three polymerase proteins remain physically associated as a complex in either the presence or the absence of ribonucleoproteins. In the cytoplasm, the majority of the polymerase proteins remain unassociated, whereas in the nucleus they are present as a complex of three polymerase proteins. To determine whether a polymerase protein is transported into the nucleus individually, PB1 was expressed from the cloned cDNA by using the simian virus 40 late promoter expression vector. PB1 alone, in the absence of the other polymerase proteins or the nucleoprotein, accumulates in the nucleus. This suggests that the formation of a complex with other viral protein(s) is not required for either nuclear transport or nuclear accumulation of PB1 protein and that the PB1 protein may contain an intrinsic signal(s) for nuclear transport.     

Analysis of the posttranslational modifications of the influenza virus M2 protein.

The sites of posttranslational modifications of the influenza A virus M2 protein were examined, and the effect of these modifications on the M2 protein ion channel activity was analyzed. Cysteine residues 17 and 19 in the M2 protein ectodomain form disulfide bonds. The cytoplasmic tail is posttranslationally modified by palmitoylation, and mutagenic studies support the view that cysteine residue 50 is the site for fatty acylation. In addition, the cytoplasmic tail of the M2 protein was found to be posttranslationally modified by the addition of phosphate to specific serine residues. Site-directed mutagenesis of serine residues in the M2 protein cytoplasmic tail, combined with phosphoamino acid analysis, indicated that serine residue 64 is the predominant site for phosphorylation but that serine residues 82, 89, and 93 were also phosphorylated but to much lesser extents. Disulfide-bond formation, palmitoylation, and phosphorylation occurred on M2 protein expressed in mammalian cells infected with influenza virus, in mammalian cells in which the M2 protein was expressed from DNA expression vectors, and when the M2 protein was expressed in oocytes of Xenopus laevis. The membrane currents of oocytes of Xenopus laevis expressing wild-type and site-specifically altered forms of the M2 protein, to ablate posttranslational modifications, indicated that none of the posttranslational modifications significantly affected the ion channel activity of the M2 protein in oocytes. Therefore, these data do not indicate a functional role for posttranslational modifications of the M2 protein in its ion channel activity.     

Free-energy profiles of membrane insertion of the M2 transmembrane peptide from influenza A virus

The insertion of the M2 transmembrane peptide from influenza A virus into a membrane has been studied with molecular-dynamics simulations. This system is modeled by an atomically detailed peptide interacting with a continuum representation of a membrane bilayer in aqueous solution. We performed replica-exchange molecular-dynamics simulations with umbrella-sampling techniques to characterize the probability distribution and conformation preference of the peptide in the solution, at the membrane interface, and in the membrane. The minimum in the calculated free-energy surface of peptide insertion corresponds to a fully inserted, helical peptide spanning the membrane. The free-energy profile also shows that there is a significant barrier for the peptide to enter into this minimum in a nonhelical conformation. The sequence of the peptide is such that hydrophilic amino acid residues at the ends of the otherwise primarily hydrophobic peptide create a trapped, U-shaped conformation with the hydrophilic residues associated with the aqueous phase and the hydrophobic residues embedded in the membrane. Analysis of the free energy shows that the barrier to insertion is largely enthalpic in nature, whereas the membrane-spanning global minimum is favored by entropy.     

Characterization of the termination-reinitiation strategy employed in the expression of influenza B virus BM2 protein

