An essential role for the proximal but not the distal cytoplasmic tail of glycoprotein M in murid herpesvirus 4 infection

Glycoproteins gM and gN are indispensable factors for rhesus macaque rhadinovirus replication and spread but can be reconstituted by KSHV chimeras

Rhesus macaque rhadinovirus (RRV) is a primate gamma-2 herpesvirus (rhadinovirus) closely related to Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), the human oncovirus that causes Kaposi sarcoma. Like other herpesviruses, KSHV and RRV encode numerous envelope glycoproteins involved in cell attachment, entry, as well as assembly and release of progeny virions from infected cells. Two glycoproteins postulated to form a complex and reported to be virus-neutralizing targets are glycoproteins M (gM) and N (gN). To investigate gM and gN in rhadinovirus infection, we utilized infectious and pathogenic bacterial artificial chromosomes (BAC). RRV BACmids with nonsense mutations introduced into gM or gN did not yield an infectious virus. However, when gM or gN of RRV were exchanged for gM or gN from KSHV, each of the KSHV-chimeric RRV BACmids restored virus replication and infectious spread. Interestingly, we also discovered that the substitution of KSHVgM into the RRV BACmid was associated with attenuation in viral spread, an effect that was not countered by a double-chimeric virus. In contrast, the substitution of RRV gN into a KSHV BACmid negatively affected the assembly of KSHV, independent of gM/gN complex formation. Therefore, here, we revealed that in KSHV and RRV, gM and gN are interchangeable, contribute to crucial functions for viral assembly and spread, and have evolved in a virus-specific manner. Although more research is needed to define the roles of gM and gN, our work establishes the first glycoprotein-chimeric viruses for KSHV and RRV, which can now be used to corroborate gM/gN as targets for a cancer vaccine.IMPORTANCEKaposi sarcoma (KS) is a human cancer caused by KSHV and is one of the most frequently occurring cancers in HIV/AIDS patients, as well as in regions where KSHV is endemic. In this report, we have constructed and authenticated the first KSHV glycoprotein-encoding chimeric viruses for evaluations in the RRV/rhesus macaque model and have also uncovered fundamental roles for the glycoproteins gM and gN. Our work is significant by successfully bridging the human-specific, species barrier that has previously restricted preclinical evaluations of the KSHV glycoproteins as vaccine targets in vivo. Although there is no KSHV-specific animal model that is widely used, these KSHV-chimeric viruses may be useful as tools to guide future vaccine design and strategy as vaccine candidates progress toward clinical trials.

Betaherpesvirus Virion Assembly and Egress

Virions are the vehicle for cell-to-cell and host-to-host transmission of viruses. Virions need to be assembled reliably and efficiently, be released from infected cells, survive in the extracellular environment during transmission, recognize and then trigger entry of appropriate target cells, and disassemble in an orderly manner during initiation of a new infection. The betaherpesvirus subfamily includes four human herpesviruses (human cytomegalovirus and human herpesviruses 6A, 6B, and 7), as well as viruses that are the basis of important animal models of infection and immunity. Similar to other herpesviruses, betaherpesvirus virions consist of four main parts (in order from the inside): the genome, capsid, tegument, and envelope. Betaherpesvirus genomes are dsDNA and range in length from ~145 to 240 kb. Virion capsids (or nucleocapsids) are geometrically well-defined vessels that contain one copy of the dsDNA viral genome. The tegument is a collection of several thousand protein and RNA molecules packed into the space between the envelope and the capsid for delivery and immediate activity upon cellular entry at the initiation of an infection. Betaherpesvirus envelopes consist of lipid bilayers studded with virus-encoded glycoproteins; they protect the virion during transmission and mediate virion entry during initiation of new infections. Here, we summarize the mechanisms of betaherpesvirus virion assembly, including how infection modifies, reprograms, hijacks, and otherwise manipulates cellular processes and pathways to produce virion components, assemble the parts into infectious virions, and then transport the nascent virions to the extracellular environment for transmission.

