Transcription by infectious subviral particles of reovirus

Reovirus uses temporospatial compartmentalization to orchestrate core versus outercapsid assembly

Reoviridae virus family members, such as mammalian orthoreovirus (reovirus), encounter a unique challenge during replication. To hide the dsRNA from host recognition, the genome remains encapsidated in transcriptionally active proteinaceous core capsids that transcribe and release +RNA. De novo +RNAs and core proteins must repeatedly assemble into new progeny cores in order to logarithmically amplify replication. Reoviruses also produce outercapsid (OC) proteins μ1, σ3 and σ1 that assemble onto cores to create highly stable infectious full virions. Current models of reovirus replication position amplification of transcriptionally-active cores and assembly of infectious virions in shared factories, but we hypothesized that since assembly of OC proteins would halt core amplification, OC assembly is somehow regulated. Kinetic analysis of virus +RNA production, core versus OC protein expression, and core particles versus whole virus particle accumulation, indicated that assembly of OC proteins onto core particles was temporally delayed. All viral RNAs and proteins were made simultaneously, eliminating the possibility that delayed OC RNAs or proteins account for delayed OC assembly. High resolution fluorescence and electron microscopy revealed that core amplification occurred early during infection at peripheral core-only factories, while all OC proteins associated with lipid droplets (LDs) that coalesced near the nucleus in a μ1–dependent manner. Core-only factories transitioned towards the nucleus despite cycloheximide-mediated halting of new protein expression, while new core-only factories developed in the periphery. As infection progressed, OC assembly occurred at LD-and nuclear-proximal factories. Silencing of OC μ1 expression with siRNAs led to large factories that remained further from the nucleus, implicating μ1 in the transition to perinuclear factories. Moreover, late during infection, +RNA pools largely contributed to the production of de-novo viral proteins and fully-assembled infectious viruses. Altogether the results suggest an advanced model of reovirus replication with spatiotemporal segregation of core amplification, OC complexes and fully assembled virions.

It is important to understand how viruses replicate and assemble to discover antiviral therapies and to modify viruses for applications like gene therapy or cancer therapy. Reovirus is a harmless virus being tested as a cancer therapy. Reovirus has two coats of proteins, an inner coat and an outer coat. To replicate, reovirus particles need only the inner coat, but to become infectious they require the outer coat. Strangely, inner and outer coat proteins are all made by the virus at once, so it was unknown what determines whether newly made viruses will contain just the inner coat to continue to replicate, or both coats to transmit to new hosts. Our experiments reveal that the inner coat proteins are located in a different area of an infected cell versus the outer coat proteins. The location therefore determines if the newly made viruses contain just the inner coat versus both coats. Reoviruses have evolved extravagant mechanisms to be able to efficiently take on the best composition required for replication and transmission.

Inhibition of HIF-1α accumulation in prostate cancer cells is initiated during early stages of mammalian orthoreovirus infection

Mammalian orthoreovirus (MRV) is a safe and effective cancer killing virus that has completed Phase I-III clinical trials against numerous cancer types. While many patients experience benefit from MRV therapy, pre-defined set points necessary for FDA approval have not been reached. Therefore, additional research into MRV biology and the effect of viral therapy on different tumor genetic subtypes and microenvironments is necessary to identify tumors most amenable to MRV virotherapy. In this work we analyzed the stage of viral infection necessary to inhibit HIF-1α, an aggressive cancer activator induced by hypoxia. We demonstrated that two viral capsid proteins were not necessary and that a step parallel with virus core movement across the endosomal membrane was required for this inhibition. Altogether, this work clarifies the mechanisms of MRV-induced HIF-1α inhibition and provides biological relevance for using MRV to inhibit the devastating effects of tumor hypoxia.

The Paradoxes of Viral mRNA Translation during Mammalian Orthoreovirus Infection

De novo viral protein synthesis following entry into host cells is essential for viral replication. As a consequence, viruses have evolved mechanisms to engage the host translational machinery while at the same time avoiding or counteracting host defenses that act to repress translation. Mammalian orthoreoviruses are dsRNA-containing viruses whose mRNAs were used as models for early investigations into the mechanisms that underpin the recognition and engagement of eukaryotic mRNAs by host cell ribosomes. However, there remain many unanswered questions and paradoxes regarding translation of reoviral mRNAs in the context of infection. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge about reovirus translation, identifies key unanswered questions, and proposes possible pathways toward a better understanding of reovirus translation.

Function, Architecture, and Biogenesis of Reovirus Replication Neoorganelles

Most viruses that replicate in the cytoplasm of host cells form neoorganelles that serve as sites of viral genome replication and particle assembly. These highly specialized structures concentrate viral proteins and nucleic acids, prevent the activation of cell-intrinsic defenses, and coordinate the release of progeny particles. Reoviruses are common pathogens of mammals that have been linked to celiac disease and show promise for oncolytic applications. These viruses form nonenveloped, double-shelled virions that contain ten segments of double-stranded RNA. Replication organelles in reovirus-infected cells are nucleated by viral nonstructural proteins µNS and σNS. Both proteins partition the endoplasmic reticulum to form the matrix of these structures. The resultant membranous webs likely serve to anchor viral RNA⁻protein complexes for the replication of the reovirus genome and the assembly of progeny virions. Ongoing studies of reovirus replication organelles will advance our knowledge about the strategies used by viruses to commandeer host biosynthetic pathways and may expose new targets for therapeutic intervention against diverse families of pathogenic viruses.

