Mutant of vesicular stomatitis virus which allows deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis and division in cells synthesizing viral ribonucleic acid

Different host-cell shutoff strategies related to the matrix protein lead to persistence of vesicular stomatitis virus mutants on fibroblast cells

Acute infection of fibroblastic cell lines by the Indiana strain of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) usually induces dramatic cytopathic effects and shutoff of cellular gene expression. We have compared a series of independent mutants with differences in shutoff induction and found that M was mutated either in the N-terminus (M(51)R) or C-terminus (V(221)F and S(226)R). Furthermore, only double mutants (M mutation and a ts mutation related or not to M) were able to persist on fibroblast cell lines at 39 degrees C. A more detailed investigation of the infection was performed for the mutants T1026, TP3 and G31, differing in their host shutoff effects related to M protein. Viral activity in persistently infected mouse L-929 and monkey Vero cell lines was followed by viral proteins detection, RNA synthesis throughout infection and finally detection of infectious particles. All three mutants cause extensive CPE followed by emergence of persistently infected cells on Vero cells. The same thing is seen on L-929 cells except for T1026 which causes little CPE. Taken together, the results form a basis of further studies to clarify how various viral and cellular factors interact in the establishment of a persistent infection by VSV mutants.

Homotypic and heterotypic exclusion of vesicular stomatitis virus replication by high levels of recombinant polymerase protein L

The recombinant polymerase protein L of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) expressed in COS cells is able to transcribe and replicate the viral genome, resulting in complementation of temperature-sensitive polymerase mutants of VSV at the restrictive temperature (M. Schubert, G. G. Harmison, C. D. Richardson, and E. Meier, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 82:7984-7988, 1985). Here we report that the efficiency of complementation is dependent on the level of L protein expression. Unexpectedly, only cells expressing low levels of recombinant L protein efficiently complemented tsL gene mutants, whereas cells with high levels of L protein did not. In fact, in all cells with high levels of L protein expression, which at 40 h posttransfection represented almost the total number of transfected cells, viral replication not only of the temperature-sensitive mutant but also of wild-type VSV was excluded. The inhibition of VSV appeared to occur at an early stage of the infectious cycle, and wild-type virus of the same serotype (Indiana) as the recombinant L protein as well as wild-type virus of a different serotype (New Jersey) was affected. Measles virus, on the other hand, was not arrested in cells with high levels of recombinant L protein, demonstrating that these cells were still capable of supporting a viral infection. The expression of high levels of only the amino-terminal half of the L protein from a recombinant mutant L gene that contains a small out-of-frame deletion in the middle of the L gene did not inhibit a VSV infection. Since the level of amplification for both L- and truncated L-encoding vectors is similar, we conclude that the arrest of VSV was caused by high levels of functional full-length L protein itself and not by high levels of vector-encoded L mRNA or other vector products or by side effects of vector amplification. These data strongly support the idea that the highly conserved gene order of nonsegmented negative-strand viruses and the sequential and attenuated mode of transcription are important regulatory elements which balance the intracellular concentration of viral proteins. They both assure that the L gene is the last and the least frequently transcribed gene, giving rise to low levels of L protein necessary for efficient replication.

Vesicular stomatitis virus P function depends on cellular growth cycle

The P function of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is defined as the viral function which results in a reduced rate of total protein synthesis (viral plus cellular) arising from a nonspecific reduction in the efficiency of the translational machinery in infected cells. The existence of P function has been challenged by Lodish and Porter who were unable to detect it in L-strain mouse cells infected with wild-type VSV (HR) or, as expected, with the P- mutant, T1026-R1. Although other groups have subsequently confirmed the existence of P function and the difference between HR and T1026-R1, we have sought an explanation for the difference between Lodish and Porter's results and those of other laboratories. We show that the VSV P function depends on the phase of the growth cycle of infected L-cell cultures. In very early exponential phase, as used by Lodish and Porter, HR has very little demonstrable P function; as the growth cycle proceeds toward stationary phase, P function becomes more and more manifest. Under the same conditions, T1026-R1 shows no P function throughout the growth cycle. Furthermore we show that the VSV M protein mutant tsG31 has a P++ phenotype reducing total protein synthesis below that seen with wild-type HR. P function can be observed in cells infected with tsG31, even early in the exponential phase of the cellular growth cycle.

