MORC3 represses the HCMV major immediate early promoter in myeloid cells in the absence of PML nuclear bodies

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) can undergo either a latent or a lytic infection in cells of the myeloid lineage. Whilst the molecular mechanisms which determine the outcome of infection are far from clear, it is well established that a key factor is the differential regulation of the major immediate early promoter (MIEP) responsible for driving lytic immediate early gene expression. Using a myelomonocytic cell line stably transduced with a GFP reporter under the control of the MIEP, which recapitulates MIEP regulation in the context of virus infection, we have used an unbiased CRISPR-Cas9 sub-genomic, epigenetic library screen to identify novel cellular factors involved in MIEP repression during establishment and maintenance of latency in myeloid cells. One such cellular factor identified was MORC3. Consistent with MORC3 being a robust repressor of the MIEP, we show that THP1 cells devoid of MORC3 fail to establish latency. We also show that MORC3 is induced during latent infection, recruited to the MIEP and forms MORC3 nuclear bodies (MORC3-NBs) which, interestingly, co-localize with viral genomes. Finally, we show that the latency-associated functions of MORC3 are regulated by the deSUMOylase activity of the viral latency-associated LUNA protein likely to prevent untimely HCMV reactivation.

Temporal dynamics of HCMV gene expression in lytic and latent infections

During productive human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection, viral genes are expressed in a coordinated cascade that conventionally relies on the dependencies of viral genes on protein synthesis and viral DNA replication. By contrast, the transcriptional landscape of HCMV latency is poorly understood. Here, we examine viral gene expression dynamics during the establishment of both productive and latent HCMV infections. We redefine HCMV gene expression kinetics during productive infection and reveal that viral gene regulation does not represent a simple sequential cascade; many viral genes are regulated by multiple independent modules. Using our improved gene expression classification combined with transcriptome-wide measurements of the effects of a wide array of epigenetic inhibitors on viral gene expression during latency, we show that a defining feature of latency is the unique repression of immediate-early (IE) genes. Altogether, we recharacterize HCMV gene expression kinetics and reveal governing principles of lytic and latent gene expression.

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Redefining HCMV gene expression cascade during productive infection

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Many viral genes are regulated by multiple independent modules

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Diverse inhibitors induce broad viral gene expression in monocytes

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In monocytes, immediate-early (IE) genes are repressed compared to all other HCMV genes

The complex biology of human cytomegalovirus latency

While many viral infections are limited and eventually resolved by the host immune response or by death of the host, other viruses establish long-term relationships with the host by way of a persistent infection, that range from chronic viruses that may be eventually cleared to those that establish life-long persistent or latent infection. Viruses infecting hosts from bacteria to humans establish quiescent infections that must be reactivated to produce progeny. For mammalian viruses, most notably herpesviruses, this quiescent maintenance of viral genomes in the absence of virus replication is referred to as latency. The latent strategy allows the virus to persist quiescently within a single host until conditions indicate a need to reactivate to reach a new host or, to re-seed a reservoir within the host. Here, I review common themes in viral strategies to regulate the latent cycle and reactivate from it ranging from bacteriophage to herpesviruses with a focus on human cytomegalovirus (HCMV). Themes central to herpesvirus latency include, epigenetic repression of viral gene expression and mechanisms to regulate host signaling and survival. Critical to the success of a latent program are mechanisms by which the virus can "sense" fluctuations in host biology (within the host) or environment (outside the host) and make appropriate "decisions" to maintain latency or re-initiate the replicative program. The signals or environments that indicate the establishment of a latent state, the very nature of the latent state, as well as the signals driving reactivation have been topics of intense study from bacteriophage to human viruses, as these questions encompass the height of complexity in virus-host interactions-where the host and the virus coexist.

Modulation of host cell signaling during cytomegalovirus latency and reactivation

Background

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) resides latently in cells of the myeloid compartment, including CD34+hematopoietic progenitor cells and circulating monocytes. Healthy hosts maintain the virus latently, and this infection is, for the most part, asymptomatic. However, given the proper external cues, HCMV reactivates from latency, at which point the virus disseminates, causing disease. The viral and cellular factors dictating the balance between these phases of infection are incompletely understood, though a large body of literature support a role for viral-mediated manipulation of host cell signaling.