Coupled expression of the M1 and BM2 open-reading frames (ORFs) of influenza B from the dicistronic segment 7 mRNA occurs by a process of termination-dependent reinitiation. The AUG start codon of the BM2 ORF overlaps the stop codon of the upstream M1 ORF in the pentanucleotide UAAUG, and BM2 synthesis is dependent upon translation of the M1 ORF and termination at the stop codon. Here, we have investigated the mRNA sequence requirements for BM2 expression. Termination-reinitiation is dependent upon 45 nucleotide (nt) of RNA immediately upstream of the UAAUG pentanucleotide, which includes an essential stretch complementary to 18S rRNA helix 26. Thus, similar to the caliciviruses, base-pairing between mRNA and rRNA is likely to play a role in tethering the 40S subunit to the mRNA following termination at the M1 stop codon. Consistent with this, repositioning of the M1 stop codon more than 24 nt downstream from the BM2 start codon inhibited BM2 expression. RNA structure probing revealed that the RNA upstream of the UAAUG overlap is not highly structured, but upon encountering the M1 stop codon by the ribosome, a stem-loop may form immediately 5' of the ribosome, with the 18S rRNA complementary region in the apical loop and in close proximity to helix 26. Mutational analysis reveals that the normal requirements for start site selection in BM2 expression are suspended, with little effect of initiation codon context and efficient use of noncanonical initiation codons. This suggests that the full complement of initiation factors is not required for the reinitiation process.     

Mx protein: constitutive expression in 3T3 cells transformed with cloned Mx cDNA confers selective resistance to influenza virus

Mx+ mice are much more resistant to influenza virus than Mx- strains. The resistance is mediated by interferon (IFN) alpha/beta. After IFN treatment, Mx+ but not Mx- cells accumulate Mx protein and become specifically resistant to orthomyxoviruses. cDNA encoding Mx protein was cloned and sequenced. Southern analyses indicate that Mx- alleles derive from their Mx+ counterpart by deletions. IFN-treated Mx+ cells contained a 3.5 kb Mx mRNA, while Mx- cells showed only traces of shorter Mx RNA. Mx- cells transformed with Mx cDNA expressed Mx protein constitutively to varying extents; resistance of individual cells to influenza virus correlated with Mx protein expression. Thus, specific resistance to influenza virus in vivo may be attributed to Mx protein expression and is independent of other IFN-mediated effects.     

Rescue of recombinant Thogoto virus from cloned cDNA

Thogoto virus (THOV) is a tick-transmitted orthomyxovirus with a genome consisting of six negative-stranded RNA segments. To rescue a recombinant THOV, the viral structural proteins were produced from expression plasmids by means of a vaccinia virus expressing the T7 RNA polymerase. Genomic virus RNAs (vRNAs) were generated from plasmids under the control of the RNA polymerase I promoter. Using this system, we could efficiently recover recombinant THOV following transfection of 12 plasmids into 293T cells. To verify the recombinant nature of the rescued virus, specific genetic tags were introduced into two vRNA segments. The availability of this efficient reverse genetics system will allow us to address hitherto-unanswered questions regarding the biology of THOV by manipulating viral genes in the context of infectious virus.     

Recovery of pathogenic measles virus from cloned cDNA

Reverse genetics technology so far established for measles virus (MeV) is based on the Edmonston strain, which was isolated several decades ago, has been passaged in nonlymphoid cell lines, and is no longer pathogenic in monkey models. On the other hand, MeVs isolated and passaged in the Epstein-Barr virus-transformed marmoset B-lymphoblastoid cell line B95a would retain their original pathogenicity (F. Kobune et al., J. Virol. 64:700-705, 1990). Here we have developed MeV reverse genetics systems based on the highly pathogenic IC-B strain isolated in B95a cells. Infectious viruses were successfully recovered from the cloned cDNA of IC-B strain by two different approaches. One was simple cotransfection of B95a cells, with three plasmids each encoding the nucleocapsid (N), phospho (P), or large (L) protein, respectively, and their expression was driven by the bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase supplied by coinfecting recombinant vaccinia virus vTF7-3. The second approach was transfection with the L-encoding plasmid of a helper cell line constitutively expressing the MeV N and P proteins and the T7 polymerase (F. Radecke et al., EMBO J. 14:5773-5784, 1995) on which B95a cells were overlaid. Virus clones recovered by both methods possessed RNA genomes identical to that of the parental IC-B strain and were indistinguishable from the IC-B strain with respect to growth phenotypes in vitro and the clinical course and histopathology of experimentally infected cynomolgus monkeys. Thus, the systems developed here could be useful for studying viral gene functions in the context of the natural course of MeV pathogenesis.     