The isolation of interferon-inducing mutants of vesicular stomatitis virus with altered viral P function for the inhibition of total protein synthesis

We have previously reported that T1026, a temperature-sensitive (ts) noncytocidal mutant of VSV, and its ts revertant, T1026-R1, are nonconditional mutants in the VSV function "P" for the inhibition of total protein synthesis (viral plus cellular) in infected cells (C. P. Stanners, A. M. Francoeur, and T. Lam, 1977, Cell 11, 273-281; C. P. Stanners, S. Kennedy, and L. Poliquin, 1987, Virology 160, 255-258). We have also shown that P- mutants such as these are superior interferon inducers relative to their parental P+ wild-type virus, HR, and that P- mutants may be distinguished from P+ virus using the plaque interferon production of PIF assay. (A. M. Francoeur, T. Lam, and C. P. Stanners, 1980, Virology 105, 526-536). In order to carry the analysis of VSV P function further, a number of independent mutants in the VSV P function are required. We show here that the PIF assay may be used to isolate spontaneously occurring interferon-inducing mutants (PIF+ mutants) from wild-type VSV (PIF- virus) populations. About one-half of the PIF+ mutants isolated with the PIF assay were found to have alterations in the VSV P function. As well as mutants that were defective for the inhibition of total protein synthesis, the assay yielded a new class of VSV P function mutants which appear to inhibit protein synthesis more severely than does P+ virus. The majority of newly isolated PIF+ mutants was also found to be temperature sensitive for growth. The ts phenotype, however, could be reverted for most PIF+ mutants with little effect on the PIF or P phenotype. These findings show that interferon induction and P function are related functions of VSV; this fact has allowed the isolation of a repertoire of mutants with widely varying P function.

Expression of a cDNA encoding a functional 241-kilodalton vesicular stomatitis virus RNA polymerase

The large gene, L, of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), which codes for the multifunctional RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, was assembled from five overlapping cDNA clones. The sequence of the 6.4-kilobase gene of the final construct was identical to the consensus sequence reported earlier. The gene was inserted into the simian virus 40 transient expression vector pJC119. Antibodies directed against synthetic peptides corresponding to the amino and carboxyl termini of the L protein were raised in rabbits. Both antibodies specifically immunostained the cytoplasm of COS cells that had been transfected with the vector DNA. The expressed L protein was immunoprecipitated from cell extracts and it was identical in size to the L protein of the virion (241 kilodaltons). Most importantly, COS cells that expressed the recombinant L protein transcribed, replicated, and consequently complemented and rescued temperature-sensitive RNA polymerase mutants of VSV at the nonpermissive temperature. The kinetics of virus release were similar to those of a wild-type VSV infection. We conclude that the recombinant RNA polymerase protein L is indistinguishable in its size and its functions from the VSV polymerase.

Rapid inhibition of pinocytosis in baby hamster kidney (BHK-21) cells following infection with vesicular stomatitis virus

Infection of baby hamster kidney cells with vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) caused a reduced rate of pinocytosis (as judged by the uptake of horseradish peroxidase) after 1 h, and maximum inhibition (60-80%) was observed at 4-6 h. This inhibition occurred 2-3 h before release of virus or changes in cell morphology. Analytical cell fractionation of homogenates of VSV-infected cells indicated that the horseradish peroxidase taken up by pinocytosis was transferred to lysosomes. The inhibition of pinocytosis required viral gene expression: little or no inhibition was detected in cells infected with UV-irradiated virus, wild-type virus in the presence of cycloheximide, or a temperature-sensitive mutant which failed to synthesize viral proteins. When cells were infected with temperature-sensitive viruses with mutations in the five VSV genes, an inhibition of pinocytosis was observed only when the viral transmembrane glycoprotein was present on the surface of the cells.