Main body

To establish and maintain latency, HCMV has evolved various means by which it usurps host cell factors to alter the cellular environment to its own advantage, including altering host cell signaling cascades. As early as virus entry into myeloid cells, HCMV usurps cellular signaling to change the cellular milieu, and this regulation includes upregulation, as well as downregulation, of different signaling cascades. Indeed, given proper reactivation cues, this signaling is again altered to allow for transactivation of viral lytic genes.

Conclusions

HCMV modulation of host cell signaling is not binary, and many of the cellular pathways altered are finely regulated, wherein the slightest modification imparts profound changes to the cellular milieu. It is also evident that viral-mediated cell signaling differs not only between these phases of infection, but also is myeloid cell type specific. Nonetheless, understanding the exact pathways and the means by which HCMV mediates them will undoubtedly provide novel targets for therapeutic intervention.

Modulation of host cell signaling during cytomegalovirus latency and reactivation

Background

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) resides latently in cells of the myeloid compartment, including CD34⁺ hematopoietic progenitor cells and circulating monocytes. Healthy hosts maintain the virus latently, and this infection is, for the most part, asymptomatic. However, given the proper external cues, HCMV reactivates from latency, at which point the virus disseminates, causing disease. The viral and cellular factors dictating the balance between these phases of infection are incompletely understood, though a large body of literature support a role for viral-mediated manipulation of host cell signaling.

Main body

To establish and maintain latency, HCMV has evolved various means by which it usurps host cell factors to alter the cellular environment to its own advantage, including altering host cell signaling cascades. As early as virus entry into myeloid cells, HCMV usurps cellular signaling to change the cellular milieu, and this regulation includes upregulation, as well as downregulation, of different signaling cascades. Indeed, given proper reactivation cues, this signaling is again altered to allow for transactivation of viral lytic genes.

Conclusions

HCMV modulation of host cell signaling is not binary, and many of the cellular pathways altered are finely regulated, wherein the slightest modification imparts profound changes to the cellular milieu. It is also evident that viral-mediated cell signaling differs not only between these phases of infection, but also is myeloid cell type specific. Nonetheless, understanding the exact pathways and the means by which HCMV mediates them will undoubtedly provide novel targets for therapeutic intervention.

Control of Immediate Early Gene Expression for Human Cytomegalovirus Reactivation

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a beta herpesvirus that persists for life in the majority of the world's population. The persistence of HCMV in the human population is due to the exquisite ability of herpesviruses to establish a latent infection that evades elimination by the host immune response. How the virus moves into and out of the latent state has been an intense area of research focus and debate. The prevailing paradigm is that the major immediate early promoter (MIEP), which drives robust expression of the major immediate early (MIE) transactivators, is epigenetically silenced during the establishment of latency, and must be reactivated for the virus to exit latency and re-enter productive replication. While it is clear that the MIEP is silenced by the association of repressive chromatin remodeling factors and histone marks, the mechanisms by which HCMV de-represses MIE gene expression for reactivation are less well understood. We have identified alternative promoter elements within the MIE locus that drive a second or delayed phase of MIE gene expression during productive infection. In the context of reactivation in THP-1 macrophages and primary CD34+ human progenitor cells, MIE transcripts are predominantly derived from initiation at these alternative promoters. Here we review the mechanisms by which alternative viral promoters might tailor the control of viral gene expression and the corresponding pattern of infection to specific cell types. Alternative promoter control of the HCMV MIE locus increases versatility in the system and allows the virus to tightly repress viral gene expression for latency but retain the ability to sense and respond to cell type-specific host cues for reactivation of replication.

Expanding the Known Functional Repertoire of the Human Cytomegalovirus pp71 Protein

The human cytomegalovirus pp71 protein is packaged within the tegument of infectious virions and performs multiple functions in host cells to prime them for productive, lytic replication. Here we review the known and hypothesized functions of pp71 in regulating proteolysis, infection outcome (lytic or latent), histone deposition, transcription, translation, immune evasion, cell cycle progression, and pathogenesis. We also highlight recent advances in CMV-based vaccine candidates informed by an improved understanding of pp71 function.