Intracellular development of membrane protein of influenza virus.

The intracellular development of membrane protein (MP) of influenza A virus was investigated by immunofluorescent staining. Monospecific antiserum was prepared by immunizing rabbits with MP eluted from SDS-polyacrylamide gels of SDS-disrupted NWS virions. In the productive infection in clone 1-5C-4 cells, MP antigen was first detected over the whole cell at 4 hr after infection, concomitantly with the appearance of hemagglutinin (HA) antigen in the cytoplasm, and bright nuclear fluorescence was then observed. Nucleoprotein (NP) antigen was detected in the nucleus prior to the appearance of fluorescence of MP antigen and thereafter the cytoplasmic fluorescence developed. Late in infection, all of these three antigens were observed predominantly in the cytoplasm with stronger fluorescence at the cell surface. Essentially similar findings were obtained in the abortive infections in L cells and BHK cells. The above results suggest that the membrane protein of influenza A virus is present in the nucleus as well as in the cytoplasm of infected cells.     

Characterization of the major integral protein of vacuolar membrane

The vacuolar membrane of radish (Raphanus sativus) taproot contained a large quantity of a protein of 23 kilodaltons that accounted for more than 25% of the total membrane proteins. The protein, tentatively named VM 23, was purified and characterized. VM 23 tends to aggregate at high temperature even in the presence of 1% sodium dodecyl sulfate. The apparent molecular size of VM 23 was estimated to be about 400 kilodaltons by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of 0.1% Triton X-100. VM 23 was partially extracted from the vacuolar membranes with chloroform:methanol, indicating its high hydrophobicity. The hydrophobic carboxyl modifier N,N′-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide bound covalently to VM 23. The results suggest that VM 23 may act as a secondary transport system coupled with the proton transport. The antibody against radish VM 23 reacted with the major proteins in the vacuolar membranes of mung bean (Vigna radiata) and castor bean (Ricinus communis) hypocotyls and pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata) epicotyl, but not with that of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) taproot. VM 23 comigrated with vacuolar H⁺-pyrophosphatase on sucrose density gradient centrifugation after sonication of membranes, indicating that it is associated with the vacuolar membrane.     

The distal cytoplasmic tail of the influenza A M2 protein dynamically extends from the membrane

The influenza A M2 protein is a multifunctional membrane-associated homotetramer that orchestrates several essential events in the viral infection cycle. The monomeric subunits of the M2 homotetramer consist of an N-terminal ectodomain, a transmembrane domain, and a C-terminal cytoplasmic domain. The transmembrane domain forms a four-helix proton channel that promotes uncoating of virions upon host cell entry. The membrane-proximal region of the C-terminal domain forms a surface-associated amphipathic helix necessary for viral budding. The structure of the remaining ~34 residues of the distal cytoplasmic tail has yet to be fully characterized despite the functional significance of this region for influenza infectivity. Here, we extend structural and dynamic studies of the poorly characterized M2 cytoplasmic tail. We used SDSL-EPR to collect site-specific information on the mobility, solvent accessibility, and conformational properties of residues 61–70 of the full-length, cell-expressed M2 protein reconstituted into liposomes. Our analysis is consistent with the predominant population of the C-terminal tail dynamically extending away from the membranes surface into the aqueous medium. These findings provide insight into the hypothesis that the C-terminal domain serves as a sensor that regulates how M2 protein participates in critical events in the viral infection cycle.     

Infectious foot-and-mouth disease virus derived from a cloned full-length cDNA.

