The DR1 and DR6 First Exons of Human Herpesvirus 6A Are Not Required for Virus Replication in Culture and Are Deleted in Virus Stocks That Replicate Well in T-Cell Lines

Human herpesvirus 6A (HHV-6A) and HHV-6B are lymphotropic viruses which replicate in cultured activated cord blood mononuclear cells (CBMCs) and in T-cell lines. Viral genomes are composed of 143-kb unique (U) sequences flanked by ∼8- to 10-kb left and right direct repeats, DR_L and DR_R. We have recently cloned HHV-6A (U1102) into bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) vectors, employing DNA replicative intermediates. Surprisingly, HHV-6A BACs and their parental DNAs were found to contain short ∼2.7-kb DRs. To test whether DR shortening occurred during passaging in CBMCs or in the SupT1 T-cell line, we compared packaged DNAs from various passages. Restriction enzymes, PCR, and sequencing analyses have shown the following. (i) Early (1992) viral preparations from CBMCs contained ∼8-kb DRs. (ii) Viruses currently propagated in SupT1 cells contained ∼2.7-kb DRs. (iii) The deletion spans positions 60 to 5545 in DR_L, including genes encoded by DR1 through the first exon of DR6. The pac-2-pac-1 packaging signals, the DR7 open reading frame (ORF), and the DR6 second exon were not deleted. (iv) The DR_R sequence was similarly shortened by 5.4 kb. (v) The DR1 through DR6 first exon sequences were deleted from the entire HHV-6A BACs, revealing that they were not translocated into other genome locations. (vi) When virus initially cultured in CBMCs was passaged in SupT1 cells no DR shortening occurred. (vii) Viral stocks possessing short DRs replicated efficiently, revealing the plasticity of herpesvirus genomes. We conclude that the DR deletion occurred once, producing virus with advantageous growth “conquering” the population. The DR1 gene and the first DR6 exon are not required for propagation in culture.Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) is a member of the Betaherpesvirus subfamily, as recently reviewed (46). The virus can enter hematopoietic cells, including T cells, B cells, natural killer (NK) cells, monocytes, and dendritic cells (DCs), as well as nonhematopoietic cells, as reviewed in references 8, 17, and 46. In culture, the virus replicates in activated peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs), cord blood mononuclear cells (CBMCs), and in T-cell lines (1, 17, 46). HHV-6 isolates fall into two distinct classes designated as HHV-6A and HHV-6B variants. The two variants can be distinguished by their restriction enzyme patterns, antigenicity, DNA sequences, and disease association (1, 36, 46). HHV-6B is the causative agent of roseola infantum, a prevalent children''s disease characterized by high fever and skin rash (47). In rare cases, the virus exhibits neurotropism and has been found in children experiencing convulsions up to lethal encephalitis (1, 21, 46, 48).HHV-6B reactivation from latency was found to occur in patients receiving immunosuppressive treatment in bone marrow and other transplantations. This was associated with febrile illness, delayed transplant engraftment, and neurological involvement, up to lethal encephalitis (5, 13, 34, 46). HHV-6A has thus far no clear disease association, although several studies have suggested central nervous system (CNS) tropism, including aggravation of symptoms in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) (6, 14, 33, 41).HHV-6A and HHV-6B share general genomic architecture. The unit-length DNA molecules are approximately 160 kb, composed of a 143-kb unique (U) segment flanked by left and right direct repeats (DR_L and DR_R, respectively) (19, 24, 27, 46). The DRs are of sizes 8 to 10 kb in different viral isolates (2, 19, 24, 46). In both the HHV-6A and HHV-6B genomes, the herpesvirus conserved cleavage/packaging signals pac-1 and pac-2 (9, 15, 17) are located at the left and the right termini of the DRs (17, 19, 46). The PubMed sequence for the U1102 strain (accession no. {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"NC_001664","term_id":"1344462938","term_text":"NC_001664"}}NC_001664) starts with the pac-1 signal at positions 1 to 56, followed by multiple copies of perfect and imperfect telomere-like sequences, up to position 418. It was suggested that the telomeric repeats may have originated from host cell chromosomal telomeres (43). Additionally, the DR encodes several open reading frames (ORFs), four of which are dealt with in our paper: (i) the spliced DR1 at positions 501 to 759 and 843 to 2653; (ii) DR5 at positions 3738 to 4164; (iii) the spliced DR6 at positions 4725 to 5028 and 5837 to 6720; and (iv) an ORF of DR7, at positions 5629 to 6720, partially overlapping the DR6 gene (20). Hollsberg and coworkers (37) have recently found that the homologous gene in HHV-6B encodes a nuclear protein that forms a complex with viral DNA processivity factor p41. Gompels and coworkers have also shown that DR1 and DR6 are partly homologous to the human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) US22 gene family. Both have a CXC motif: DR1 with homology to the HCMV US26 gene and DR6 with homology to the HCMV US22 gene (20). The map continues with reiterated perfect hexanucleotide telomeric sequences (GGGTAA)_n at positions 7655 to 8008 (19, 43). The number of telomeric repeats was found to vary in different viral strains (2, 43). The DR terminates with the pac-2 signal.We have recently cloned the intact HHV-6A genome into bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs), by direct cloning of unit-length DNA produced from circular or head-to-tail replication intermediates into modified BAC vectors containing the green fluorescent protein (GFP) marker and ampicillin-puromycin (Amp-Puro) selection cassette (3). Surprisingly, the HHV-6A BAC clones as well as the parental HHV-6A (U1102) propagated in our laboratory in SupT1 cells were found to contain DRs of ∼2.7 kb instead of the expected ∼8- to 10-kb DRs, as in the early publications (19, 24, 27, 46) and in the PubMed sequence. This has raised the following questions. When did the deleted DRs arise? What was the detailed structure of deleted DRs?HHV-6 was discovered by Gallo and colleagues in 1986 (35), and viral isolates were obtained in multiple laboratories from AIDS patients, patients with lymphoproliferative disorders, and patients with roseola infantum (12, 26, 42, 45, 47). The isolates were propagated initially in activated PBLs and CBMCs and then in continuous T-cell lines, including HSB-2, J-JHAN, SupT1, Molt-3, and MT-4 (11, 45). The U1102 strain isolated by Downing and colleagues (12) was contributed to our laboratory by Robert Honess and was propagated first in activated PBLs and CBMCs (11, 18, 36, 45) and then in J-JHAN and SupT1 T cells (4, 30). To answer the question with regard to the origin of the short DRs and their structure, we have compared earlier viral HHV-6A passages with the currently propagated virus and the HHV-6A BAC clones. We describe here the detailed structure of the DR_L and DR_R of the “new” virus, containing the short ∼2.7-kb DR. We show that the deletion contained the left multiple repeats of telomere-like sequences and the ORFs from DR1 up to the DR6 first exon. Review of viral passaging since 1992 indicated that the deletion occurred spontaneously. The deleted viruses were stably and efficiently propagated in SupT1 T cells, indicating that the DR1 and DR6 first exons are not essential for virus in vitro replication.     