HCMV latency: what regulates the regulators?

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) latency and reactivation is regulated by the chromatin structure at the major immediate early promoter (MIEP) within myeloid cells. Both cellular and viral factors are known to control this promoter during latency, here we will review the known mechanisms for MIEP regulation during latency. We will then focus on the virally encoded G-protein coupled receptor, US28, which suppresses the MIEP in early myeloid lineage cells. The importance of this function is underlined by the fact that US28 is essential for HCMV latency in CD34⁺ progenitor cells and CD14⁺ monocytes. We will describe cellular signalling pathways modulated by US28 to direct MIEP suppression during latency and demonstrate how US28 is able to ‘regulate the regulators’ of HCMV latency. Finally, we will describe how cell-surface US28 can be a target for antiviral therapies directed at the latent viral reservoir.

Navigating the Host Cell Response during Entry into Sites of Latent Cytomegalovirus Infection

The host cell represents a hostile environment that viruses must counter in order to establish infection. Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is no different and encodes a multitude of functions aimed at disabling, re-directing or hijacking cellular functions to promulgate infection. However, during the very early stages of infection the virus relies on the outcome of interactions between virion components, cell surface receptors and host signalling pathways to promote an environment that supports infection. In the context of latent infection—where the virus establishes an infection in an absence of many gene products specific for lytic infection—these initial interactions are crucial events. In this review, we will discuss key host responses triggered by viral infection and how, in turn, the virus ameliorates the impact on the establishment of non-lytic infections of cells. We will focus on strategies to evade intrinsic antiviral and innate immune responses and consider their impact on viral infection. Finally, we will consider the hypothesis that the very early events upon viral infection are important for dictating the outcome of infection and consider the possibility that events that occur during entry into non-permissive cells are unique and thus contribute to the establishment of latency.

Cellular defense against latent colonization foiled by human cytomegalovirus UL138 protein

Intrinsic immune defenses mediated by restriction factors inhibit productive viral infections. Select viruses rapidly establish latent infections and, with gene expression profiles that imply cell-autonomous intrinsic defenses, may be the most effective immune control measure against latent reservoirs. We illustrate that lysine-specific demethylases (KDMs) are restriction factors that prevent human cytomegalovirus from establishing latency by removing repressive epigenetic modifications from histones associated with the viral major immediate early promoter (MIEP), stimulating the expression of a viral lytic phase target of cell-mediated adaptive immunity. The viral UL138 protein negates this defense by preventing KDM association with the MIEP. The presence of an intrinsic defense against latency and the emergence of a cognate neutralizing viral factor indicate that "arms races" between hosts and viruses over lifelong colonization exist at the cellular level.

Contribution of the Major ND10 Proteins PML, hDaxx and Sp100 to the Regulation of Human Cytomegalovirus Latency and Lytic Replication in the Monocytic Cell Line THP-1

Promyelocytic leukemia nuclear bodies, also termed nuclear domain 10 (ND10), have emerged as nuclear protein accumulations mediating an intrinsic cellular defense against viral infections via chromatin-based mechanisms, however, their contribution to the control of herpesviral latency is still controversial. In this study, we utilized the monocytic cell line THP-1 as an in vitro latency model for human cytomegalovirus infection (HCMV). Characterization of THP-1 cells by immunofluorescence andWestern blot analysis confirmed the expression of all major ND10 components. THP-1 cells with a stable, individual knockdown of PML, hDaxx or Sp100 were generated. Importantly, depletion of the major ND10 proteins did not prevent the terminal cellular differentiation of THP-1 monocytes. After construction of a recombinant, endotheliotropic human cytomegalovirus expressing IE2-EYFP, we investigated whether the depletion of ND10 proteins affects the onset of viral IE gene expression. While after infection of differentiated, THP-1-derived macrophages as well as during differentiation-induced reactivation from latency an increase in the number of IE-expressing cells was readily detectable in the absence of the major ND10 proteins, no effect was observed in non-differentiated monocytes. We conclude that PML, hDaxx and Sp100 primarily act as cellular restriction factors during lytic HCMV replication and during the dynamic process of reactivation but do not serve as key determinants for the establishment of HCMV latency.