Genome packaging of reovirus is mediated by the scaffolding property of the microtubule network

Reovirus replication occurs in the cytoplasm of the host cell, in virally induced mini-organelles called virus factories. On the basis of the serotype of the virus, the virus factories can manifest as filamentous (type 1 Lang strain) or globular structures (type 3 Dearing strain). The filamentous factories morphology is dependent on the microtubule cytoskeleton; however, the exact function of the microtubule network in virus replication remains unknown. Using a combination of fluorescent microscopy, electron microscopy, and tomography of high-pressure frozen and freeze-substituted cells, we determined the ultrastructural organisation of reovirus factories. Cells infected with the reovirus microtubule-dependent strain display paracrystalline arrays of progeny virions resulting from their tiered organisation around microtubule filaments. On the contrary, in cells infected with the microtubule-independent strain, progeny virions lacked organisation. Conversely to the microtubule-dependent strain, around half of the viral particles present in these viral factories did not contain genomes (genome-less particles). Complementarily, interference with the microtubule filaments in cells infected with the microtubule-dependent strain resulted in a significant increase of genome-less particle number. This decrease of genome packaging efficiency could be rescued by rerouting viral factories on the actin cytoskeleton. These findings demonstrate that the scaffolding properties of the microtubule, and not biochemical nature of tubulin, are critical determinants for reovirus efficient genome packaging. This work establishes, for the first time, a functional correlation between ultrastructural organisation of reovirus factories with genome packaging efficiency and provides novel information on how viruses coordinate assembly of progeny particles.

African Swine Fever Virus NP868R Capping Enzyme Promotes Reovirus Rescue during Reverse Genetics by Promoting Reovirus Protein Expression, Virion Assembly, and RNA Incorporation into Infectious Virions

Reoviruses, like many eukaryotic viruses, contain an inverted 7-methylguanosine (m7G) cap linked to the 5' nucleotide of mRNA. The traditional functions of capping are to promote mRNA stability, protein translation, and concealment from cellular proteins that recognize foreign RNA. To address the role of mRNA capping during reovirus replication, we assessed the benefits of adding the African swine fever virus NP868R capping enzyme during reovirus rescue. C3P3, a fusion protein containing T7 RNA polymerase and NP868R, was found to increase protein expression 5- to 10-fold compared to T7 RNA polymerase alone while enhancing reovirus rescue from the current reverse genetics system by 100-fold. Surprisingly, RNA stability was not increased by C3P3, suggesting a direct effect on protein translation. A time course analysis revealed that C3P3 increased protein synthesis within the first 2 days of a reverse genetics transfection. This analysis also revealed that C3P3 enhanced processing of outer capsid μ1 protein to μ1C, a previously described hallmark of reovirus assembly. Finally, to determine the rate of infectious-RNA incorporation into new virions, we developed a new recombinant reovirus S1 gene that expressed the fluorescent protein UnaG. Following transfection of cells with UnaG and infection with wild-type virus, passage of UnaG through progeny was significantly enhanced by C3P3. These data suggest that capping provides nontraditional functions to reovirus, such as promoting assembly and infectious-RNA incorporation.IMPORTANCE Our findings expand our understanding of how viruses utilize capping, suggesting that capping provides nontraditional functions to reovirus, such as promoting assembly and infectious-RNA incorporation, in addition to enhancing protein translation. Beyond providing mechanistic insight into reovirus replication, our findings also show that reovirus reverse genetics rescue is enhanced 100-fold by the NP868R capping enzyme. Since reovirus shows promise as a cancer therapy, efficient reovirus reverse genetics rescue will accelerate production of recombinant reoviruses as candidates to enhance therapeutic potency. NP868R-assisted reovirus rescue will also expedite production of recombinant reovirus for mechanistic insights into reovirus protein function and structure.

Virus-mediated compartmentalization of the host translational machinery

Viruses require the host translational apparatus to synthesize viral proteins. Host stress response mechanisms that suppress translation, therefore, represent a significant obstacle that viruses must overcome. Here, we report a strategy whereby the mammalian orthoreoviruses compartmentalize the translational machinery within virus-induced inclusions known as viral factories (VF). VF are the sites of reovirus replication and assembly but were thought not to contain ribosomes. It was assumed viral mRNAs exited the VF to undergo translation by the cellular machinery, and proteins reentered the factory to participate in assembly. Here, we used ribopuromycylation to visualize active translation in infected cells. These studies revealed that active translation occurs within VF and that ribosomal subunits and proteins required for translation initiation, elongation, termination, and recycling localize to the factory. Interestingly, we observed components of the 43S preinitiation complex (PIC) concentrating primarily at factory margins, suggesting a spatial and/or dynamic organization of translation within the VF. Similarly, the viral single-stranded RNA binding protein σNS localized to the factory margins and had a tubulovesicular staining pattern that extended a short distance from the margins of the factories and colocalized with endoplasmic reticulum (ER) markers. Consistent with these colocalization studies, σNS was found to associate with both eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3 subunit A (eIF3A) and the ribosomal subunit pS6R. Together, these findings indicate that σNS functions to recruit 43S PIC machinery to the primary site of viral translation within the viral factory. Pathogen-mediated compartmentalization of the translational apparatus provides a novel mechanism by which viruses might avoid host translational suppression.

Viruses lack biosynthetic capabilities and depend upon the host for protein synthesis. This dependence requires viruses to evolve mechanisms to coerce the host translational machinery into synthesizing viral proteins in the face of ongoing cellular stress responses that suppress global protein synthesis. Reoviruses replicate and assemble within cytoplasmic inclusions called viral factories. However, synthesis of viral proteins was thought to occur in the cytosol. To identify the site(s) of viral translation, we undertook a microscopy-based approach using ribopuromycylation to detect active translation. Here, we report that active translation occurs within viral factories and that translational factors are compartmentalized within factories. Furthermore, we find that the reovirus nonstructural protein σNS associates with 43S preinitiation complexes at the factory margins, suggesting a role for σNS in translation. Together, virus-induced compartmentalization of the host translational machinery represents a strategy for viruses to spatiotemporally couple viral protein synthesis with viral replication and assembly.

