Inhibition of protein synthesis by vaccinia virus. I. Characterization of an inhibited cell-free protein-synthesizing system from infected cells

Characterization of small nontranslated polyadenylylated RNAs in vaccinia virus-infected cells

Host protein synthesis is selectively inhibited in vaccinia virus-infected cells. This inhibition has been associated with the production of a group of small, nontranslated, polyadenylylated RNAs (POLADS) produced during the early part of virus infection. The inhibitory function of POLADS is associated with the poly(A) tail of these small RNAs. To determine the origin of the 5'-ends of POLADS, reverse transcription was performed with POLADS isolated from VV-infected cells at 1 hr and 3.5 hr post infection. The cDNAs of these POLADS were cloned into plasmids (pBS or pBluescript II KS +/-), and their nucleotide composition was determined by DNA sequencing. The results of this investigation show the following: There is no specific gene encoding for POLADS. The 5' ends of POLADS may be derived from either viral or cellular RNAs. Any RNA sequence including tRNAs, small nuclear RNAs and 5'ends of mRNAs can become POLADS if they acquire a poly(A) tail at their 3' ends during infection. This nonspecific polyadenylylation found in vaccinia virus-infected cells is probably conducted by vaccinia virus poly(A)+ polymerase. No consensus sequence is found on the 5' ends of POLADS for polyadenylylation. The 5' ends of POLADS have no direct role in their inhibitory activity of protein synthesis.

Mechanism of selective translation of vaccinia virus mRNAs: differential role of poly(A) and initiation factors in the translation of viral and cellular mRNAs

We have recently demonstrated that the poly(A) moieties of short RNAs obtained from both in vitro transcription and from vaccinia virus (VV)-infected cells exhibit dissimilar effects on the in vitro translation of cellular and VV mRNAs (R. Bablanian, G. Coppola, P. Masters, and A. K. Banerjee, Virology 148:375-380, 1986; M. J. Su and R. Bablanian, Virology 179:679-693, 1990). In the present study, we have investigated the roles of poly(A), m7GTP, and initiation factors in the mechanism of selective translation of VV mRNAs. The effects of unfractionated poly(A) [termed poly(A)un, with various chain lengths up to 3,000 nucleotides] and a 150- to 300-nucleotide fraction of synthetic poly(A) [termed poly(A)150-300] on the translation of HeLa cell mRNAs and early and late VV mRNAs were studied. Both the poly(A)un and the poly(A)150-300 completely inhibited the translation of HeLa cell mRNAs obtained from total cytoplasmic RNA in the nuclease-treated reticulocyte lysates. Viral mRNAs from total cytoplasmic RNA also were slightly inhibited (15 to 38%) by the poly(A)un, whereas the poly(A)150-300 had no significant effect on their translation. The translation of oligo(dT)-cellulose-selected HeLa mRNAs was as sensitive to inhibition by poly(A)150-300 as the mRNAs found in total cytoplasmic RNA. However, the translations of oligo(dT)-cellulose-selected viral mRNAs become more sensitive to the inhibitory effect of poly(A)150-300 than the translations of viral mRNAs found in the total cytoplasmic RNA. Both HeLa and VV mRNAs became more resistant to the poly(A)-mediated inhibition when these mRNAs were deadenylated, but the relative resistance to inhibition by poly(A)150-300 of deadenylated VV mRNAs was much greater than that of HeLa cell mRNAs. The translation of VV mRNAs was significantly less inhibited than the translation of HeLa mRNAs when the cap analog, m7GTP, was added to the cell-free system. The inhibition of HeLa cell mRNA translation by both poly(A)un and poly(A)150-300 was completely restored when poly(A)-binding protein (PAB) was added to the cell-free translational system. The addition of eukaryotic initiation factor 4A (eIF-4A) did not restore translation when poly(A)un was used to inhibit translation; however, inhibition by poly(A)150-300 was significantly reversed by this initiation factor. The reversal of poly (A)-mediated inhibition of HeLa cell mRNA translation was additive when PAB was used together with eIF-4A. Early VV mRNA translation was only slightly inhibited by poly(A)un (15%), and this inhibition was completely reversed by either PAB or eIF-4A.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Polyadenylated RNA sequences from vaccinia virus-infected cells selectively inhibit translation in a cell-free system: structural properties and mechanism of inhibition