Viral and cellular subnuclear structures in human cytomegalovirus-infected cells

In human cytomegalovirus (HCMV)-infected cells, a dramatic remodelling of the nuclear architecture is linked to the creation, utilization and manipulation of subnuclear structures. This review outlines the involvement of several viral and cellular subnuclear structures in areas of HCMV replication and virus-host interaction that include viral transcription, viral DNA synthesis and the production of DNA-filled viral capsids. The structures discussed include those that promote or impede HCMV replication (such as viral replication compartments and promyelocytic leukaemia nuclear bodies, respectively) and those whose role in the infected cell is unclear (for example, nucleoli and nuclear speckles). Viral and cellular proteins associated with subnuclear structures are also discussed. The data reviewed here highlight advances in our understanding of HCMV biology and emphasize the complexity of HCMV replication and virus-host interactions in the nucleus.

Human cytomegalovirus infection of langerhans-type dendritic cells does not require the presence of the gH/gL/UL128-131A complex and is blocked after nuclear deposition of viral genomes in immature cells

Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) enters its host via the oral and genital mucosae. Langerhans-type dendritic cells (LC) are the most abundant innate immune cells at these sites, where they constitute a first line of defense against a variety of pathogens. We previously showed that immature LC (iLC) are remarkably resistant to CMV infection, while mature LC (mLC) are more permissive, particularly when exposed to clinical-strain-like strains of CMV, which display a pentameric complex consisting of the viral glycoproteins gH, gL, UL128, UL130, and UL131A on their envelope. This complex was recently shown to be required for the infection of immature monocyte-derived dendritic cells. We thus sought to establish if the presence of this complex is also necessary for virion penetration of LC and if defects in entry might be the source of iLC resistance to CMV. Here we report that the efficiency of LC infection is reduced, but not completely abolished, in the absence of the pentameric complex. While virion penetration and nuclear deposition of viral genomes are not impaired in iLC, the transcription of the viral immediate early genes UL122 and UL123 and of the delayed early gene UL50 is substantially lower than that in mLC. Together, these data show that the UL128, UL130, and UL131A proteins are dispensable for CMV entry into LC and that progression of the viral cycle in iLC is restricted at the step of viral gene expression.

Regulation of human cytomegalovirus transcription in latency: beyond the major immediate-early promoter

Lytic infection of differentiated cell types with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) results in the temporal expression of between 170–200 open reading frames (ORFs). A number of studies have demonstrated the temporal regulation of these ORFs and that this is orchestrated by both viral and cellular mechanisms associated with the co-ordinated recruitment of transcription complexes and, more recently, higher order chromatin structure. Importantly, HCMV, like all herpes viruses, establishes a lifelong latent infection of the host—one major site of latency being the undifferentiated haematopoietic progenitor cells resident in the bone marrow. Crucially, the establishment of latency is concomitant with the recruitment of cellular enzymes that promote extensive methylation of histones bound to the major immediate early promoter. As such, the repressive chromatin structure formed at the major immediate early promoter (MIEP) elicits inhibition of IE gene expression and is a major factor involved in maintenance of HCMV latency. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that a distinct subset of viral genes is also expressed during latency. In this review, we will discuss the mechanisms that control the expression of these latency-associated transcripts and illustrate that regulation of these latency-associated promoters is also subject to chromatin mediated regulation and that the instructive observations previously reported regarding the negative regulation of the MIEP during latency are paralleled in the regulation of latent gene expression.

Tale of a tegument transactivator: the past, present and future of human CMV pp71

Herpesviruses assemble large virions capable of delivering to a newly infected cell not only the viral genome, but also viral proteins packaged within the tegument layer between the DNA-containing capsid and the lipid envelope. In this review, we describe the tegument transactivator of the β-herpesvirus human CMV, the pp71 protein. We present the known mechanistic features through which it activates viral gene expression during a lytic infection but fails to do so when the virus establishes latency, and describe how pp71 stimulates the cell cycle and may help infected cells avoid detection by the adaptive immune system. A historical overview of pp71 is extended with current perceptions of its roles during human CMV infections and suggestions for future avenues of experimentation.