Glucocorticoid-induced Leucine zipper 1 stimulates the epithelial sodium channel by regulating serum- and glucocorticoid-induced kinase 1 stability and subcellular localization

Serum- and glucocorticoid-induced kinase 1 (SGK1) is a multifunctional protein kinase that markedly influences various cellular processes such as proliferation, apoptosis, glucose metabolism, and sodium (Na(+)) transport via the epithelial Na(+) channel, ENaC. SGK1 is a short-lived protein, which is predominantly targeted to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to undergo rapid proteasome-mediated degradation through the ER-associated degradation (ERAD) system. We show here that the aldosterone-induced chaperone, GILZ1 (glucocorticoid-induced leucine zipper protein-1) selectively decreases SGK1 localization to ER as well as its interaction with ER-associated E3 ubiquitin ligases, HRD1 and CHIP. GILZ1 inhibits SGK1 ubiquitinylation and subsequent proteasome-mediated degradation, thereby prolonging its half-life and increasing its steady-state expression. Furthermore, comparison of the effect of GILZ1 with that of proteasome inhibition (by MG-132) supports the idea that these effects of GILZ1 are secondary to physical interaction of GILZ1 with SGK1 and enhanced recruitment of SGK1 to targets within an "ENaC regulatory complex," thus making less SGK1 available to the ERAD machinery. Finally, effects of GILZ1 knockdown and overexpression strongly support the idea that these effects of GILZ1 are functionally important for ENaC regulation. These data provide new insight into how the manifold activities of SGK1 are selectively deployed and strengthened through modulation of its molecular interactions, subcellular localization, and stability.     

Proapoptotic effects of P. aeruginosa involve inhibition of surfactant phosphatidylcholine synthesis

Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes sepsis-induced acute lung injury, a disorder associated with deficiency of surfactant phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho). P. aeruginosa (PA103) utilizes a type III secretion system (TTSS) to induce programmed cell death. Herein, we observed that PA103 reduced alveolar PtdCho levels, resulting in impaired lung biophysical activity, an effect partly attributed to caspase-dependent cleavage of the key PtdCho biosynthetic enzyme, CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase-alpha (CCTalpha). Expression of recombinant CCTalpha variants harboring point mutations at putative caspase cleavage sites in murine lung epithelia resulted in partial proteolytic resistance of CCTalpha to PA103. Further, caspase-directed CCTalpha degradation, decreased PtdCho levels, and cell death in murine lung epithelia were lessened after exposure of cells to bacterial strains lacking the TTSS gene product, exotoxin U (ExoU), but not ExoT. These observations suggest that during the proapoptotic program driven by P. aeruginosa, deleterious effects on phospholipid metabolism are mediated by a TTSS in concert with caspase activation, resulting in proteolysis of a key surfactant biosynthetic enzyme.     