Reovirus forms neo-organelles for progeny particle assembly within reorganized cell membranes

Most viruses that replicate in the cytoplasm of host cells form neo-organelles that serve as sites of viral genome replication and particle assembly. These highly specialized structures concentrate viral replication proteins and nucleic acids, prevent the activation of cell-intrinsic defenses, and coordinate the release of progeny particles. Despite the importance of inclusion complexes in viral replication, there are key gaps in the knowledge of how these organelles form and mediate their functions. Reoviruses are nonenveloped, double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) viruses that serve as tractable experimental models for studies of dsRNA virus replication and pathogenesis. Following reovirus entry into cells, replication occurs in large cytoplasmic structures termed inclusions that fill with progeny virions. Reovirus inclusions are nucleated by viral nonstructural proteins, which in turn recruit viral structural proteins for genome replication and particle assembly. Components of reovirus inclusions are poorly understood, but these structures are generally thought to be devoid of membranes. We used transmission electron microscopy and three-dimensional image reconstructions to visualize reovirus inclusions in infected cells. These studies revealed that reovirus inclusions form within a membranous network. Viral inclusions contain filled and empty viral particles and microtubules and appose mitochondria and rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER). Immunofluorescence confocal microscopy analysis demonstrated that markers of the ER and ER-Golgi intermediate compartment (ERGIC) codistribute with inclusions during infection, as does dsRNA. dsRNA colocalizes with the viral protein σNS and an ERGIC marker inside inclusions. These findings suggest that cell membranes within reovirus inclusions form a scaffold to coordinate viral replication and assembly.

Viruses alter the architecture of host cells to form an intracellular environment conducive to viral replication. This step in viral infection requires the concerted action of viral and host components and is potentially vulnerable to pharmacological intervention. Reoviruses form large cytoplasmic replication sites called inclusions, which have been described as membrane-free structures. Despite the importance of inclusions in the reovirus replication cycle, little is known about their formation and composition. We used light and electron microscopy to demonstrate that reovirus inclusions are membrane-containing structures and that the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the ER-Golgi intermediate compartment interact closely with these viral organelles. These findings enhance our understanding of the cellular machinery usurped by viruses to form inclusion organelles and complete an infectious cycle. This information, in turn, may foster the development of antiviral drugs that impede this essential viral replication step.

Similar uptake but different trafficking and escape routes of reovirus virions and infectious subvirion particles imaged in polarized Madin-Darby canine kidney cells

Polarized epithelial cells that line the digestive, respiratory, and genitourinary tracts form a barrier that many viruses must breach to infect their hosts. Current understanding of cell entry by mammalian reovirus (MRV) virions and infectious subvirion particles (ISVPs), generated from MRV virions by extracellular proteolysis in the digestive tract, are mostly derived from in vitro studies with nonpolarized cells. Recent live-cell imaging advances allow us for the first time to visualize events at the apical surface of polarized cells. In this study, we used spinning-disk confocal fluorescence microscopy with high temporal and spatial resolution to follow the uptake and trafficking dynamics of single MRV virions and ISVPs at the apical surface of live polarized Madin-Darby canine kidney cells. Both types of particles were internalized by clathrin-mediated endocytosis, but virions and ISVPs exhibited strikingly different trafficking after uptake. While virions reached early and late endosomes, ISVPs did not and instead escaped the endocytic pathway from an earlier location. This study highlights the broad advantages of using live-cell imaging combined with single-particle tracking for identifying key steps in cell entry by viruses.

Reovirus replication protein μ2 influences cell tropism by promoting particle assembly within viral inclusions

The double-stranded RNA virus mammalian reovirus displays broad cell, tissue, and host tropism. A critical checkpoint in the reovirus replication cycle resides within viral cytoplasmic inclusions, which are biosynthetic centers of genome multiplication and new-particle assembly. Replication of strain type 3 Dearing (T3) is arrested in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells at a step subsequent to inclusion development and prior to formation of genomic double-stranded RNA. This phenotype is primarily regulated by viral replication protein μ2. To understand how reovirus inclusions differ in productively and abortively infected MDCK cells, we used confocal immunofluorescence and thin-section transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to probe inclusion organization and particle morphogenesis. Although no abnormalities in inclusion morphology or viral protein localization were observed in T3-infected MDCK cells using confocal microscopy, TEM revealed markedly diminished production of mature progeny virions. T3 inclusions were less frequent and smaller than those formed by T3-T1M1, a productively replicating reovirus strain, and contained decreased numbers of complete particles. T3 replication was enhanced when cells were cultivated at 31°C, and inclusion ultrastructure at low-temperature infection more closely resembled that of a productive infection. These results indicate that particle assembly in T3-infected MDCK cells is defective, possibly due to a temperature-sensitive structural or functional property of μ2. Thus, reovirus cell tropism can be governed by interactions between viral replication proteins and the unique cell environment that modulate efficiency of particle assembly.

Gene mapping of cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus of silkworm by the full-length mRNA prepared under optimized conditions of transcription in vitro

Viral mRNA synthesis by the RNA polymerase associated with purified cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus (CPV) was studied. The formation of full-length mRNA products was facilitated by including in the reaction mixture 100 mM sodium acetate, high concentrations of ribonucleoside triphosphates, and proteinase K. The 10 different species of CPV mRNAS were resolved into 9 discrete RNA bands by agarose gel electrophoresis at pH 3.5 in buffer containing 7 M urea. Each purified viral mRNA hybridized specifically to one of the viral genome segments which were separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis into the 10 species of dsRNA. The relationship between the genome segments and their cognate mRNAs synthesized in vitro is thus established. Under optimal conditions of mRNA synthesis each of the genome segments was transcribed at a similar rate as determined from the yield of individual separated mRNA species. A recycling model of genome-associated RNA polymerase for viral transcription is discussed.