Chromatin-mediated regulation of cytomegalovirus gene expression

Following primary infection, whether Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) enters either the latent or lytic lifecycle is dependent on the phenotype of the cell type infected. Multiple cell types are permissive for lytic infection with HCMV whereas, in contrast, well characterized sites of latency are restricted to a very specific population of CD34+ cells resident in the bone marrow and the immature myeloid cells they give rise to. It is becoming increasingly clear that one of the mechanisms that promote HCMV latency involves the recruitment of histone proteins to the major immediate early promoter (MIEP) which are subject to post-translational modifications that promote a transcriptionally inactive state. Integral to this, is the role of cellular transcriptional repressors that interact with histone modifying enzymes that promote and maintain this repressed state during latency. Crucially, the chromatin associated with the MIEP is dynamically regulated-myeloid cell differentiation triggers the acetylation of histones bound to the MIEP which is concomitant with the reactivation of IE gene expression and re-entry into lytic infection. Interestingly, this dynamic regulation of the MIEP by chromatin structure in latency extends not only into lytic infection but also for the regulation of multiple viral promoters in all phases of infection. HCMV lytic infection is characterised by a timely and co-ordinated pattern of gene expression that now has been shown to correlate with active post-translational modification of the histones associated with early and late promoters. These effects are mediated by the major IE products (IE72 and IE86) which physically and functionally interact with histone modifying enzymes resulting in the efficient activation of viral gene expression. Thus chromatin appears to play an important role in gene regulation in all phases of infection. Furthermore, these studies are highly suggestive that an intrinsic cellular anti-viral response to incoming viral genomes is to promote chromatinisation into a transcriptionally repressed state which the virus must overcome to establish a lytic infection. What is becoming evident is that chromatin structure is becoming as increasingly important for the regulation of viral gene expression as it is for cellular gene expression and thus understanding the mechanisms employed by HCMV to modulate chromatin function could have broader implications on our understanding of the control of gene expression in general.

Nuclear localization of tegument-delivered pp71 in human cytomegalovirus-infected cells is facilitated by one or more factors present in terminally differentiated fibroblasts

Herpesviral virions contain a tegument layer that consists primarily of viral proteins. The delivery of fully functional proteins to infected cells upon virion envelope fusion to the plasma membrane allows herpesviruses to modulate cellular activities prior to viral gene expression. Certain tegument proteins can also regulate viral processes. For example, the pp71 tegument protein encoded by the UL82 gene of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) stimulates viral immediate early (IE) gene expression and thus acts to initiate the productive lytic infectious cycle. In terminally differentiated fibroblasts infected with HCMV, tegument-delivered pp71 traffics to the nucleus and degrades the cellular transcriptional corepressor Daxx to initiate viral IE gene expression and lytic replication. However, when HCMV infects incompletely differentiated cells, tegument-delivered pp71 remains in the cytoplasm, allowing the nucleus-localized Daxx protein to silence viral IE gene expression and promote the establishment of a latent infection in certain cell types. We sought to determine whether undifferentiated cells block the trafficking of tegument-delivered pp71 to the nucleus or whether differentiated cells facilitate the nuclear transport of tegument-delivered pp71. Heterogenous cell fusion experiments demonstrated that tegument-delivered pp71 found in the cytoplasm of undifferentiated NT2 cells could be driven into the nucleus by one or more factors provided by fully differentiated fibroblasts. Our data raise the intriguing possibility that latency is the default program launched by HCMV upon viral entry into cells and that lytic infection is initiated only in certain (differentiated) cells that can facilitate the delivery of incoming pp71 to the nucleus.

