Changes in metabolic and enzymatic activities of monkey kidney cells after infection with adenovirus 2

The early region 1B 55-kilodalton oncoprotein of adenovirus relieves growth restrictions imposed on viral replication by the cell cycle

The E1B 55-kDa oncoprotein of adenovirus enables the virus to overcome restrictions imposed on viral replication by the cell cycle. Approximately 20% of HeLa cells infected with an E1B 55-kDa mutant adenovirus produced virus when evaluated by electron microscopy or by assays for infectious centers. By contrast, all HeLa cells infected with a wild-type adenovirus produced virus. The yield of E1B mutant virus from randomly cycling HeLa cells correlated with the fraction of cells in S phase at the time of infection. In synchronously growing HeLa cells, approximately 75% of the cells infected during S phase with the E1B mutant virus produced virus, whereas only 10% of the cells infected during G1 produced virus. The yield of E1B mutant virus from HeLa cells infected during S phase was sevenfold greater than that of cells infected during G1 and threefold greater than that of cells infected during asynchronous growth. Cells infected during S phase with the E1B mutant virus exhibited severe cytopathic effects, whereas cells infected with the E1B mutant virus during G1 exhibited a mild cytopathic effect. Viral DNA synthesis appeared independent of the cell cycle because equivalent amounts of viral DNA were synthesized in cells infected with either wild-type or E1B mutant virus. The inability of the E1B mutant virus to replicate was not mediated by the status of p53. These results define a novel property of the large tumor antigen of adenovirus in relieving growth restrictions imposed on viral replication by the cell cycle.

Posttranscriptional control of DHFR gene expression during adenovirus 2 infection

The effects of productive adenovirus infection on host gene expression were studied by using a line of methotrexate-resistant HeLa cells with amplified dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) genes. We have previously reported that synthesis of DHFR is induced threefold early in infection and is shut off late in infection (Yoder et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 3:819-828, 1983). These changes in DHFR protein synthesis are accompanied by changes in both the steady-state cytoplasmic levels of DHFR mRNA and in the rate of appearance of DHFR mRNA in the cytoplasm. In this report, we examined the mechanism of nuclear control of DHFR mRNA levels. Transcription of DHFR-specific sequences continued at a constant rate throughout infection, representing 0.015% of the total transcriptional activity. In contrast, nuclear steady-state levels of DHFR sequences changed in correspondence to the changing rate of appearance of DHFR mRNA in the cytoplasm. That is, nuclear levels of DHFR-specific sequences rose 2.5-fold early in infection and declined to a level below that found in uninfected cells late in infection. Thus, the relative nuclear stability of DHFR sequences changed throughout the course of infection such that during the time of induction, DHFR sequences were preferentially stabilized. This stabilization was transient, however, and was no longer observed by the time of shutoff. These data indicate that posttranscriptional nuclear events are important in the regulation of DHFR gene expression by adenovirus.

Transient stimulation of deoxyribonucleic acid-dependent ribonucleic acid polymerase and histone acetylation in human embryonic kidney cultures infected with adenovirus 2 or 12: apparent induction of host ribonucleic acid synthesis

The synthesis of cell-specific ribonucleic acid (RNA) appeared to be stimulated in human embryonic kidney (HEK) cultures infected with adenovirus 2 or 12. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-RNA hybridization experiments revealed that by 44 to 70 hr after infection with either virus, the relative amount of pulse-labeled RNA capable of hybridizing with HEK cell DNA increased considerably; such RNA was detected in both nuclear and cytoplasmic fractions. The main increase in apparent host RNA synthesis was preceded by (i) a relatively early transient stimulation of the DNA-dependent RNA polymerase activity in isolated nuclei, and (ii) a small but consistently observed increase in the rate of acetylation of lysine-rich and arginine-rich histone fractions. The Mn(2+)-(NH(4))(2)SO(4) and Mg(2+)-activated RNA polymerase reactions measured in nuclei isolated from cells infected with adenovirus 2 or 12 were stimulated at about the same time; a rapid loss of polymerase activity followed. The augmentation of the two RNA polymerase reactions found in adenovirus 12-infected cells was independent of protein synthesis. After the initial increase, the acetylation rate of histones of cells infected with adenovirus 2 or 12 declined, until late in infection it was approximately 40 to 70% of the control cell rate.

Functional heterogeneity of virions in human adenovirus types 2 and 12

Purified preparations of adenovirus types 2 and 12 were used to infect KB cells at different input multiplicities. The resulting infected cultures were scored for inclusion body formation, production of infectious centers, and cloning efficiency. Both preparations were found to contain some defective particles capable of preventing a cell from cloning but unable to induce inclusion bodies or form plaques. The proportion of such defective particles in adenovirus 12 was about 10 times that in adenovirus 2. At high input multiplicities, the percentage of cells displaying an inclusion body was less than that predicted by the Poisson distribution and reached a maximum of 40 to 60% for adenovirus 2 and 12 to 15% for adenovirus 12. This reduction may be due to interference by large numbers of non-plaque-producing particles infecting each cell. The per cent of cells forming infectious centers was substantially greater for adenovirus 2 than for adenovirus 12 when compared at the same input plaque-forming units, reaching a maximum of 35 to 73% for adenovirus 2 and 5 to 10% for adenovirus 12. The low value for adenovirus 12 may be a result of the same interference phenomenon.

Enzyme induction in green monkey kidney cultures infected with simian adenovirus

Thymidine kinase was induced after infection of an established strain of green monkey kidney cells (CV-1) with simian adenovirus SV15. Increased levels of thymidine kinase were first observed 8 to 10 hr postinoculation (PI), and the levels increased four- to eightfold by 16 to 24 hr PI. A transient increase (1.5- to 3-fold) of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) polymerase activity was also observed about 18 hr PI, but the level of deoxycytidylic deaminase was not enhanced. The inductions of thymidine kinase and DNA polymerase were not obtained when protein synthesis was inhibited with 10(-5) M cycloheximide. However, the enzyme increases did take place when infected cultures were treated with 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine (ara-C), an inhibitor of DNA synthesis and SV15 replication. The incorporation of tritium-labeled thymidine (H(3)-dT) into DNA was also stimulated 8 to 24 hr after infection with SV15.