Isolation and characterization of mutants of human diploid fibroblasts resistant to diphtheria toxin

Stable mutants highly resistant to the protein synthesis inhibitor diphtheria toxin (dipr) have been selected in human diploid fibroblast cells at a frequency of 1-8 X 10(-6). Treatment of cells with mutagens, (e.g., ethylmethanesulfonate, nitrosoguanidine, and ICR-170), increased the frequencies of dipr mutants by 50- to 500-fold in different experiments, and the optimal expression time for dipr mutation was about 5 days. All mutants examined thus far have bred true, and no effects of cell density or cross feeding have been observed on the selection. Fluctuation analysis showed that the dipr mutation occurs in these fibroblasts at the rate of 5-6 X 10(-7) mutations per cell per generation. Protein synthesis in mutant extracts was resistant to diphtheria toxin, indicating that the dipr lesion in such mutants lies in the protein synthesis machinery. The characteristics of the dipr marker should make this system particularly useful for studies of quantitative mutagenesis in human diploid cells.

Analysis of VSV mutant with attenuated cytopathogenicity: mutation in viral function, P, for inhibition of protein synthesis

T1026, a ts mutant of VSV which is much less cytopathogenic than its parent, HR, and which can establish persistent infection under certain conditions, is a double mutant. In addition to its ts mutation in the virion RNA polymerase, T1026 has a second non-ts mutation in a viral function termed "P". This function is responsible for the inhibition of total protein synthesis in infected cells and acts chiefly at the level of translational initiation. In some cell systems, the inhibition of protein synthesis produced by P appears to be selective for cellular protein synthesis, whereas in other cell systems, both cellular and viral protein synthesis are inhibited. T1026 and its ts revertants are phenotypically P- -that is, cells infected with them show total protein synthesis rates equal to or greater than uninfected cells, while synthesizing viral proteins at the same or even greater rates than HR-infected cells. The P- mutation is correlated with failure to increase plaque size after 2-3 days of incubation. Since viral mutants obtained from persistently infected cultures in a variety of systems appear to be double mutants with a ts mutation in the virion RNA polymerase and a small plaque marker, we suggest that T1026 could represent a model for such mutants.

Role of temperature-sensitive mutants in persistent infections initiated with vesicular stomatitis virus

Noncytocidal persistent infections at 37 C of mouse L cells (Lvsv) with infective B particles of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) could be established only in the presence of large numbers of defective interfering (DI) particles. Under these conditions, there was a rapid spontaneous selection of temperature-sensitive (ts) virus. At 10 days there was an increase to 17.8% in the frequency of ts clones in the virus population; by 17 days this frequency had reached 85.2%, and by 63 days 100% of the clones isolated were ts at 39.5 C, the nonpermissive temperature used. All 34 of the clones isolated from the 84-day fluid had an RNA-phenotype, and 8 clones that were tested all belonged to VSV complementation group I. When tested by an interference assay, Lvsv fluids did not contain significant numbers of DI particles (less than 1 DI/PFU). Furthermore, persistent infection of L cells at 37 C could be initiated under conditions in which few, if any, DI particles were present by using low input multiplicities (10(-4) and 10(-5) of a clonal isolate of an RNA-group I mutant obtained from Lvsv cells. On the basis of these and other results, a mechanism is proposed to explain the role of ts mutants in both the establishment and maintenance of the persistently infected state.

Screening procedure for complementation-dependent mutants of vesicular stomatitis virus

To isolate new types of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) mutants, a four-stage screen was developed which identifies and characterizes mutants capable of complementing the defect in the VSV temperature-sensitive mutant tsG11. Two types of mutants of VSV, Indiana serotype, have been found by using the screen; they are new temperature-sensitive mutants which are, of necessity, not in complementation group I and mutants which do not produce plaques under conditions of single infection at 31 C (the normal permissive temperature) and are, therefore, called complementation-dependent mutants. The newly isolated, temperature-sensitive mutants fall into three complementation groups, two of which are congruent with known complementation groups; the newly identified group extends to six the number of complementation groups of VSV Indiana. The nature of the complementation-dependent mutants has not been established, but one was shown to not contain a significant deletion in its nucleic acid.