KSHV infection of B-cell lymphoma using a modified KSHV BAC36 and coculturing system

Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the causative agent of two B cell lymphoproliferative diseases, namely primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) and multicentric Castleman’s disease (MCD). KSHV infection of B cell lymphoma in vitro has been a long-standing battle in advancing human KSHV biology. In this study, a modified form of KSHV BAC36 named BAC36A significantly increased the fidelity of gene-targeted site-directed mutagenesis in the KSHV genome. This modification eliminates tedious screening steps required to obtain mutant clones when a KSHV BAC36 reverse genetic system is used. Coculturing B-cell lymphoma BJAB cells with KSHV BAC36A stably transfected 293T cells enabled us to infect BJAB cells with a KSHV virion derived from the KSHV BAC36A. The coculture system produced substantial amounts of KSHV infection to BJAB, meaning that KSHV virions were released from 293T cells and then infected neighboring BJAB cells. Owing to our success with the KSHV BAC36A and coculture system, we propose a new genetic system for the study of KSHV gene expression and regulation in B-cell lymphoma.     

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus open reading frame 50/Rta protein activates the entire viral lytic cycle in the HH-B2 primary effusion lymphoma cell line

Rta, the gene product of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) encoded mainly in open reading frame 50 (ORF50), is capable of activating expression of viral lytic cycle genes. What was not demonstrated in previous studies was whether KSHV Rta was competent to initiate the entire viral lytic life cycle including lytic viral DNA replication, late-gene expression with appropriate kinetics, and virus release. In HH-B2, a newly established primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) cell line, KSHV ORF50 behaved as an immediate-early gene and autostimulated its own expression. Expression of late genes, ORF65, and K8.1 induced by KSHV Rta was eliminated by phosphonoacetic acid, an inhibitor of viral DNA polymerase. Transfection of KSHV Rta increased the production of encapsidated DNase-resistant viral DNA from HH-B2 cells. Thus, introduction of an ORF50 expression plasmid is sufficient to drive the lytic cycle to completion in cultured PEL cells.     

The Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus (KSHV)-Induced 5-Lipoxygenase-Leukotriene B4 Cascade Plays Key Roles in KSHV Latency,Monocyte Recruitment,and Lipogenesis

Kaposi''s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is etiologically associated with Kaposi''s sarcoma (KS) and primary effusion lymphoma (PEL). KS lesions are characterized by endothelial cells with multiple copies of the latent KSHV episomal genome, lytic replication in a low percentage of infiltrating monocytes, and inflammatory cytokines plus growth factors. We demonstrated that KSHV utilizes inflammatory cyclooxygenase 2/prostaglandin E₂ to establish and maintain latency (Sharma-Walia, N., A. G. Paul, V. Bottero, S. Sadagopan, M. V. Veettil, N. Kerur, and B. Chandran, PLoS Pathog 6:e1000777, 2010 [doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1000777]). Here, we evaluated the role of 5-lipoxygenase (5LO) and its chemotactic metabolite leukotriene B4 (LTB4) in KSHV biology. Abundant staining of 5LO was detected in human KS tissue sections. We observed elevated levels of 5LO and high levels of secretion of LTB4 during primary KSHV infection of endothelial cells and in PEL B cells (BCBL-1 and BC-3 cells). Blocking the 5LO/LTB4 cascade inhibited viral latent ORF73, immunomodulatory K5, viral macrophage inflammatory protein 1 (MIP-1), and viral MIP-2 gene expression, without much effect on lytic switch ORF50, immediate early lytic K8, and viral interferon-regulatory factor 2 gene expression. 5LO inhibition significantly downregulated latent viral Cyclin and latency-associated nuclear antigen 2 levels in PEL cells. 5LO/LTB4 inhibition downregulated TH2-related cytokine secretion, elevated TH1-related cytokine secretion, and reduced human monocyte recruitment, adhesion, and transendothelial migration. 5LO/LTB4 inhibition reduced fatty acid synthase (FASN) promoter activity and its expression. Since FASN, a key enzyme required in lipogenesis, is important in KSHV latency, these findings collectively suggest that 5LO/LTB4 play important roles in KSHV biology and that effective inhibition of the 5LO/LTB4 pathway could potentially be used in treatment to control KS/PEL.     