KSHV-TK is a tyrosine kinase that disrupts focal adhesions and induces Rho-mediated cell contraction

Paradoxically, the thymidine kinase (TK) encoded by Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is an extremely inefficient nucleoside kinase, when compared to TKs from related herpesviruses. We now show that KSHV-TK, in contrast to HSV1-TK, associates with the actin cytoskeleton and induces extensive cell contraction followed by membrane blebbing. These dramatic changes in cell morphology depend on the auto-phosphorylation of tyrosines 65, 85 and 120 in the N-terminus of KSHV-TK. Phosphorylation of tyrosines 65/85 and 120 results in an interaction with Crk family proteins and the p85 regulatory subunit of PI3-Kinase, respectively. The interaction of Crk with KSHV-TK leads to tyrosine phoshorylation of this cellular adaptor. Auto-phosphorylation of KSHV-TK also induces a loss of FAK and paxillin from focal adhesions, resulting in activation of RhoA-ROCK signalling to myosin II and cell contraction. In the absence of FAK or paxillin, KSHV-TK has no effect on focal adhesion integrity or cell morphology. Our observations demonstrate that by acting as a tyrosine kinase, KSHV-TK modulates signalling and cell morphology.

Human herpesvirus 6 glycoprotein M is essential for virus growth and requires glycoprotein N for its maturation

Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) is a T-lymphotropic virus belonging to the betaherpesvirus family. Several HHV-6-encoded glycoproteins are required for cell entry and virion maturation. Glycoprotein M (gM) is conserved among all herpesviruses, and therefore thought to have important functions; however, the HHV-6 g has not been characterized. Here, we examined the expression of HHV-6 g, and examined its function in viral replication, using a mutant and revertant gM. HHV-6 g was expressed on virions as a glycoprotein modified with complex N-linked oligosaccharides. As in other herpesviruses, HHV-6 g formed a complex with glycoprotein N (gN), and was transported from the endoplasmic reticulum to the trans-Golgi network only when part of this complex. Finally, a gM mutant virus in which the gM start codon was destroyed was not reconstituted, although its revertant was, indicating that HHV-6 g is essential for virus production, unlike the gM of alphaherpesviruses.

Murid herpesvirus-4 exploits dendritic cells to infect B cells

Dendritic cells (DCs) play a central role in initiating immune responses. Some persistent viruses infect DCs and can disrupt their functions in vitro. However, these viruses remain strongly immunogenic in vivo. Thus what role DC infection plays in the pathogenesis of persistent infections is unclear. Here we show that a persistent, B cell-tropic gamma-herpesvirus, Murid Herpesvirus-4 (MuHV-4), infects DCs early after host entry, before it establishes a substantial infection of B cells. DC-specific virus marking by cre-lox recombination revealed that a significant fraction of the virus latent in B cells had passed through a DC, and a virus attenuated for replication in DCs was impaired in B cell colonization. In vitro MuHV-4 dramatically altered the DC cytoskeleton, suggesting that it manipulates DC migration and shape in order to spread. MuHV-4 therefore uses DCs to colonize B cells.

We detect invading viruses with dendritic cells and eliminate them with lymphocytes. A key interaction is lymphocyte activation by dendritic cells presenting viral antigens. Not all viruses can be eliminated, and some that persist deliberately colonize lymphocytes and dendritic cells, such that parasitism and host defence co-exist within the same sites. Once established, these infections are very hard to eliminate. Therefore to vaccinate against them we must determine how infection first occurs. Here we show that a gamma-herpesvirus relation of the Kaposi's Sarcoma-associated Herpesvirus and Epstein-Barr virus - B cell-tropic human pathogens that cause cancers - uses dendritic cells to reach and infect B lymphocytes. Dendritic cells were infected before B cells; viruses marked genetically in dendritic cells were recovered from B cells; and a virus unable to replicate in dendritic cells infected B cells poorly. Thus dendritic cells not only present viral antigens to lymphocytes, but can be exploited by evasive viruses to infect lymphocytes. Therefore targeting dendritic cell infection could be an effective means of vaccine-primed host defence.