Human cytomegalovirus IE72 protein interacts with the transcriptional repressor hDaxx to regulate LUNA gene expression during lytic infection

A putative latency-associated transcript (LUNA) complementary to the human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) UL81-82 region previously identified in seropositive donors' monocytes is also expressed during lytic infection. Thus, the LUNA promoter is active during both lytic and latent infection. Consequently, the mechanisms regulating this promoter may provide further insight into factors that determine whether the outcome of HCMV infection is latent or lytic. By transfection, the LUNA promoter exhibited low but reproducible activity. Substantial activation by virus infection suggested that a viral factor was important for LUNA expression during lytic infection. IE72, a known transactivator of viral promoters, activated the LUNA promoter in cotransfection assays. Furthermore, coinfection with wild-type HCMV but not an IE72 deletion virus (CR208) also activated the LUNA promoter. Finally, diminished LUNA gene expression in CR208 virus-infected cells supported a role for IE72 in LUNA gene expression. The initial regulation of herpesvirus immediate-early gene expression is associated with proteins found at cellular nuclear domain 10 (ND10) bodies, such as PML, hDaxx, and ATRX. hDaxx transfection repressed LUNA promoter activity. Furthermore, we observed binding of hDaxx to the LUNA promoter, which was abrogated by IE72 gene expression via direct interaction. Finally, we show that small interfering RNA (siRNA) knockdown of the hDaxx interaction partner ATRX rescued LUNA gene expression in CR208-infected cells. Overall, these data show that hDaxx/ATRX-mediated repression of LUNA during lytic infection absolutely requires IE72 gene expression. It also suggests that the targeting of cellular factors by IE72 is important throughout the different phases of HCMV gene expression during productive infection.

Cellular and viral control over the initial events of human cytomegalovirus experimental latency in CD34+ cells

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) persists for the life of its host by establishing a latent infection. The identification of viral and cellular determinants of latency is the first step toward developing antiviral treatments that target and might clear or control the reservoir of latent virus. HCMV latency is established in CD34(+) cells when expression of viral immediate early (IE) proteins that initiate lytic infection is silenced. Viral IE gene expression during lytic infection is controlled by a cellular intrinsic immune defense mediated by promyelocytic leukemia nuclear body (PML-NB) proteins such as Daxx and histone deacetylases (HDACs). This defense is inactivated at the start of lytic infection by the HCMV virion tegument protein pp71, which upon viral entry traffics to the nucleus and induces Daxx degradation. Here we show that a similar defense is present, active, and not neutralized during experimental latency in CD34(+) cells infected in vitro because tegument-delivered pp71 remains in the cytoplasm. Artificial inactivation of this defense by HDAC inhibition or Daxx knockdown rescues viral IE gene expression upon infection of CD34(+) cells with a laboratory-adapted viral strain but not with clinical strains. Interestingly, coinfection of CD34(+) cells with clinical viral strains blocked the ability of an HDAC inhibitor to activate IE1 and early protein expression during infection with a laboratory-adapted strain. This suggests that in addition to the intrinsic defense, HCMV clinical strains contribute an HDAC-independent, trans-acting dominant means of control over viral gene expression during the early stages of experimental HCMV latency modeled in vitro in CD34(+) cells.

Interplay between Herpesvirus Infection and Host Defense by PML Nuclear Bodies

In recent studies we and others have identified the cellular proteins PML, hDaxx, and Sp100, which form a subnuclear structure known as nuclear domain 10 (ND10) or PML nuclear bodies (PML-NBs), as host restriction factors that counteract herpesviral infections by inhibiting viral replication at different stages. The antiviral function of ND10, however, is antagonized by viral regulatory proteins (e.g., ICP0 of herpes simplex virus; IE1 of human cytomegalovirus) which induce either a modification or disruption of ND10. This review will summarize the current knowledge on how viral replication is inhibited by ND10 proteins. Furthermore, herpesviral strategies to defeat this host defense mechanism are discussed.

Lytic infection of permissive cells with human cytomegalovirus is regulated by an intrinsic 'pre-immediate-early' repression of viral gene expression mediated by histone post-translational modification