A full-length cDNA plasmid of foot-and-mouth disease virus has been constructed. RNA synthesized in vitro by means of a bacteriophage SP6 promoter inserted in front of the cDNA led to the production of infectious particles upon transfection of BHK-21 cells. These particles were also found to be highly infectious for primary bovine kidney cells as well as for baby mice. The difficulty in cloning the foot-and-mouth disease virus cytidyl tract in Escherichia coli was circumvented by joining two separate cloned parts, representing the S and L fragments of the genome, and, in a second step, inserting a dC-dG homopolymer. Homopolymeric sequences of up to 25 cytidyl residues did not lead to the production of virus. Replicons containing poly(C) tracts long enough to permit virus replication were first established in yeast cells. One of these constructs could also be maintained in E. coli and was used to produce infectious RNA in vitro. The length of the poly(C) sequence in this cDNA plasmid was 32 nucleotides. However, the poly(C) tracts of two recombinant viruses found in transfected BHK-21 cells were 60 and 80 nucleotides long, respectively. Possible mechanisms leading to the enlargement of the poly(C) tract during virus replication are discussed.     

Influenza virus assembly: effect of influenza virus glycoproteins on the membrane association of M1 protein

Influenza virus matrix protein (M1), a critical protein required for virus assembly and budding, is presumed to interact with viral glycoproteins on the outer side and viral ribonucleoprotein on the inner side. However, because of the inherent membrane-binding ability of M1 protein, it has been difficult to demonstrate the specific interaction of M1 protein with hemagglutinin (HA) or neuraminidase (NA), the influenza virus envelope glycoproteins. Using Triton X-100 (TX-100) detergent treatment of membrane fractions and floatation in sucrose gradients, we observed that the membrane-bound M1 protein expressed alone or coexpressed with heterologous Sendai virus F was totally TX-100 soluble but the membrane-bound M1 protein expressed in the presence of HA and NA was predominantly detergent resistant and floated to the top of the density gradient. Furthermore, both the cytoplasmic tail and the transmembrane domain of HA facilitated binding of M1 to detergent-resistant membranes. Analysis of the membrane association of M1 in the early and late phases of the influenza virus infectious cycle revealed that the interaction of M1 with mature glycoproteins which associated with the detergent-resistant lipid rafts was responsible for the detergent resistance of membrane-bound M1. Immunofluorescence analysis by confocal microscopy also demonstrated that, in influenza virus-infected cells, a fraction of M1 protein colocalized with HA and associated with the HA in transit to the plasma membrane via the exocytic pathway. Similar results for colocalization were obtained when M1 and HA were coexpressed and HA transport was blocked by monensin treatment. These studies indicate that both HA and NA interact with influenza virus M1 and that HA associates with M1 via its cytoplasmic tail and transmembrane domain.     

Intrinsic membrane association of the cytoplasmic tail of influenza virus M2 protein and lateral membrane sorting regulated by cholesterol binding and palmitoylation

The influenza virus transmembrane protein M2 is a proton channel, but also plays a role in the scission of nascent virus particles from the plasma membrane. An amphiphilic helix in the CT (cytoplasmic tail) of M2 is supposed to insert into the lipid bilayer, thereby inducing curvature. Palmitoylation of the helix and binding to cholesterol via putative CRAC (cholesterol recognition/interaction amino acid consensus) motifs are believed to target M2 to the edge of rafts, the viral-budding site. In the present study, we tested pre-conditions of this model, i.e. that the CT interacts with membranes, and that acylation and cholesterol binding affect targeting of M2. M2-CT, purified as a glutathione transferase fusion protein, associated with [3H]photocholesterol and with liposomes. Mutation of tyrosine residues in the CRAC motifs prevented [(3)H]photocholesterol labelling and reduced liposome binding. M2-CT fused to the yellow fluorescent protein localized to the Golgi in transfected cells; membrane targeting was dependent on CRAC and (to a lesser extent) on palmitoylation. Preparation of giant plasma membrane vesicles from cells expressing full-length M2-GFP (green fluorescent protein) showed that the protein is partly present in the raft domain. Raft targeting required palmitoylation, but not the CRAC motifs. Thus palmitoylation and cholesterol binding differentially affect the intrinsic membrane binding of the amphiphilic helix.