Efficient infection by a recombinant Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus cloned in a bacterial artificial chromosome: application for genetic analysis

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is etiologically associated with Kaposi's sarcoma and several other malignancies. The lack of an efficient infection system has impeded the understanding of KSHV-related pathogenesis. A genetic approach was used to isolate infectious KSHV. Recombinant bacteria artificial chromosome (BAC) KSHV containing hygromycin resistance and green fluorescent protein (GFP) markers was generated by homologous recombination in KSHV-infected BCBL-1 cells. Recombinant KSHV genomes from cell clones that were resistant to hygromycin, expressed GFP, and produced infectious virions after induction with tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate (TPA) were rescued in Escherichia coli and reconstituted in 293 cells. Several 293 cell lines resulting from infection with recombinant virions induced from a full-length recombinant KSHV genome, named BAC36, were obtained. BAC36 virions established stable latent infection in 293 cells, harboring 1 to 2 copies of viral genome per cell and expressing viral latent proteins, with approximately 0.5% of cells undergoing spontaneous lytic replication, which is reminiscent of KSHV infection in Kaposi's sarcoma tumors. TPA treatment induced BAC36-infected 293 cell lines into productive lytic replication, expressing lytic proteins and producing virions that efficiently infected normal 293 cells with a approximately 50% primary infection rate. BAC36 virions were also infectious to HeLa and E6E7-immortalized human endothelial cells. Since BAC36 can be efficiently shuttled between bacteria and mammalian cells, it is useful for KSHV genetic analysis. The feasibility of the system was illustrated through the generation of a KSHV mutant with the vIRF gene deleted. This cellular model is useful for the investigation of KSHV infection and pathogenesis.     

The PHD/LAP-domain protein M153R of myxomavirus is a ubiquitin ligase that induces the rapid internalization and lysosomal destruction of CD4

The genomes of several poxviruses contain open reading frames with homology to the K3 and K5 genes of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) and the K3 gene of murine gammaherpesvirus 68, which target major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) as well as costimulatory molecules for proteasomal or lysosomal degradation. The homologous gene product of myxomavirus (MV), M153R, was recently shown to reduce the cell surface expression of MHC-I. In addition, normal MHC-I surface expression was observed in cells infected with MV lacking M153R (J. L. Guerin, J. Gelfi, S. Boullier, M. Delverdier, F. A. Bellanger, S. Bertagnoli, I. Drexler, G. Sutter, and F. Messud-Petit, J. Virol. 76:2912-2923, 2002). Here, we show that M153R also downregulates the T-cell coreceptor CD4 and we study the molecular mechanism by which M153R achieves the downregulation of CD4 and MHC-I. Upon M153R expression, CD4 was rapidly internalized and degraded in lysosomes, whereas deletion of M153R from the genome of MV restored CD4 expression. The downregulation of both CD4 and MHC-I was dependent on the presence of lysine residues in their cytoplasmic tails. Increased ubiquitination of CD4 was observed upon coexpression with M153R in the presence of inhibitors of lysosomal acidification. Surface expression of CD4 was restored upon overexpression of Hrs, a ubiquitin interaction motif-containing protein that sorts ubiquitinated proteins into endosomes. Moreover, the purified PHD/LAP zinc finger of M153R catalyzed the formation of multiubiquitin adducts in vitro. Our data suggest that M153R acts as a membrane-bound ubiquitin ligase that conjugates ubiquitin to the cytoplasmic domain of substrate glycoproteins, with ubiquitin serving as a lysosomal targeting signal. Since a similar mechanism was recently proposed for KSHV K5, it seems that members of the unrelated families of gamma-2 herpesviruses and poxviruses share a common immune evasion mechanism that targets host cell immune receptors.     

Downregulation of gamma interferon receptor 1 by Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus K3 and K5

Upon viral infection, the major defense mounted by the host immune system is activation of the interferon (IFN)-mediated antiviral pathway. In order to complete their life cycles, viruses must modulate the host IFN-mediated immune response. The K3 and K5 proteins of a human tumor-inducing herpesvirus, Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), have been shown to downregulate the surface expression of host immune modulatory receptors by increasing their endocytosis rates, which leads to suppression of cell-mediated immunity. In this report, we demonstrate that K3 and K5 both specifically target gamma interferon receptor 1 (IFN-gammaR1) and induce its ubiquitination, endocytosis, and degradation, resulting in downregulation of IFN-gammaR1 surface expression and, thereby, inhibition of IFN-gamma action. Mutational analysis indicated that K5 appeared to downregulate IFN-gammaR1 more strongly than K3 and that the amino-terminal ring finger motif and the carboxyl-terminal region of K5 were necessary for IFN-gammaR1 downregulation. These results suggest that KSHV K3 and K5 suppress both cytokine-mediated and cell-mediated immunity, which ensures efficient viral avoidance of host immune controls.     