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) lytic gene expression occurs in a regulated cascade, initiated by expression of the viral major immediate-early (IE) proteins. Transcribed from the major IE promoter (MIEP), the major IE genes regulate viral early and late gene expression. This study found that a substantial proportion of infecting viral genomes became associated with histones immediately upon infection of permissive fibroblasts at low m.o.i. and these histones bore markers of repressed chromatin. As infection progressed, however, the viral MIEP became associated with histone marks, which correlate with the known transcriptional activity of the MIEP at IE time points. Interestingly, this chromatin-mediated repression of the MIEP at 'pre-IE' times of infection could be overcome by inhibition of histone deacetylases, as well as by infection at high m.o.i., and resulted in a temporal advance of the infection cycle by inducing premature viral early and late gene expression and DNA replication. As well as the MIEP, and consistent with previous observations, the viral early and late promoters were also initially associated with repressive chromatin. However, changes in histone modifications around these promoters also occurred as infection progressed, and this correlated with the known temporal regulation of the viral early and late gene expression cascade. These data argue that the chromatin structure of all classes of viral genes are initially repressed on infection of permissive cells and that the chromatin structure of HCMV gene promoters plays an important role in regulating the time course of viral gene expression during lytic infection.

Human cytomegalovirus protein pp71 induces Daxx SUMOylation

Proteins that participate in a diverse array of cellular processes can be modified covalently and reversibly on lysine residues by the small ubiquitin-like modifier proteins termed SUMOs. In some instances, such modification profoundly affects protein function, but the biological significance of many SUMOylation events remains unknown. Protein SUMOylation is modulated during many viral infections. Here we demonstrate that the human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) pp71 protein promotes the SUMOylation of its cellular substrate, Daxx. A component of promyelocytic leukemia nuclear bodies, Daxx is a transcriptional corepressor that silences the expression of viral immediate-early (IE) genes at the start of both lytic and quiescent HCMV infections. pp71 is a tegument component delivered directly to cells by infecting HCMV virions. At the start of lytic infections, it travels to the nucleus and stimulates viral IE gene expression by displacing the chromatin remodeling protein ATRX from Daxx and by mediating Daxx degradation through a rare ubiquitin-independent, proteasome-dependent process. Here we report that pp71 also substantially increases the basal level of SUMOylated Daxx observed in cells. To date, consequences of Daxx SUMOylation have not been observed for cellular promoters, and we detected no qualitative change in viral IE gene expression in the absence of pp71-induced Daxx SUMOylation. Thus, while pp71 enhances the basal level of SUMOylated Daxx, the role that this modification plays in regulating Daxx activity in uninfected or HCMV-infected cells remains an enigma.

Roles of polypyrimidine tract binding proteins in major immediate-early gene expression and viral replication of human cytomegalovirus

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), a member of the beta subgroup of the family Herpesviridae, causes serious health problems worldwide. HCMV gene expression in host cells is a well-defined sequential process: immediate-early (IE) gene expression, early-gene expression, DNA replication, and late-gene expression. The most abundant IE gene, major IE (MIE) gene pre-mRNA, needs to be spliced before being exported to the cytoplasm for translation. In this study, the regulation of MIE gene splicing was investigated; in so doing, we found that polypyrimidine tract binding proteins (PTBs) strongly repressed MIE gene production in cotransfection assays. In addition, we discovered that the repressive effects of PTB could be rescued by splicing factor U2AF. Taken together, the results suggest that PTBs inhibit MIE gene splicing by competing with U2AF65 for binding to the polypyrimidine tract in pre-mRNA. In intron deletion mutation assays and RNA detection experiments (reverse transcription [RT]-PCR and real-time RT-PCR), we further observed that PTBs target all the introns of the MIE gene, especially intron 2, and affect gene splicing, which was reflected in the variation in the ratio of pre-mRNA to mRNA. Using transfection assays, we demonstrated that PTB knockdown cells induce a higher degree of MIE gene splicing/expression. Consistently, HCMV can produce more viral proteins and viral particles in PTB knockdown cells after infection. We conclude that PTB inhibits HCMV replication by interfering with MIE gene splicing through competition with U2AF for binding to the polypyrimidine tract in MIE gene introns.