The mechanism of vaccinia virus-induced selective inhibition of host cell protein synthesis was studied in a nonpermissive (Chinese hamster ovary, CHO) and in a permissive mouse cell line ( L cells). Small polyadenylated RNAs obtained from uninfected and infected cells were fractionated into six size classes by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The RNAs from the first two largest fractions (greater than 500 nucleotide, nt) were translated into some low-molecular-weight polypeptides, whereas, the RNAs from the remaining fractions (400-500, 300-400, 200-300, and 100-200 nt) had no translational activity in reticulocyte lysates. When these nontranslating polyadenylated short sequences (POLADS) were added to the cell-free system together with HeLa cell mRNAs, translation was inhibited from 70%, by the 400- to 500-nt fraction, to about 20%, by the 100- to 200-nt fraction. The degree of inhibition of protein synthesis was clearly dependent on the size of POLADS. The translation of vaccinia virus mRNAs in the cell-free system was inhibited by about 25% with the 400- to 500-nt fraction, by 5% with the 300- to 400-nt fraction, while the smaller size POLADS had no inhibitory effect. The inhibition of HeLa cell and vaccinia virus mRNA translation by POLADS was reversed by the simultaneous addition of oligo(dT) to the cell-free system. POLADS were also obtained from uninfected cells, but they inhibited the translation of HeLa cell and vaccinia virus mRNAs to a much lesser extent. The removal of the poly(A) moiety from POLADS by treatment with ribonuclease H and oligo(dT) abolished their inhibitory effect on HeLa cell mRNA translation. The average length of the poly(A) tails of POLADS obtained from infected cells was longer than that of POLADS from normal cells. Inhibition of HeLa cell mRNA translation mediated by POLADS in the cell-free system was reversed (approximately 70%) by addition of crude initiation factors (ribosomal salt wash, RSW). Significantly, inhibition of translation of POLADS was reversed (greater than 90%) by addition of purified poly(A) binding protein (PAB). Purified initiation factor 4A (eIF-4A) also reversed this inhibition, but to a lesser extent than RSW and PAB. Our results show that the translation of vaccinia virus mRNAs is resistant to POLADS, suggesting that POLADS, by virtue of their long poly(A) tails, may sequester PAB and thus, play a role in selective inhibition.

Vaccinia-mediated rescue of encephalomyocarditis virus from the inhibitory effects of interferon

Coinfection of mouse L cells with vaccinia virus rescues encephalomyocarditis virus (EMC) from the inhibitory effect of interferon (IFN). The vaccinia-mediated rescue of EMC growth increases the yield of EMC as much as 1000-fold and is optimum when vaccinia is used at a multiplicity of infection of 1. This rescue correlates with a vaccinia-dependent stimulation of EMC gene expression. Evidence is presented to indicate that the rescue by vaccinia does not involve a block of the 2'-5'A synthetase pathway. However, the vaccinia rescue function is correlated with a vaccinia-mediated inhibition of the IFN-induced protein kinase.

Poly(riboadenylic acid) preferentially inhibits in vitro translation of cellular mRNAs compared with vaccinia virus mRNAs: possible role in vaccinia virus cytopathology

Vaccinia virus-induced inhibition of host protein synthesis seems to be mediated by viral transcripts based on their differential inhibition of cellular mRNA translation in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate system. In this study, we demonstrated that the removal of poly(riboadenylic acid) [poly(A)] from the in vitro viral transcripts abolished this inhibition in the same cell-free system. This observation led us to the finding that less than 1 microM poly(A) completely inhibited HeLa cell mRNA translation in the reticulocyte lysate, whereas only 50% inhibition of vaccinia virus mRNA translation was observed at the same concentration. Similar results were also obtained in a wheat germ protein-synthesizing system. This inhibitory effect of poly(A) was totally abrogated by the addition of polydeoxythymidylate. This selective inhibition was highly specific for poly(A) since other homopolymers, including poly(G), poly(C), and poly(dA), were not capable of causing such an inhibition. Poly(U), however, had a moderate selective inhibitory effect. Among the several mRNAs tested, the translation of L-cell, encephalomyocarditis virus, and reovirus RNAs was also sensitive to poly(A). However, vesicular stomatitis virus mRNA translation was strikingly more resistant. These results suggest that poly(A), which is also synthesized by the virion-associated poly(A) polymerase may be involved in vaccinia virus-mediated host cell shutoff.