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus glycoprotein K8.1 is dispensable for virus entry

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is considered the etiologic agent of Kaposi's sarcoma and several lymphoproliferative disorders. Recently, the KSHV genome was cloned into a bacterial artificial chromosome and used to construct a recombinant KSHV carrying a deletion of the viral interferon regulatory factor gene (F. C. Zhou, Y. J. Zhang, J. H. Deng, X. P. Wang, H. Y. Pan, E. Hettler, and S. J. Gao, J. Virol. 76:6185-6196, 2002). The K8.1 glycoprotein is a structural component of the KSHV particle and is thought to facilitate virus entry by binding to heparan sulfate moieties on cell surfaces. To further address the role of K8.1 in virus infectivity, a K8.1-null recombinant virus (BAC36DeltaK8.1) was constructed by deletion of most of the K8.1 open reading frame and insertion of a kanamycin resistance gene cassette within the K8.1 gene. Southern blotting and diagnostic PCR confirmed the presence of the engineered K8.1 gene deletion. Transfection of the wild-type genome (BAC36) and mutant genome (BAC36DeltaK8.1) DNAs into 293 cells in the presence or absence of the complementing plasmid (pCDNAK8.1A), transiently expressing the K8.1A gene, produced infectious virions in the supernatants of transfected cells. These results demonstrated that the K8.1 glycoprotein is not required for KSHV entry into 293 cells.     

Cdk1 inhibition induces mutually inhibitory apoptosis and reactivation of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus

Primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) cells are predominantly infected by the latent form of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), with virus reactivation occurring in a small percentage of cells. Latency enables KSHV to persist in the host cell and promotes tumorigenesis through viral gene expression, thus presenting a major barrier to the elimination of KSHV and the treatment of PEL. Therefore, it is important to identify cellular genes that are essential for PEL cell survival or the maintenance of KSHV latency. Here we report that cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (Cdk1) inhibition can induce both apoptosis and KSHV reactivation in a population of PEL cells. Caspases, but not p53, are required for PEL cell apoptosis induced by Cdk1 inhibition. p38 kinase is activated by Cdk1 inhibition and mediates KSHV reactivation. Interestingly, upon Cdk1 inhibition, KSHV is reactivated predominantly in the nonapoptotic subpopulation of PEL cells. We provide evidence that this is due to mutual inhibition between apoptosis and KSHV reactivation. In addition, we found that KSHV reactivation activates protein kinase B (AKT/PKB), which promotes cell survival and facilitates KSHV reactivation. Our study thus establishes a key role for Cdk1 in PEL cell survival and the maintenance of KSHV latency and reveals a multifaceted relationship between KSHV reactivation and PEL cell apoptosis.     

The activation of KSHV lytic cycle blocks autophagy in PEL cells

This study confirms that autophagy is activated concomitantly with KSHV lytic cycle induction, and that autophagy inhibition by BECN1 knockdown reduces viral lytic gene expression. In addition, we extend previous observations and show that autophagy is blocked at late steps, during viral replication. This is indicated by the lack of colocalization of autophagosomes and lysosomes and by the LC3-II level that does not increase in the presence of bafilomycin A₁ in primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) cells induced to enter the lytic cycle, either by TPA/sodium butyrate (BC3 and BCBL1) or by doxycycline (TRExBCBL1-Rta). The autophagic block correlates with the downregulation of RAB7, whose silencing with specific siRNA results in an autophagic block in the same cells. Finally, by electron microscopy analysis, we observed viral particles inside autophagic vesicles in the cytoplasm of PEL cells undergoing viral replication, suggesting that they may be involved in viral transport.     