Putative autocleavage of reovirus mu1 protein in concert with outer-capsid disassembly and activation for membrane permeabilization

Capsid proteins of several different families of non-enveloped animal viruses with single-stranded RNA genomes undergo autocatalytic cleavage (autocleavage) as a maturation step in assembly. Similarly, the 76 kDa major outer-capsid protein mu1 of mammalian orthoreoviruses (reoviruses), which are non-enveloped and have double-stranded RNA genomes, undergoes putative autocleavage between residues 42 and 43, yielding N-terminal N-myristoylated fragment mu1N and C-terminal fragment mu1C. Cleavage at this site allows release of mu1N, which is thought to be critical for penetration of the host-cell membrane during cell entry. Most previous studies have suggested that cleavage at the mu1N/mu1C junction precedes addition to the outer capsid during virion assembly, such that only a small number of the mu1 subunits in mature virions remain uncleaved at that site (approximately 5%). In this study, we varied the conditions for disruption of virions before running the proteins on denaturing gels and in several circumstances recovered much higher levels of uncleaved mu1 (up to approximately 60%). Elements of the disruption conditions that allowed greater recovery of uncleaved protein were increased pH, absence of reducing agent, and decreased temperature. These same elements allowed comparably higher levels of the mu1delta protein, in which cleavage at the mu1N/delta junction has not occurred, to be recovered from particle uncoating intermediates in which mu1 had been previously cleaved by chymotrypsin in a distinct protease-sensitive region near residue 580. The capacity to recover higher levels of mu1delta following disruption of these particles for electrophoresis was lost, however, in concert with a series of structural changes that activate the particles for membrane permeabilization, suggesting that the putative autocleavage is itself one of these changes.

The delta region of outer-capsid protein micro 1 undergoes conformational change and release from reovirus particles during cell entry

Cell entry by reoviruses requires a large, transcriptionally active subvirion particle to gain access to the cytoplasm. The features of this particle have been the subject of debate, but three primary candidates-the infectious subvirion particle (ISVP), ISVP*, and core particle forms-that differ in whether putative membrane penetration protein micro 1 and adhesin sigma1 remain particle bound have been identified. Experiments with antibody reagents in this study yielded new information about the steps in particle disassembly during cell entry. Monoclonal antibodies specific for the delta region of micro 1 provided evidence for a conformational change in micro 1 and for release of the delta proteolytic fragment from entering particles. Antiserum raised against cores provided evidence for entry-related changes in particle structure and identified entering particles that largely lack the delta fragment inside cells. Antibodies specific for sigma1 showed that it is also largely shed from entering particles. Limited coimmunostaining with markers for late endosomes and lysosomes indicated the particles lacking delta and sigma1 did not localize to those subcellular compartments, and other observations suggested that both the particles and free delta were released into the cytoplasm. Essentially equivalent findings were obtained with native ISVPs and highly infectious recoated particles containing wild-type proteins. Poorly infectious recoated particles containing a hyperstable mutant form of micro 1, however, showed no evidence for the in vitro and intracellular changes in particle structure normally detected by antibodies, and these particles instead accumulated in late endosomes or lysosomes. Recoated particles with hyperstable micro 1 were also ineffective at mediating erythrocyte lysis in vitro and promoting alpha-sarcin coentry and intoxication of cells in cultures. Based on these and other findings, we propose that ISVP* is a transient intermediate in cell entry which mediates membrane penetration and is then further uncoated in the cytoplasm to yield particles, resembling cores, that largely lack the delta fragment of micro 1.

Cathepsin S supports acid-independent infection by some reoviruses

In murine fibroblasts, efficient proteolysis of reovirus outer capsid protein sigma3 during cell entry by virions requires the acid-dependent lysosomal cysteine protease cathepsin L. The importance of cathepsin L for infection of other cell types is unknown. Here we report that the acid-independent lysosomal cysteine protease cathepsin S mediates outer capsid processing in macrophage-like P388D cells. P388D cells supported infection by virions of strain Lang, but not strain c43. Genetic studies revealed that this difference is determined by S4, the viral gene segment that encodes sigma3. c43-derived subvirion particles that lack sigma3 replicated normally in P388D cells, suggesting that the difference in infectivity of Lang and c43 virions is at the level of sigma3 processing. Infection of P388D cells with Lang virions was inhibited by the broad spectrum cysteine protease inhibitor trans-epoxysuccinyl-l-leucylamido-(4-guanidino)butane but not by NH(4)Cl, which raises the endocytic pH and thereby inhibits acid-dependent proteases such as cathepsins L and B. Outer capsid processing and infection of P388D cells with Lang virions were also inhibited by a cathepsin S-specific inhibitor. Furthermore, in the presence of NH(4)Cl, cell lines engineered to express cathepsin S supported infection by Lang, but not c43, virions. Our results thus indicate that differences in susceptibility to cathepsin S-mediated sigma3 processing are responsible for strain differences in reovirus infection of macrophage-like P388D cells and other cathepsin S-expressing cells. Additionally, our data suggest that the acid dependence of reovirus infections of most other cell types may reflect the low pH requirement for the activities of most other lysosomal proteases rather, than some other acid-dependent aspect of cell entry.

Sites and determinants of early cleavages in the proteolytic processing pathway of reovirus surface protein sigma3

Entry of mammalian reovirus virions into target cells requires proteolytic processing of surface protein sigma3. In the virion, sigma3 mostly covers the membrane-penetration protein mu1, appearing to keep it in an inactive form and to prevent it from interacting with the cellular membrane until the proper time in infection. The molecular mechanism by which sigma3 maintains mu1 in this inactive state and the structural changes that accompany sigma3 processing and mu1 activation, however, are not well understood. In this study we characterized the early steps in sigma3 processing and determined their effects on mu1 function and particle infectivity. We identified two regions of high protease sensitivity, "hypersensitive" regions located at residues 208 to 214 and 238 to 244, within which all proteases tested selectively cleaved sigma3 as an early step in processing. Further processing of sigma3 was required for infection, consistent with the fact that the fragments resulting from these early cleavages remained bound to the particles. Reovirus type 1 Lang (T1L), type 3 Dearing (T3D), and T1L x T3D reassortant virions differed in the sites of early sigma3 cleavage, with T1L sigma3 being cleaved mainly at residues 238 to 244 and T3D sigma3 being cleaved mainly at residues 208 to 214. These virions also differed in the rates at which the early cleavages occurred, with cleavage of T1L sigma3 occurring faster than cleavage of T3D sigma3. Analyses using chimeric and site-directed mutants of recombinant sigma3 identified carboxy-proximal residues 344, 347, and 353 as the primary determinants of these strain differences. The spatial relationships between these more carboxy-proximal residues and the hypersensitive regions were discerned from the sigma3 crystal structure. The results indicate that proteolytic processing of sigma3 during reovirus disassembly is a multistep pathway with a number of molecular determinants.

