Structural and functional analysis of the TAP-inhibiting UL49.5 proteins of varicelloviruses.

Viral infections are counteracted by virus-specific cytotoxic T cells that recognize the infected cell via MHC class I (MHC I) molecules presenting virus-derived peptides. The loading of the peptides onto MHC I molecules occurs in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and is facilitated by the peptide loading complex. A key player in this complex is the transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP), which translocates the viral peptides from the cytosol into the ER. Herpesviruses have developed many strategies to evade cytotoxic T cells. Several members of the genus Varicellovirus encode a UL49.5 protein that prevents peptide transport through TAP. These include bovine herpesvirus (BoHV) 1, BoHV-5, bubaline herpesvirus 1, cervid herpesvirus 1, pseudorabies virus, felid herpesvirus 1, and equine herpesvirus 1 and 4. BoHV-1 UL49.5 inhibits TAP by preventing conformational changes essential for peptide transport and by inducing degradation of the TAP complex. UL49.5 consists of an ER luminal N-terminal domain, a transmembrane domain and a cytosolic C-terminal tail domain. In this study, the following features of UL49.5 were deciphered: (1) chimeric constructs of BoHV-1 and VZV UL49.5 attribute the lack of TAP inhibition by VZV UL49.5 to its ER-luminal domain, (2) the ER-luminal and TM domains of UL49.5 are required for efficient interaction with and inhibition of TAP, (3) the C-terminal RXRX sequence is essential for TAP degradation by BoHV-1 UL49.5, and (4) in addition to the RXRX sequence, the cytoplasmic tail of BoHV-1 UL49.5 carries a motif that is required for efficient TAP inhibition by the protein. A model is presented depicting how the different domains of UL49.5 may block the translocation of peptides by TAP and target TAP for proteasomal degradation.

The simian varicella virus uracil DNA glycosylase and dUTPase genes are expressed in vivo, but are non-essential for replication in cell culture.

Neurotropic herpesviruses express viral deoxyuridine triphosphate nucleotidohydrolase (dUTPase) and uracil DNA glycosylase (UDG) enzymes which may reduce uracil misincorporation into viral DNA, particularly in neurons of infected ganglia. The simian varicella virus (SVV) dUTPase (ORF 8) and UDG (ORF 59) share 37.7% and 53.9% amino acid identity, respectively, with varicella-zoster virus (VZV) homologs. Infectious SVV mutants defective in either dUTPase (SVV-dUTPase(-)) or UDG (SVV-UDG(-)) activity or both (SVV-dUTPase(-)/UDG(-)) were constructed using recA assisted restriction endonuclease cleavage (RARE) and a cosmid recombination system. Loss of viral dUTPase and UDG enzymatic activity was confirmed in CV-1 cells infected with the SVV mutants. The SVV-dUTPase(-), SVV-UDG(-), and SVV-dUTPase(-)/UDG(-) mutants replicated as efficiently as wild-type SVV in cell culture. SVV dUTPase and UDG expression was detected in tissues derived from acutely infected animals, but not in tissues derived from latently infected animals. Further studies will evaluate the pathogenesis of SVV dUTPase and UDG mutants and their potential as varicella vaccines.

Characterization of caprine herpesvirus 1 glycoprotein D gene and its translation product.

Caprine herpesvirus 1 (CpHV-1) is responsible of systemic infection in neonatal kids as well as abortion and fertility disorders in adult goats. This virus is closely related to bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) which causes infectious bovine rhinotracheitis. Glycoprotein D (gD) mediates important functions in alphaherpesviruses and is also a main immunogen. The sequence of CpHV-1 gD gene and the biochemical properties of its translation product were analyzed and compared to those of BoHV-1 and other alphaherpesviruses. A relatively high homology was found between CpHV-1 and BoHV-1 glycoproteins D amino acid sequences (similarity of 68.8%). Moreover, six cysteine residues are conserved by CpHV-1 gD and the other studied alphaherpesviruses. CpHV-1 gD has a molecular mass similar to BoHV-1 gD and contains complex N-linked oligosaccharides. In contrast to the BoHV-1 gD, CpHV-1 gD is expressed as a late protein. In spite of the observed differences which could influence its biological functions, CpHV-1 gD shares most characteristics with other alphaherpesviruses and especially BoHV-1.

Sequence analysis of the leftward end of simian varicella virus (EcoRI-I fragment) reveals the presence of an 8-bp repeat flanking the unique long segment and an 881-bp open-reading frame that is absent in the varicella zoster virus genome.

Simian varicella virus (SVV) causes varicella (chickenpox) in nonhuman primates, becomes latent in cranial and dorsal root ganglia, and reactivates to produce zoster (shingles). Because the clinical and molecular features of SVV closely resemble those of varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection of humans, SVV infection of primates has served as an experimental model of VZV pathogenesis and latency. The SVV genome has been completely mapped, but attempts to clone the 3600-bp EcoRI fragment located at the leftward end of the virus genome have hitherto been unsuccessful. Herein, we report the cloning and the complete nucleotide sequence of this region. Comparison of the SVV and VZV sequences in this region revealed an 8-bp inverted repeat sequence flanking the unique long segment of the SVV genome; an 879-bp open-reading frame (ORF) A in SVV that is absent in VZV but has 42% amino acid identity to SVV ORF 4 and 49% to VZV ORF 4; a 342-bp ORF B in SVV with 35% amino acid identity to a 387-bp ORF located to the left of ORF 1 on the VZV genome; and a 303-bp ORF in SVV with 27% amino acid identity to VZV ORF 1. No homologue of VZV ORF 2 was detected. Transcripts specific for ORFs A and B were present in SVV-infected cells in culture and in acutely infected monkey ganglia. Overall, there are more than 2000 bp of DNA in the SVV genome that are absent in the VZV genome.

Comparative studies of the structural proteins and glycoproteins of equine herpesviruses 2 and 5.

The structural proteins of equine herpesvirus 2 (EHV-2) and EHV-5, recently shown to be gammaherpesviruses, were identified and compared. Labelled proteins and glycoproteins were separated by SDS-PAGE and although EHV-2 and EHV-5 had similar protein profiles, bands in some positions were virus-specific. Six glycoproteins, with distinct profiles, were identified for both EHV-2 and EHV-5. Rabbit antisera to EHV-2 and EHV-5 and horse antiserum to EHV-2 were used in radioimmunoprecipitations, Western blot analysis and ELISA to investigate the immunogenicity and cross-reactivity of virus proteins. These analyses revealed that while EHV-2 and EHV-5 proteins share many common epitopes, they also possess type-specific epitopes. A 0.71 kb region of the EHV-2 glycoprotein B (gB) gene was expressed as a fusion protein in Escherichia coli. Antiserum raised in a rabbit to the EHV-2 fusion protein was used to identify a 64K EHV-2 protein as EHV-2 gB. Antiserum to EHV-2 gB was used to identify a 66K EHV-5 protein as EHV-5 gB. These proteins, which may represent subunits of gB rather than the entire molecule, appear the most immunodominant of the structural virion proteins as identified by Western blot.