A mechanistic basis for potent, glycoprotein B-directed gammaherpesvirus neutralization

Glycoprotein B (gB) is a conserved, essential component of gammaherpes virions and so potentially vulnerable to neutralization. However, few good gB-specific neutralizing antibodies have been identified. Here, we show that murid herpesvirus 4 is strongly neutralized by mAbs that recognize an epitope close to one of the gB fusion loops. Antibody binding did not stop gB interacting with its cellular ligands or initiating its fusion-associated conformation change, but did stop gB resolving stably to its post-fusion form, and so blocked membrane fusion to leave virions stranded in late endosomes. The conservation of gB makes this mechanism a possible general route to gammaherpesvirus neutralization.

Glycoprotein gene sequence variation in rhesus monkey rhadinovirus

Gene sequences for seven glycoproteins from 20 independent isolates of rhesus monkey rhadinovirus (RRV) and of the corresponding seven glycoprotein genes from nine strains of the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) were obtained and analyzed. Phylogenetic analysis revealed two discrete groupings of RRV gH sequences, two discrete groupings of RRV gL sequences and two discrete groupings of RRV gB sequences. We called these phylogenetic groupings gH(a), gH(b), gL(a), gL(b), gB(a) and gB(b). gH(a) was always paired with gL(a) and gH(b) was always paired with gL(b) for any individual RRV isolate. Since gH and gL are known to be interacting partners, these results suggest the need of matching sequence types for function of these cooperating proteins. gB phylogenetic grouping was not associated with gH/gL phylogenetic grouping. Our results demonstrate two distinct, distantly-related phylogenetic groupings of gH and gL of RRV despite a remarkable degree of sequence conservation within each individual phylogenetic group.

Murid herpesvirus-4 lacking thymidine kinase reveals route-dependent requirements for host colonization

Gammaherpesviruses infect at least 90 % of the world's population. Infection control is difficult, in part because some fundamental features of host colonization remain unknown, for example whether normal latency establishment requires viral lytic functions. Since human gammaherpesviruses have narrow species tropisms, answering such questions requires animal models. Murid herpesvirus-4 (MuHV-4) provides one of the most tractable. MuHV-4 genomes delivered to the lung or peritoneum persist without lytic replication. However, they fail to disseminate systemically, suggesting that the outcome is inoculation route-dependent. After upper respiratory tract inoculation, MuHV-4 infects mice without involving the lungs or peritoneum. We examined whether host entry by this less invasive route requires the viral thymidine kinase (TK), a gene classically essential for lytic replication in terminally differentiated cells. MuHV-4 TK knockouts delivered to the lung or peritoneum were attenuated but still reached lymphoid tissue. In contrast, TK knockouts delivered to the upper respiratory tract largely failed to establish a detectable infection. Therefore TK, and by implication lytic replication, is required for MuHV-4 to establish a significant infection by a non-invasive route.

Multiple functions for ORF75c in murid herpesvirus-4 infection

All gamma-herpesviruses encode at least one homolog of the cellular enzyme formyl-glycineamide-phosphoribosyl-amidotransferase. Murid herpesvirus-4 (MuHV-4) encodes 3 (ORFs 75a, 75b and 75c), suggesting that at least some copies have acquired new functions. Here we show that the corresponding proteins are all present in virions and localize to infected cell nuclei. Despite these common features, ORFs 75a and 75b did not substitute functionally for a lack of ORF75c, as ORF75c virus knockouts were severely impaired for lytic replication in vitro and for host colonization in vivo. They showed 2 defects: incoming capsids failed to migrate to the nuclear margin following membrane fusion, and genomes that did reach the nucleus failed to initiate normal gene expression. The latter defect was associated with a failure of in-coming virions to disassemble PML bodies. The capsid transport deficit seemed to be functionally more important, since ORF75c⁻ MuHV-4 infected both PML⁺ and PML⁻ cells poorly. The original host enzyme has therefore evolved into a set of distinct and multi-functional viral tegument proteins. One important function is moving incoming capsids to the nuclear margin for viral genome delivery.