Structure of the reovirus membrane-penetration protein, Mu1, in a complex with is protector protein, Sigma3

Cell entry by nonenveloped animal viruses requires membrane penetration without membrane fusion. The reovirus penetration agent is the outer-capsid protein, Mu1. The structure of Mu1, complexed with its "protector" protein, Sigma3, and the fit of this Mu1(3)Sigma3(3) heterohexameric complex into the cryoEM image of an intact virion, reveal molecular events essential for viral penetration. Autolytic cleavage divides Mu1 into myristoylated Mu1N and Mu1C. A long hydrophobic pocket can receive the myristoyl group. Dissociation of Mu1N, linked to a major conformational change of the entire Mu1 trimer, must precede myristoyl-group insertion into the cellular membrane. A myristoyl switch, coupling exposure of the fatty acid chain, autolytic cleavage of Mu1N, and long-range molecular rearrangement of Mu1C, thus appears to be part of the penetration mechanism.

Complete in vitro assembly of the reovirus outer capsid produces highly infectious particles suitable for genetic studies of the receptor-binding protein

Mammalian reoviruses, prototype members of the Reoviridae family of nonenveloped double-stranded RNA viruses, use at least three proteins--sigma1, mu1, and sigma3--to enter host cells. sigma1, a major determinant of cell tropism, mediates viral attachment to cellular receptors. Studies of sigma1 functions in reovirus entry have been restricted by the lack of methodologies to produce infectious virions containing engineered mutations in viral proteins. To mitigate this problem, we produced virion-like particles by "recoating" genome-containing core particles that lacked sigma1, mu1, and sigma3 with recombinant forms of these proteins in vitro. Image reconstructions from cryoelectron micrographs of the recoated particles revealed that they closely resembled native virions in three-dimensional structure, including features attributable to sigma1. The recoated particles bound to and infected cultured cells in a sigma1-dependent manner and were approximately 1 million times as infectious as cores and 0.5 times as infectious as native virions. Experiments with recoated particles containing recombinant sigma1 from either of two different reovirus strains confirmed that differences in cell attachment and infectivity previously observed between those strains are determined by the sigma1 protein. Additional experiments showed that recoated particles containing sigma1 proteins with engineered mutations can be used to analyze the effects of such mutations on the roles of particle-bound sigma1 in infection. The results demonstrate a powerful new system for molecular genetic dissections of sigma1 with respect to its structure, assembly into particles, and roles in entry.

Structure of the reovirus outer capsid and dsRNA-binding protein sigma3 at 1.8 A resolution

The crystallographically determined structure of the reovirus outer capsid protein sigma3 reveals a two-lobed structure organized around a long central helix. The smaller of the two lobes includes a CCHC zinc-binding site. Residues that vary between strains and serotypes lie mainly on one surface of the protein; residues on the opposite surface are conserved. From a fit of this model to a reconstruction of the whole virion from electron cryomicroscopy, we propose that each sigma3 subunit is positioned with the small lobe anchoring it to the protein mu1 on the surface of the virion, and the large lobe, the site of initial cleavages during entry-related proteolytic disassembly, protruding outwards. The surface containing variable residues faces solvent. The crystallographic asymmetric unit contains two sigma3 subunits, tightly associated as a dimer. One broad surface of the dimer has a positively charged surface patch, which extends across the dyad. In infected cells, sigma3 binds dsRNA and inhibits the interferon response. The location and extent of the positively charged surface patch suggest that the dimer is the RNA-binding form of sigma3.

Transcriptional activities of reovirus RNA polymerase in recoated cores. Initiation and elongation are regulated by separate mechanisms

The particle-associated reovirus polymerase synthesizes mRNA within only certain viral particle types. Reovirus cores, subviral particles lacking outer capsid proteins mu1, sigma3, and sigma1, produce mRNA and abortive transcripts. Reovirus virions, which contain complete outer capsids, cannot produce mRNA and produce few abortive transcripts. Recoated cores are virion-like particles generated by the addition of recombinant outer capsid proteins to cores. We used recoated cores to analyze transcriptional regulation by reovirus outer capsid proteins. Partially recoated particles, containing less than virion amounts of mu1 and sigma3, synthesized mRNA at levels inversely proportional to outer capsid protein levels. Fully recoated cores exhibited undetectable mRNA synthesis levels, as did virions. However, recoated cores produced high levels of abortive transcripts. Recoated core abortive transcripts remained particle-associated and appeared to inhibit further abortive transcript production. Proteolysis of recoated cores removing mu1 and sigma3 released accumulated abortive transcripts and relieved inhibition of mRNA and abortive transcript synthesis. These results suggest transcriptional elongation, but not initiation, is blocked by virion-like amounts of mu1 and sigma3. Particle-associated abortive transcripts may down-regulate transcriptional initiation. Minor outer capsid protein sigma1 had no demonstrable effect on transcriptional activities. Transcriptional regulation may ensure progeny virions do not compete with transcribing particles for ribonucleoside triphosphates.

