Virucidal effect of sodium p-chloromercuribenzoate on influenza viruses attributable to inhibition of virus particle-associated RNA-dependent RNA polymerase.

Sodium p-chloromercuribenzoate (PCMB) caused a noticeable reduction of infectivity of prototype strains of type A and Lee strain of type B influenza viruses at concentrations of 100 and 200 mug/ml, respectively, after an incubation at 37 C for 60 min. The virucidal effect on A/AA/2/60 (H2N2) strain was dependent on the concentration of the drug and temperature as well as on the time of incubation. The reagent exerted this effect at a concentration which induced little change in the hemagglutinating and neuraminidase activities of the virus. PCMB inhibited by 50% the virus particle-associated RNA polymerase activity of all prototype strains of type A influenza virus at about 2 mug/ml and that of Lee strain of type B influenza virus at 8.5 mug/ml. Other sulfhydryl reagent such as phenylmercuric nitrate also exhibited virucidal effect on A/AA/2/60 virus which paralleled their inhibition of the virus particle-associated RNA polymerase activity. From these results it was considered likely that the virucidal action of PCMB on influenza viruses was attributable to inhibition of the virus particle-associated RNA polymerase activity.     

Electronoptical studies of the effect of 1-[p-(methylnitrosamino)-benzylidenamino]-adamantane on the fowl plague virus (FPV) in cell culture

The adamantanamine derivative 1-[p-(methylnitrosamino)-benzylidenamino]-adamantane (MBAA) at a concentration of 40 microgram/ml demonstrated no effect on adsorption of fowl plague virus (FPV) on chick embryonal cells. The penetration of the virions took place by means of pinocytosis. In the final stages of penetration the virions became gradually disintegrated. Under the influence of MBAA, after break-down of the membrane of pinocytic vesicles a swollen part of the virus core remained in cytoplasm. The morphologically visible replication stages were completely blocked by MBAA. From these results it was concluded that the antiviral action of MBAA most probably depends on a block of virus replication between the final stages of the penetration process and the beginning of production of virus specific structural antigens.     

Vaccinia virus RNA polymerase associated with nuclei of infected HeLa cells.

Though vaccinia virus DNA and RNA replication take place predominantly in the cytoplasm of an infected cell, virus formation requires the presence of a functional nucleus in a yet undefined manner. When the nuclei from cells infected for 3 h are isolated and purified, they are found to synthesize five times more RNA in vitro than do corresponding nuclei from noninfected cells. Fifty percent of the RNA synthesized in vitro by nuclei from infected cells is vaccinia specific, and this vaccinia RNA synthesis is resistant to alpha-amanitin concentrations up to 100 micrograms/ml. Furthermore, when the RNA polymerase activities of these nuclei are separated on DEAE-Sephadex columns, 56% of the total nuclear enzyme activity is found to be the vaccinia-specific RNA polymerase known to be alpha-amanitin resistant. The nucleus associated vaccinia RNA polymerase represents 18% of the total cellular vaccinia RNA polymerase. This synthesis of vaccinia RNA in the nucleus may explain the nuclear requirement for vaccinia virus maturation.     

VP3, a structural protein of infectious pancreatic necrosis virus, interacts with RNA-dependent RNA polymerase VP1 and with double-stranded RNA

Infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) is a bisegmented, double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) virus of the Birnaviridae family that causes widespread disease in salmonids. Its two genomic segments are encapsulated together with the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, VP1, and the assumed internal protein, VP3, in a single-shell capsid composed of VP2. Major aspects of the molecular biology of IPNV, such as particle assembly and interference with host macromolecules, are as yet poorly understood. To understand the infection process, analysis of viral protein interactions is of crucial importance. In this study, we focus on the interaction properties of VP3, the suggested key organizer of particle assembly in birnaviruses. By applying the yeast two-hybrid system in combination with coimmunoprecipitation, VP3 was proven to bind to VP1 and to self-associate strongly. In addition, VP3 was shown to specifically bind to dsRNA in a sequence-independent manner by in vitro pull-down experiments. The binding between VP3 and VP1 was not dependent on the presence of dsRNA. Deletion analyses mapped the VP3 self-interaction domain within the 101 N-terminal amino acids and the VP1 interaction domain within the 62 C-terminal amino acids of VP3. The C-terminal end was also crucial but not sufficient for the dsRNA binding capacity of VP3. For VP1, the 90 C-terminal amino acids constituted the only dispensable part for maintaining VP3-binding ability. Kinetic analysis revealed the presence of VP1-VP3 complexes prior to the formation of mature virions in IPNV-infected CHSE-214 cells, which indicates a role in promoting the assembly process.     

