Replication of equine herpesvirus type I: resistance to hydroxyurea

Equine herpesvirus type 1 infected cell polypeptides: evidence for immediate early/early/late regulation of viral gene expression

EHV-1 polypeptide synthesis was examined in productively infected rabbit kidney and hamster embryo cells. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analyses of extracts from [35S]methionine- and 3H-amino acid-labeled-infected and mock-infected cultures revealed the presence of 30 infected cell-specific polypeptides (ICPs) which ranged in apparent molecular weights from 16.5K to 213K. Twenty-two of these ICPs comigrated with virion structural proteins. Four ICPs (203K, 176K, 151K, 129K) were detected in extracts of infected cultures labeled in the presence or absence of actinomycin D (Act D) immediately after release from a 4-hr treatment with cycloheximide (CH). These polypeptides, which were designated as EHV-1 immediate early (alpha) ICPs, were not detected in unblocked (non-CH-treated) infected cells. The most abundant ICP was a 31.5K nonstructural protein which, in addition to a 74K protein, was detected in unblocked infected cells at 2-3 hr postinfection. These proteins appeared to be regulated as early (beta) ICPs, since neither protein was observed in Act D-treated cultures released from CH block. Twelve ICPs were classified as late (gamma) polypeptides on the basis of their reduced synthesis in cultures in which viral DNA replication was inhibited by phosphonoacetic acid. All but one (40K) of these late ICPs corresponded to virion structural proteins.

Replication of herpes simplex virus type 1 on hydroxyurea-resistant baby hamster kidney cells

Hydroxyurea-resistant (HUr) baby hamster kidney cells were isolated, subcloned, and characterized. One clonal line, which contained elevated levels of ribonucleotide reductase, lost its HU resistance during passage in the absence of the inhibitor, whereas another clonal line was stably resistant. The replication of herpes simplex virus type 1 on these cells was compared with that of the parvovirus minute virus of mice. Herpes simplex virus type 1 was found to be as sensitive to HU on both lines of HUr baby hamster kidney cells as it was on parental (HU-sensitive) cells, whereas parvovirus replication was about eight times more resistant on HUr baby hamster kidney cells compared with the parental cells. The results suggest that herpes simplex virus type 1 cannot use the cellular reductase and may code for its own.

Effects of DNA synthesis inhibitors on early antigen expression following primary infection or superinfection by Epstein-Barr virus

Seven lymphoid cell lines previously characterized with respect to their resident Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genome content were infected or superinfected with concentrated EBV from supernatant of the P3HR-1 cell line. Immunofluorescence assays were conducted on smears 48 hours after infection, using human sera containing antibodies to EBV early antigen (EA). Two EBV nuclear antigen (EBNA) negative cell lines containing no detectable resident EBV DNA and five EBNA positive cell lines containing EBV genomes were tested. The cell lines did not spontaneously express EBV EA (i.e., they were non-producers). All cell lines responded to infection or superinfection with EBV by expressing EA. Treatment of the cell lines with arabinosylcytosine (Ara-C) 10 micrograms/ml, at the time of infection resulted in significant decreases in the number of cells expressing detectable EA after drug treatment in all cell lines (72 +/- 5 percent inhibition of EA expression). Experiments were also conducted with hydroxyurea (HU) and phosphonoacetic acid (PAA). It was found that treatment with HU (100 micrograms/ml) inhibited EA production in cell lines containing EBV genome copies by 81 percent as compared to the superinfected cultures receiving no drug. In primary infection of EBNA negative cell lines, HU had minimal effects. PAA (100 micrograms/ml), on the other hand, had very little effect on EA expression following superinfection of cell lines harboring the EBV genome, but reduced the EA expression after primary infection of EBNA negative cell lines by 70 to 80 percent. All drugs were used at concentrations having little effect on RNA and protein synthesis. However, HU and Ara-C significantly reduced DNA synthesis and cell division in the treated cultures.