In vitro recoating of reovirus cores with baculovirus-expressed outer-capsid proteins mu1 and sigma3

Reovirus outer-capsid proteins mu1, sigma3, and sigma1 are thought to be assembled onto nascent core-like particles within infected cells, leading to the production of progeny virions. Consistent with this model, we report the in vitro assembly of baculovirus-expressed mu1 and sigma3 onto purified cores that lack mu1, sigma3, and sigma1. The resulting particles (recoated cores, or r-cores) closely resembled native virions in protein composition (except for lacking cell attachment protein sigma1), buoyant density, and particle morphology by scanning cryoelectron microscopy. Transmission cryoelectron microscopy and image reconstruction of r-cores confirmed that they closely resembled virions in the structure of the outer capsid and revealed that assembly of mu1 and sigma3 onto cores had induced rearrangement of the pentameric lambda2 turrets into a conformation approximating that in virions. r-cores, like virions, underwent proteolytic conversion to particles resembling native ISVPs (infectious subvirion particles) in protein composition, particle morphology, and capacity to permeabilize membranes in vitro. r-cores were 250- to 500-fold more infectious than cores in murine L cells and, like virions but not ISVPs or cores, were inhibited from productively infecting these cells by the presence of either NH4Cl or E-64. The latter results suggest that r-cores and virions used similar routes of entry into L cells, including processing by lysosomal cysteine proteinases, even though the former particles lacked the sigma1 protein. To examine the utility of r-cores for genetic dissections of mu1 functions in reovirus entry, we generated r-cores containing a mutant form of mu1 that had been engineered to resist cleavage at the delta:phi junction during conversion to ISVP-like particles by chymotrypsin in vitro. Despite their deficit in delta:phi cleavage, these ISVP-like particles were fully competent to permeabilize membranes in vitro and to infect L cells in the presence of NH4Cl, providing new evidence that this cleavage is dispensable for productive infection.

Reovirus virion-like particles obtained by recoating infectious subvirion particles with baculovirus-expressed sigma3 protein: an approach for analyzing sigma3 functions during virus entry

Structure-function studies with mammalian reoviruses have been limited by the lack of a reverse-genetic system for engineering mutations into the viral genome. To circumvent this limitation in a partial way for the major outer-capsid protein sigma3, we obtained in vitro assembly of large numbers of virion-like particles by binding baculovirus-expressed sigma3 protein to infectious subvirion particles (ISVPs) that lack sigma3. A level of sigma3 binding approaching 100% of that in native virions was routinely achieved. The sigma3 coat in these recoated ISVPs (rcISVPs) appeared very similar to that in virions by electron microscopy and three-dimensional image reconstruction. rcISVPs retained full infectivity in murine L cells, allowing their use to study sigma3 functions in virus entry. Upon infection, rcISVPs behaved identically to virions in showing an extended lag phase prior to exponential growth and in being inhibited from entering cells by either the weak base NH4Cl or the cysteine proteinase inhibitor E-64. rcISVPs also mimicked virions in being incapable of in vitro activation to mediate lysis of erythrocytes and transcription of the viral mRNAs. Last, rcISVPs behaved like virions in showing minor loss of infectivity at 52 degrees C. Since rcISVPs contain virion-like levels of sigma3 but contain outer-capsid protein mu1/mu1C mostly cleaved at the delta-phi junction as in ISVPs, the fact that rcISVPs behaved like virions (and not ISVPs) in all of the assays that we performed suggests that sigma3, and not the delta-phi cleavage of mu1/mu1C, determines the observed differences in behavior between virions and ISVPs. To demonstrate the applicability of rcISVPs for genetic studies of protein functions in reovirus entry (an approach that we call recoating genetics), we used chimeric sigma3 proteins to localize the primary determinants of a strain-dependent difference in sigma3 cleavage rate to a carboxy-terminal region of the ISVP-bound protein.

No role for pepstatin-A-sensitive acidic proteinases in reovirus infections of L or MDCK cells

Strong evidence indicates that virions of mammalian reoviruses undergo proteolytic processing by acid-dependent cellular proteinases as an essential step in productive infection. Proteolytic processing takes the form of a series of cleavages of outer-capsid proteins final sigma3 and mu1/mu1C. Previous studies showed an effect of both NH4Cl and E-64 on these cleavages, indicating that one or more of the acid-dependent cysteine proteinases in mammalian cells (cathepsins B and L, for example) is required; however, these studies did not address whether acid-dependent aspartic proteinases in those cells (cathepsin D, for example) may also be required. To determine the role of aspartic proteinases in reovirus entry, studies with pepstatin A, a specific inhibitor of aspartic proteinases, were performed. The results showed that pepstatin A neither blocks nor slows reovirus infection of L or MDCK cells. Experiments using ribonuclease A and other proteins as cleavable substrates showed that cathepsin-D-like proteinases from these cells are inhibited within the tested range of pepstatin A concentrations both in vitro and within living cells. In other experiments, virion-bound final sigma3 protein was shown to be a poor substrate for cleavage by cathepsin D in vitro, consistent with the findings with inhibitors. In sum, the data indicate that cathepsin-D-like aspartic proteinases provide little or no activity toward proteolytic events required for infection of L or MDCK cells with reovirus virions.

Protease cleavage of reovirus capsid protein mu1/mu1C is blocked by alkyl sulfate detergents, yielding a new type of infectious subvirion particle

Mammalian reovirus virions undergo partial disassembly of the outer capsid upon exposure to proteases in vitro, producing infectious subvirion particles (ISVPs) that lack protein sigma3 and contain protein mu1/mu1C as endoprotease-generated fragments mu1delta/delta and phi. ISVPs are thought to be required for two early steps in reovirus infection: membrane penetration and activation of the particle-bound viral transcriptase complexes. Genetic and biochemical evidence implicates outer-capsid protein mu1 in both these steps. To determine whether the cleavage of mu1/mu1C is relevant to the unique properties of ISVPs, we analyzed the properties of novel subvirion particles that lacked sigma3 yet retained mu1/mu1C in an uncleaved but cleavable form. These detergent-plus-protease subvirion particles (dpSVPs) were produced by treating virions with chymotrypsin in the presence of micelle-forming concentrations of alkyl sulfate detergents. Infections with dpSVPs in murine L or canine MDCK cells provided evidence that the cleavage of mu1/mu1C during viral entry into these cells is dispensable for reovirus infection. Additionally, dpSVPs behaved like ISVPs in their capacity to permeabilize lipid bilayers and to undergo transcriptase activation in vitro, supporting the conclusion that cleavage of mu1/mu1C to mu1delta/delta and phi during viral entry is not required for either membrane penetration or transcriptase activation in cells. The capacity of alkyl sulfate detergents to inhibit the cleavage of mu1/mu1C in a reversible fashion suggests a specific association between virus particle and detergent micelles that may mimic virus particle-phospholipid membrane interactions during reovirus entry into cells.