De novo initiation of RNA synthesis by the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (NS5B) of hepatitis C virus

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS5B protein possesses an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) activity, a major function responsible for replication of the viral RNA genome. To further characterize the RdRp activity, NS5B proteins were expressed from recombinant baculoviruses, purified to near homogeneity, and examined for their ability to synthesize RNA in vitro. As a result, a highly active NS5B RdRp (1b-42), which contains an 18-amino acid C-terminal truncation resulting from a newly created stop codon, was identified among a number of independent isolates. The RdRp activity of the truncated NS5B is comparable to the activity of the full-length protein and is 20 times higher in the presence of Mn(2+) than in the presence of Mg(2+). When a 384-nucleotide RNA was used as the template, two major RNA products were synthesized by 1b-42. One is a complementary RNA identical in size to the input RNA template (monomer), while the other is a hairpin dimer RNA synthesized by a "copy-back" mechanism. Substantial evidence derived from several experiments demonstrated that the RNA monomer was synthesized through de novo initiation by NS5B rather than by a terminal transferase activity. Synthesis of the RNA monomer requires all four ribonucleotides. The RNA monomer product was verified to be the result of de novo RNA synthesis, as two expected RNA products were generated from monomer RNA by RNase H digestion. In addition, modification of the RNA template by the addition of the chain terminator cordycepin at the 3' end did not affect synthesis of the RNA monomer but eliminated synthesis of the self-priming hairpin dimer RNA. Moreover, synthesis of RNA on poly(C) and poly(U) homopolymer templates by 1b-42 NS5B did not require the oligonucleotide primer at high concentrations (>/=50 microM) of GTP and ATP, further supporting a de novo initiation mechanism. These findings suggest that HCV NS5B is able to initiate RNA synthesis de novo.     

Identification of RNAase-sensitive 20S RNA in a cell culture infected with Sindbis virus]

RNAse-sensitive 20S RNA component with molecular weight of 0.7-10(6) is found when analysing virus-specific RNAs isolated from cultured chicken embryo fibroblasts infected with Sindbis virus by means of gradient centrifugation and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.     

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.     

Inhibitory effect of various 3'-amino- and 3'-azido-3'-deoxyribonucleotide-5'-triphosphates on RNA synthesis, catalyzed by RNA polymerase of influenza type A virus and cellular RNA-polymerase

Some new analogues of ribonucleoside-5'-triphosphates modified in 3'-ribose position and base [CTP (3'NH2), CTP (3'NH2) (5Me), CTP (3'N3) (5 Me), RvTP (3'N3)] have been synthesized. The inhibitions of RNA-synthesis catalyzed by the influenza A viral RNA-polymerase in cell free system and by the RNA-polymerase II from mice liver in the system of cellular nuclei by these reagents have been compared. All the studied preparations efficiently inhibited the RNA-synthesis in both cases. The inhibitors modified only in 3'-ribose position did not express specificity to any of RNA-polymerases tested, while some analogues having two modification in the molecule demonstrated the selective inhibition of RNA-synthesis directed by the influenza A viral RNA-polymerase [ara GTP (3'NH2), RvTP (3'N3')].     

Hepatitis C virus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (NS5B) as a mediator of the antiviral activity of ribavirin

Ribavirin is administered in combination with interferon-alpha for treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Recently, we demonstrated that the antiviral activity of ribavirin can result from the ability of a viral RNA polymerase to utilize ribavirin triphosphate and to incorporate this nucleotide with reduced specificity, thereby mutagenizing the genome and decreasing the yield of infectious virus (Crotty, S., Maag, D., Arnold, J. J., Zhong, W., Lau, J. Y., Hong, Z., Andino, R., and Cameron, C. E. (2000) Nat. Med. 6, 1375-1379). In this study, we performed a quantitative analysis of a novel HCV RNA polymerase derivative that is capable of utilizing stably annealed primer-template substrates and exploited this derivative to evaluate whether lethal mutagenesis of the HCV genome is a possible mechanism for the anti-HCV activity of ribavirin. These studies demonstrate HCV RNA polymerase-catalyzed incorporation of ribavirin opposite cytidine and uridine. In addition, we demonstrate that templates containing ribavirin support CMP and UMP incorporation with equivalent efficiency. Surprisingly, templates containing ribavirin can also cause a significant block to RNA elongation. Together, these data suggest that ribavirin can exert a direct effect on HCV replication, which is mediated by the HCV RNA polymerase. We discuss the implications of this work on the development of nucleoside analogs for treatment of HCV infection.