Vaccinia rescue of VSV from interferon-induced resistance: reversal of translation block and inhibition of protein kinase activity

Coinfection with vaccinia virus rescues vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) from the inhibitory effects of interferon (IFN) in mouse L cells. While vaccinia infection does not significantly affect VSV RNA synthesis, coinfection with vaccinia dramatically increases VSV protein synthesis in IFN-treated cells. Evidence is provided that vaccinia inhibits the activity of the IFN-induced dsRNA-dependent protein kinase.

The white pock mutants of rabbit poxvirus: V. In vitro translation of early host range mutant mRNA

The abortive infections of pig kidney (PK) cells by both RP mu hr23 and RP mu hr31, two early (DNA minus) white pock (mu) host range (hr) mutants of rabbit poxvirus (RPV), are characterized by the in vivo inhibition of both host and viral protein synthesis by 10 hr postinfection although viral RNA synthesis continues. Further analysis reveals that large quantities of functional viral mRNA can be isolated from PK cells abortively infected with RP mu hr23 and translated in vitro throughout the 10-hr period of infection, even though these mRNAs are almost totally inactive in vivo. The in vitro translation of accumulated mRNA isolated from PK cells abortively infected by RP mu hr31 shows a quite different pattern where the maximum amount of RNA translatable in vitro is found at 6 hr postinfection with lesser amounts at 10 hr postinfection. Although early or prereplicative viral proteins are detected with each mutant both in vivo and after in vitro translation of isolated RNA, few, if any, late proteins are observed under any conditions.

Discriminatory inhibition of protein synthesis in cell-free systems by vaccinia virus transcripts

The effect of vaccinia virus early transcripts on cellular (globin, HeLa, Chinese hamster ovary) and viral (vaccinia, encephalomyocarditis) mRNA function was studied in reticulocyte and wheat germ cell-free protein-synthesizing systems. Vaccinia virus transcripts of two size classes (8-10 S and 4-7 S), generated in vitro by viral cores, inhibited function of cellular and encephalomyocarditis virus mRNA but not that of vaccinia virus in reticulocyte lysate systems. Mild alkaline hydrolysis or micrococcal nuclease treatment of vaccinia virus in vitro transcripts resulted in a loss of their ability to inhibit protein synthesis directed by HeLa cell RNA. Vaccinia virus in vitro transcripts also selectively inhibited HeLa cell protein synthesis in wheat germ systems, suggesting that double-stranded RNA is not involved in this inhibition of protein synthesis. The addition, to the reticulocyte translating system, of cytoplasmic RNA obtained from infected cells in conjunction with cellular mRNA (globin, HeLa) resulted in the inhibition of synthesis of the globin or HeLa polypeptides with little or no effect on the translation of the vaccinia virus proteins. RNA extracted from vaccinia virions inhibited cellular but not vaccinia virus mRNA function when added to the reticulocyte lysate systems with uninfected or infected HeLa cell cytoplasmic RNA.