Persistent reovirus infections of L cells select mutations in viral attachment protein sigma1 that alter oligomer stability

During maintenance of L-cell cultures persistently infected with reovirus, mutations are selected in viruses and cells. Cells cured of persistent infection support growth of viruses isolated from persistently infected cultures (PI viruses) significantly better than that of wild-type (wt) viruses. In a previous study, the capacity of PI virus strain L/C to grow better than wt strain type 1 Lang (T1L) in cured cells was mapped genetically to the S1 gene (R. S. Kauffman, R. Ahmed, and B. N. Fields, Virology 131:79-87, 1983), which encodes viral attachment protein sigma1. To investigate mechanisms by which mutations in S1 confer growth of PI viruses in cured cells, we determined the S1 gene nucleotide sequences of L/C virus and six additional PI viruses isolated from independent persistently infected L-cell cultures. The S1 sequences of these viruses contained from one to three mutations, and with the exception of PI 2A1 mutations in each S1 gene resulted in changes in the deduced amino acid sequence of sigma1 protein. Using electrophoresis conditions that favor migration of sigma1 oligomers, we found that sigma1 proteins of L/C, PI 1A1, PI 3-1, and PI 5-1 migrated as monomers, whereas sigma1 proteins of wt reovirus and PI 2A1 migrated as oligomers. These findings suggest that mutations in sigma1 protein affecting stability of sigma1 oligomers are important for the capacity of PI viruses to infect mutant cells selected during persistent infection. Since no mutation was found in the deduced amino acid sequence of PI 2A1 sigma1 protein, we used T1L X PI 2A1 reassortant viruses to identify viral genes associated with the capacity of this PI virus to grow better than wt in cured cells. The capacity of PI 2A1 to grow better than T1L in cured cells was mapped to the S4 gene, which encodes outer-capsid protein sigma3. This finding suggests that in some cases, mutations in sigma3 protein in the absence of sigma1 mutations confer growth of PI viruses in mutant cells. To confirm the importance of the S1 gene in PI virus growth in cured cells, we used T1L X PI 3-1 reassortant viruses to genetically map the capacity of this PI virus to grow better than wt in cured cells. In contrast to our results using PI 2A1, we found that growth of PI 3-1 in cured cells was determined by the sigma1-encoding S1 gene. Given that the sigma1 and sigma3 proteins play important roles in reovirus disassembly, findings made in this study suggest that stability of the viral outer capsid is an important determinant of the capacity of reoviruses to adapt to host cells during persistent infection.

Mutations in the zinc-binding motif of the reovirus capsid protein delta 3 eliminate its ability to associate with capsid protein mu 1

Reovirus capsid protein delta 3 binds both double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) and zinc. Previous studies have revealed that the amino-terminal zinc finger is not required for the ability of delta 3 to bind dsRNA. We expressed wild-type and mutant delta 3 molecules by in vitro transcription/translation to evaluate the importance of the zinc finger for other functions of delta 3. delta 3 molecules with mutations in the zinc finger did not form complexes with capsid protein mu 1 but bound dsRNA more efficiently than wild-type delta 3 did. In contrast, a dsRNA-binding mutant was unimpaired in its ability to associate with mu 1. Studies with delta 3 fragments support these findings and indicate that sequences critical for delta 3's interaction with mu 1 lie in the amino terminus of the molecule. Our finding that mu 1 and dsRNA do not compete for identical binding sites on delta 3 has implications for its function as a translational regulator in infected cells.

Association of reovirus outer capsid proteins sigma 3 and mu 1 causes a conformational change that renders sigma 3 protease sensitive

Association of the reovirus proteins sigma 3 and mu 1 influences viral entry, initiation of outer capsid assembly, and modulation of the effect of sigma 3 on cellular translation. In this study, we have addressed whether structural changes occur in sigma 3 as a result of its interaction with mu 1. Using differences in protease sensitivity to detect conformationally distinct forms of sigma 3, we showed that association of sigma 3 with mu 1 caused a conformational change in sigma 3 that converted it from a protease-resistant to a protease-sensitive structure and occurred posttranslationally. The effect of mu 1 on the structure of sigma 3 was stoichiometric. Our results are consistent with a model in which sigma 3's association with mu 1 shifts its function from translational control to assembly of an outer capsid in which sigma 3 is folded into the protease-sensitive conformation that is required for its cleavage during the next round of infection.

Infectious subvirion particles of reovirus type 3 Dearing exhibit a loss in infectivity and contain a cleaved sigma 1 protein

Mammalian reoviruses exhibit differences in the capacity to grow in intestinal tissue: reovirus type 1 Lang (T1L), but not type 3 Dearing (T3D), can be recovered in high titer from intestinal tissue of newborn mice after oral inoculation. We investigated whether in vitro protease treatment of virions of T1L and T3D, using conditions to generate infectious subvirion particles (ISVPs) as occurs in the intestinal lumen of mice (D. K. Bodkin, M. L. Nibert, and B. N. Fields, J. Virol. 63:4676-4681, 1989), affects viral infectivity. Chymotrypsin treatment of T1L was associated with a 2-fold increase in viral infectivity, whereas identical treatment of T3D resulted in a 10-fold decrease in infectivity. Using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, we found that loss of T3D infectivity was correlated with cleavage of its sigma 1 protein. We used reassortant viruses to identify viral determinants of infectivity loss and sigma 1 cleavage and found that both phenotypes segregate with the sigma 1-encoding S1 gene. Comparable results were obtained when trypsin treatment of virions of T1L and T3D was used. In experiments to determine the fate of sigma 1 fragments following cleavage, the capacity of anti-sigma 1 monoclonal antibody G5 to neutralize infectivity of T3D ISVPs was significantly decreased in comparison with its capacity to neutralize infectivity of virions, suggesting that a sigma 1 domain bound by G5 is lost from viral particles after proteolytic digestion. In contrast to the decrease in infectivity, chymotrypsin treatment of T3D virions leading to generation of ISVPs resulted in a 10-fold increase in their capacity to produce hemagglutination, indicating that a domain of sigma 1 important for binding to sialic acid remains associated with viral particles after sigma 1 cleavage. Neuraminidase treatment of L cells substantially decreased the yield of T3D ISVPs in comparison with the yield of virions, indicating that a sigma 1 domain important for binding sialic acid also can mediate attachment of T3D ISVPs to L cells and lead to productive infection. These results suggest that cleavage of T3D sigma 1 protein following oral inoculation of newborn mice is at least partly responsible for the decreased growth of T3D in the intestine and provide additional evidence that T3D sigma 1 contains more than a single receptor-binding domain.