Insertion of an EYFP-pp71 (UL82) coding sequence into the human cytomegalovirus genome results in a recombinant virus with enhanced viral growth

The human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) UL82-encoded tegument protein pp71 has recently been shown to activate viral immediate-early (IE) gene expression by neutralizing a cellular intrinsic immune defense instituted by the ND10 protein hDaxx. Pp71 localizes to ND10 upon infection and induces the degradation of hDaxx. Here, we report the successful generation of a recombinant HCMV expressing enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (EYFP) fused to the N terminus of pp71. Intriguingly, insertion of the EYFP-UL82 coding sequence into the HCMV AD169 genome gave rise to a recombinant virus, termed AD169/EYFP-pp71, that replicates to significantly higher titers than wild-type AD169. In particular, we noticed strongly increased protein levels of pp71 after AD169/EYFP-pp71 inoculation. Although the high abundance of pp71 resulted in augmented packaging of the tegument protein into viral particles, no increased hDaxx degradation was detectable upon AD169/EYFP-pp71 infection. In contrast, further investigation revealed a significantly enhanced viral DNA replication compared to wild-type AD169. Thus, we hypothesize that an as-yet-unidentified function of pp71 contributes to the enhanced infectivity of AD169/EYFP-pp71. This assumption is additionally supported by the observation that increased early and late gene expression after AD169/EYFP-pp71 infection occurs independent of elevated IE protein levels. Finally, immunofluorescence analyses confirmed that hDaxx determines the ND10-localization of pp71 upon infection, since pp71 exhibited a nucleolar distribution in the absence of hDaxx. Taken together, we generated a recombinant HCMV that constitutes a useful tool not only to dissect the in vivo dynamics of pp71 subnuclear localization more precisely but also to explore new features of this viral transactivator.

New insights into the role of the subnuclear structure ND10 for viral infection

Nuclear domains 10 (ND10), alternatively termed PML nuclear bodies (PML-NBs) or PML oncogenic domains (PODs), have been discovered approximately 15 years ago as a nuclear substructure that is targeted by a variety of viruses belonging to different viral families. This review will summarize the most important structural and functional characteristics of ND10 and its major protein constituents followed by a discussion of the current view regarding the role of this subnuclear structure for various DNA and RNA viruses with an emphasis on herpesviruses. It is concluded that accumulating evidence argues for an involvement of ND10 in host antiviral defenses either via mediating an intrinsic immune response against specific viruses or via acting as a component of the cellular interferon pathway.

Role of the cytomegalovirus major immediate early enhancer in acute infection and reactivation from latency

The cytomegalovirus (CMV) major immediate early (MIE) enhancer-containing promoter regulates the expression of the downstream MIE genes, which have critical roles in reactivation from latency and acute infection. The enhancer consists of binding sites for cellular transcription factors that are repeated multiple times. The primate and nonprimate CMV enhancers can substitute for one another. The enhancers are not functionally equivalent, but they do have overlapping activities. The CMV MIE enhancers are located between divergent promoters where the leftward genes are critical and essential for reactivation from latency and acute infection and the rightward gene is nonessential. The rightward transcription unit is controlled by an enhancer for murine CMV. In contrast, human CMV has a set of repressor elements that prevents enhancer effects on the rightward viral promoter. The human CMV enhancer that controls the leftward transcription unit has a distal component that is nonessential at high multiplicity of infection (MOI), but has a significant impact on the MIE gene expression at low MOI. The proximal enhancer influences directly the level of transcription of the MIE genes and contains an essential Sp-1 site. The MIE promoter has a site adjacent to the transcription start site that is essential at the earliest stage of infection. The MIE enhancer-containing promoter responds to signal transduction events and to cellular differentiation. The role of the CMV MIE enhancer-containing promoter in acute infection and reactivation from latency are reviewed.

Promyelocytic leukemia-nuclear body proteins: herpesvirus enemies, accomplices, or both?

The promyelocytic leukemia (PML) protein gathers other cellular proteins, such as Daxx and Sp100, to form subnuclear structures termed PML-nuclear bodies (PML-NBs) or ND10 domains. Many infecting viral genomes localize to PML-NBs, leading to speculation that these structures may represent the most efficient subnuclear location for viral replication. Conversely, many viral proteins modify or disrupt PML-NBs, suggesting that viral replication may be more efficient in the absence of these structures. Thus, a debate remains as to whether PML-NBs inhibit or enhance viral replication. Here we review and discuss recent data indicating that for herpesviruses, PML-NB proteins inhibit viral replication in cell types where productive, lytic replication occurs, while at the same time may enhance the establishment of lifelong latent infections in other cell types.