Expression of vaccinia virus early mRNA in Ehrlich ascites tumor cells. 1. Translation of cellular and viral early mRNA in cell-free systems from uninfected and virus-infected cells at the early stage

Translation of cellular and early vaccinia RNA in nuclease-treated lysates, derived from uninfected and vaccinia-virus-infected cells at the early stage, has been investigated. When using limiting amounts of RNA no discrimination of translation was observed in the infected cells lysates; this conclusion was confirmed by sensitive RNA competition experiments for translation in vitro and also when using two different fractionated systems for protein synthesis in vitro. This absence of detectable discrimination in vitro was established both by comparing incorporation of [35S]methionine into proteins and by analysis of the products thus synthesized by sodium dodecylsulfate gel electrophoresis. However, a modification of the translational machinery from vaccinia-virus-infected cells did occur since the only the ribosomal salt wash derived from infected cells was able to reverse the inhibition of protein synthesis in vitro resulting from excess RNA (control or early). This property of vaccinia-virus-infected cell lysates may result from the synthesis l machinery from vaccinia-virus-infected cells did occur since the only the ribosomal salt wash derived from infected cells was able to reverse the inhibition of protein synthesis in vitro resulting from excess RNA (control or early). This property of vaccinia-virus-infected cell lysates may result from the synthesis l machinery from vaccinia-virus-infected cells did occur since the only the ribosomal salt wash derived from infected cells was able to reverse the inhibition of protein synthesis in vitro resulting from excess RNA (control or early). This property of vaccinia-virus-infected cell lysates may result from the synthesis of an early protein involved in translation or from a better recovery of translational factors from the infected cells, as suggested in the accompanying paper.

Regulation of protein synthesis in vesicular stomatitis virus-infected mouse L-929 cells by decreased protein synthesis initiation factor 2 activity

Infection of mouse L-cell spinner cultures by vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) effected the selective translation of viral mRNA by 4h after viral adsorption. Cell-free systems prepared from mock- and VSV-infected cells reflected this phenomenon; protein synthesis was reduced in the virus-infected cell lysate by approximately 75% compared with the mock-infected (control) lysate. This effect appeared to be specific to protein synthesis initiation since (i) methionine incorporation into protein from an exogenous preparation of initiator methionyl-tRNA gave completely analogous results and (ii) the addition of a ribosomal salt wash (containing protein synthesis initiation factors) stimulated protein synthesis by the infected cell lysate but had no effect on protein synthesis by the control. Micrococcal nuclease-treated (initiation-dependent) VSV-infected cell lysates were not able to translate L-cell mRNA unless they were supplemented with a ribosomal salt wash; a salt wash from ribosomes from uninfected cells effected a quicker recovery than a salt wash from ribosomes from infected cells. When salt wash preparations from ribosomes from uninfected and infected cells were tested for initiation factor 2 (eIF-2)-dependent ternary complex capacity with added GTP and initiator methionyl-tRNA, we found that the two preparations contained equivalent levels of eIF-2. However, initiation complex formation by the factor from virus-infected cells proceeded at a reduced initial rate compared with the control. When the lysates were supplemented with a partially purified eIF-2 preparation, recovery of activity by the infected cell lysate was observed. Mechanisms by which downward regulation of eIF-2 activity might direct the selective translation of viral mRNA in VSV-infected cells are proposed.

Inhibition of 40S--Met--tRNAfMet ribosomal initiation complex formation by vaccinia virus

Infection with vaccinia virus (a poxvirus) quickly and efficiently shuts off host protein synthesis in the presence of actinomycin D (refs 3--5) or cycloheximide. The cellular messenger RNA apparently remains stable in the infected cells exposed to inhibitors of viral gene transcription. In some cases vaccinia viral RNA or poly(A) synthesis have been implicated in the establishment of this effect. However, in the presence of cordycepin (3-deoxyadenosine) which blocks viral gene transcription and cytoplasmic poly(A) synthesis, cellular protein synthesis is still efficiently inhibited in vaccinia virus-infected cells. This shutoff is also observed in vitro, in the corresponding cell-free extracts, and in a reticulocyte lysate. Therefore the shutoff of host protein synthesis is probably mediated by a factor associated with vaccinia virions. We now report that the formation of the 40S--Met-tRNAfMet initiation complex is inhibited in cytoplasmic extracts derived from vaccinia virus-infected cells exposed to cordycepin to block viral gene expression. A similar inhibition is found in reticulocyte lysates incubated with purified vaccinia cores, confirming the hypothesis that the factor associated with the viral cores is responsible for the inhibition observed in vaccinia virus-infected cells exposed to inhibitors of transcription.