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus latency-associated nuclear antigen interacts with multifunctional angiogenin to utilize its antiapoptotic functions

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is etiologically associated with the angioproliferative Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). KSHV infection and the expression of latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA-1) upregulates the angiogenic multifunctional 123-amino-acid, 14-kDa protein angiogenin (ANG), which is detected in KS lesions and in KSHV-associated primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) cells. ANG knockdown or the inhibition of ANG's nuclear translocation resulted in decreased LANA-1 gene expression and reduced KSHV-infected endothelial and PEL cell survival (Sadagopan et al., J. Virol. 83:3342-3364, 2009). Further studies here demonstrate that LANA-1 and ANG colocalize and coimmunoprecipitate in de novo infected endothelial cells and in latently infected PEL (BCBL-1 and BC-3) cells. LANA-1 and ANG interaction occurred in the absence of the KSHV genome and other viral proteins. In gel filtration chromatography analyses of BC-3 cell lysates, ANG coeluted with LANA-1, p53, and Mdm2 in high-molecular-weight fractions, and LANA-1, p53, and Mdm2 also coimmunoprecipitated with ANG. LANA-1, ANG, and p53 colocalized in KSHV-infected cells, and colocalization between ANG and p53 was also observed in LANA-1-negative cells. The deletion constructs of ANG suggested that the C-terminal region of amino acids 104 to 123 is involved in LANA-1 and p53 interactions. Silencing ANG or inhibiting its nuclear translocation resulted in decreased nuclear LANA-1 and ANG levels, decreased interactions between ANG-LANA-1, ANG-p53, and LANA-1-p53, the induction of p53, p21, and Bax proteins, the increased cytoplasmic localization of p53, the downregulation of Bcl-2, the increased cleavage of caspase-3, and the apoptosis of cells. No such effects were observed in KSHV-negative BJAB cells. The phosphorylation of p53 at serine 15, which is essential for p53 stabilization and for p53's apoptotic and cell cycle regulation functions, was increased in BCBL-1 cells transduced with short hairpin RNA targeting ANG. Together, these studies suggest that the antiapoptosis observed in KSHV-infected cells and the suppression of p53 functions are mediated in part by ANG, and KSHV has probably evolved to utilize angiogenin's multiple functions for the maintenance of its latency and cell survival. Thus, targeting ANG to induce the apoptosis of cells latently infected with KSHV is an attractive therapeutic strategy against KSHV infection and associated malignancies.     

Spindle cell conversion by Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus: formation of colonies and plaques with mixed lytic and latent gene expression in infected primary dermal microvascular endothelial cell cultures

Angiogenic Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) skin lesions found in both AIDS and non-AIDS patients are universally associated with infection by the presumed causative agent, known as KS-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) or human herpesvirus 8. KSHV genomes expressing latent state virus-encoded mRNAs and the LANA1 (latent nuclear antigen 1) protein are consistently present in spindle-like tumor cells that are thought to be of endothelial cell origin. Although the KSHV lytic cycle can be induced in rare latently infected primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) cell lines, the ability to transmit or assay infectious KSHV has so far eluded investigators. Here, we demonstrate that infection with supernatant virions derived from three different tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate-induced PEL cell lines can induce cultured primary human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (DMVEC) to form colonies of proliferating latently infected spindle-shaped cells, all of which express the KSHV-encoded LANA1 protein. Although their initial infectivity varied widely (JSC1 > > BC3 > BCP1), virions from all three cell lines produced distinctive spindle cell colonies and plaques without affecting the contact-inhibited cobblestone-like phenotype of adjacent uninfected DMVEC. Each infected culture could also be expanded into a completely spindloid persistently infected culture displaying aggregated swirls of spindle cells resembling those in KS lesions. Formation of new colonies and plaques was inhibited in the presence of phosphonoacetic acid or gangciclovir, but these antiherpesvirus agents had little effect on the propagation of already latently infected spindloid cultures. In persistently infected secondary cultures, patches of up to 10% of the spindloid cells constitutively expressed several early viral lytic cycle proteins, and 1 to 2% of the cells also formed typical herpesvirus DNA replication compartments, displayed cytopathic rounding effects, and expressed late viral antigens. We conclude that de novo KSHV infection induces a spindle cell conversion phenotype in primary DMVEC cultures that is directly associated with latent state expression of the LANA1 protein. However, these cultures also spontaneously reactivate to produce an unusual combination of both latent and productive but slow lytic cycle infection. The formation of spindle cell colonies and plaques in DMVEC cultures provides for the first time a quantitative assay for directly measuring the infectivity of KSHV virion preparations.