Glutamine in the mechanism of ammonia-induced astrocyte swelling

Brain edema and the subsequent increase in intracranial pressure are the major neurological complications in fulminant hepatic failure (FHF). Brain edema in FHF is predominantly "cytotoxic" due principally to astrocyte swelling. It is generally believed that ammonia plays a key role in this process, although the mechanism by which ammonia brings about such swelling is yet to be defined. It has been postulated that glutamine accumulation in astrocytes subsequent to ammonia detoxification results in increased osmotic forces leading to cell swelling. While the hypothesis is plausible and has gained support, it has never been critically tested. In this study, we examined whether a correlation exists between cellular glutamine levels and the degree of cell swelling in cultured astrocytes exposed to ammonia. Cultured astrocytes derived from rat brain cortices were exposed to ammonia (5 mM) for different time periods and cell swelling was measured. Cultures treated with ammonia for 1-3 days showed a progressive increase in astrocyte cell volume (59-127%). Parallel treatment of astrocyte cultures with ammonia showed a significant increase in cellular glutamine content (60-80%) only at 1-4 h, a time when swelling was absent, while glutamine levels were normal at 1-3 days, a time when peak cell swelling was observed. Thus no direct correlation between cell swelling and glutamine levels was detected. Additionally, acute increase in intracellular levels of glutamine by treatment with the glutaminase inhibitor 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine (DON) after ammonia exposure also did not result in swelling. On the contrary, DON treatment significantly blocked (66%) ammonia-induced astrocyte swelling at a later time point (24 h), suggesting that some process resulting from glutamine metabolism is responsible for astrocyte swelling. Additionally, ammonia-induced free radical production and induction of the mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) were significantly blocked by treatment with DON, suggesting a key role of glutamine in the ammonia-induced free radical generation and the MPT. In summary, our findings indicate a lack of direct correlation between the extent of cell swelling and cellular levels of glutamine. While glutamine may not be acting as an osmolyte, we propose that glutamine-mediated oxidative stress and/or the MPT may be responsible for the astrocyte swelling by ammonia.     

Application of fluorescent probes to study structural changes in Aspergillus fumigatus exposed to amphotericin B, itraconazole, and voriconazole

The broad objective of this study was to document patterns of structural changes following antifungal treatment, and to determine any relationship with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of an antifungal. Three clinical isolates of Aspergillus fumigatus, with high, intermediate, and low amphotericin B (AB), itraconazole (IZ), and voriconazole (VZ) MICs were studied in 24-well plates with cover slips. The fluorescent probes used were Calcofluor White (cell wall), propidium iodide (nucleus), and MitoTracker Green FM (mitochondria). Fluorescent microscopy as early as 3-h after exposure revealed that AB treated hyphae had intact cell wall with deformed mitochondria and nuclei while IZ and VZ treated hyphae revealed no intact cell wall, and deformation of mitochondria and nuclei. At 48 h, AB treated cells revealed rupture of hyphae and disintegration of mitochondria, and nuclei, IZ treated hyphae were swollen with disintegration of mitochondria, and nuclei while VZ treated hyphae showed rupture and disintegration of mitochondria and nuclei. The structural changes for the three strains studied were similar in fluorescent microscopy as long as the incubation time and their respective MICs were used. Thus, AB, IZ, and VZ induced gross organelle defects in A. fumigatus nuclei, mitochondria, and cell wall, which were consistent with respective MICs of antifungals used.     

DBU assisted expeditious synthesis of glycosyl dienes via glycosylated beta-hydroxy esters

DBU catalyzed condensation of 3-O-benzyl(methyl)-5,6-dideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-beta-L-threo-hept-4-enofuranuronates with different aldehydes produces the corresponding 3-O-benzyl(methyl)-6-carbethoxy-5,6-dideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-7-phenyl-beta-L-threo-hept-4-enofuranoses. The latter on treatment with methanesulfonyl chloride followed by DBU catalyzed E2 reaction of the methanesulfonyloxy intermediates gave the respective 3-O-benzyl(methyl)-6-carbethoxy-5,6,7-trideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-7-phenyl-beta-L-threo-hept-4,6-dienofuranose in moderate to good yields.     

A global analysis of cross-talk in a mammalian cellular signalling network

Cellular information processing requires the coordinated activity of a large network of intracellular signalling pathways. Cross-talk between pathways provides for complex non-linear responses to combinations of stimuli, but little is known about the density of these interactions in any specific cell. Here, we have analysed a large-scale survey of pathway interactions carried out by the Alliance for Cellular Signalling (AfCS) in RAW 264.7 macrophages. Twenty-two receptor-specific ligands were studied, both alone and in all pairwise combinations, for Ca2+ mobilization, cAMP synthesis, phosphorylation of many signalling proteins and for cytokine production. A large number of non-additive interactions are evident that are consistent with known mechanisms of cross-talk between pathways, but many novel interactions are also revealed. A global analysis of cross-talk suggests that many external stimuli converge on a relatively small number of interaction mechanisms to provide for context-dependent signalling.