The reovirus M1 gene determines the relative capacity of growth of reovirus in cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells

Since blood-borne viruses often interact with endothelial cells before tissue invasion, the interaction between viruses and endothelial cells is likely to be important in viral pathogenicity. Two reovirus isolates (type 1 Lang and type 3 Dearing) differ in their capacity to grow in cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells. The mammalian reoviruses have 10 double-stranded RNA gene segments in their genome. By using 24 reassortant viruses, observed differences in the capacity of different strains to grow in cultured endothelial cells were mapped to the M1 gene (P = 0.00019), which encodes the viral core protein mu 2. No differences were detected in binding or proteolytic processing of viral outer capsid proteins of parental virions between the two reovirus isolates. Northern blot analysis showed a decreased production of viral mRNA in endothelial cells infected with type 3 Dearing reovirus, but not type 1 Lang. Thus, we have identified a viral gene (the M1 gene) responsible for determining the difference in growth capacity of the two reovirus isolates in cultured endothelial cells. Reovirus is an attractive model in which to study the interaction of viruses with endothelial cells at a molecular genetic level.

Isolation and genetic characterization of ethanol-resistant reovirus mutants

To better understand the mechanism(s) by which viruses respond to chemical or physical treatments, we isolated a series of mutant strains of reovirus type 3 Dearing that exhibit increased ethanol resistance. Following exposure to 33% ethanol for 20 min, the parental strain exhibited a 5 log10 decrease in infectivity. The mutant strains, however, exhibited a 2 to 3 log10 decrease in titer following identical treatment. Through the use of reassortant viruses, we mapped this increased ethanol resistance mutation to the M2 gene segment, which encodes a major outer capsid protein, mu1C. Sequence analysis of mutant M2 genes revealed that six of seven unique mutants possessed single-point mutations in this gene. In addition, the change in six of seven mutants caused a predicted amino acid change in a 35-amino-acid region of the gene product between amino acids 425 and 459. The identification of ethanol resistance mutations within a discrete region of this outer capsid protein identifies that portion of the protein as important in reovirus stability. The presence of viral particles possessing altered stability also suggests that subpopulations of viruses may possess altered environmental stability, which, in turn, could affect viral transmission.

A carboxy-terminal fragment of protein mu 1/mu 1C is present in infectious subvirion particles of mammalian reoviruses and is proposed to have a role in penetration

Penetration of a cell membrane as an early event in infection of cells by mammalian reoviruses appears to require a particular type of viral particle, the infectious subvirion particle (ISVP), which is generated from an intact virion by proteolytic cleavage of the outer capsid proteins sigma 3 and mu 1/mu 1C. Characterizations of the structural components and properties of ISVPs are thus relevant to attempts to understand the mechanism of penetration by reoviruses. In this study, a novel, approximately 13-kDa carboxy-terminal fragment (given the name phi) was found to be generated from protein mu 1/mu 1C during in vitro treatments of virions with trypsin or chymotrypsin to yield ISVPs. With trypsin treatment, both the carboxy-terminal fragment phi and the amino-terminal fragment mu 1 delta/delta were shown to be generated and to remain attached to ISVPs in stoichiometric quantities. Sites of protease cleavage were identified in the deduced amino acid sequence of mu 1 by determining the amino-terminal sequences of phi proteins: trypsin cleaves between arginine 584 and isoleucine 585, and chymotrypsin cleaves between tyrosine 581 and glycine 582. Findings in this study indicate that sequences in the phi portion of mu 1/mu 1C may participate in the unique functions attributed to ISVPs. Notably, the delta-phi cleavage junction was predicted to be flanked by a pair of long amphipathic alpha-helices. These amphipathic alpha-helices, together with the myristoyl group at the extreme amino terminus of mu 1/mu 1N, are proposed to interact directly with the lipid bilayer of a cell membrane during penetration by mammalian reoviruses.

Translational effects and sequence comparisons of the three serotypes of the reovirus S4 gene

Reovirus S4 RNA codes for the dsRNA-binding polypeptide sigma 3, a major virion outer capsid component that also has translational effects in both infected and transfected mammalian cells. To compare the composition and properties of the three different serotypes of sigma 3, a DNA copy of the type 2 gene was cloned and sequenced. The total lengths (1196) and the sequences of leader (33 nucleotides) and trailer (66 nucleotides) regions are highly conserved among the three S4 serotypes. The type 1 and 3 S4 genes are highly related (77 mismatches). However, the type 2 gene contains many mismatches relative to the type 1 and 3 genes (260 and 270 positions, respectively). Most of the mismatches are third position changes, resulting in sigma 3 polypeptides that are 90% or more identical. Transient expression vectors, constructed by replacing the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene in pRSVCAT with S4 DNA, were used to test the effects of polypeptide sigma 3 on CAT expression in cotransfected COS cells. Transfection with the correctly oriented DNAs resulted in synthesis of the corresponding sigma 3 polypeptides which enhanced CAT expression. The type 2 and type 3 S4 genes were considerably more stimulatory than type 1 when compared to CAT DNA alone. However, with all three serotypes the CAT activity was significantly higher in cells cotransfected with S4 DNA in the correct orientation as compared to the reverse arrangement.

Mammalian reoviruses contain a myristoylated structural protein

The structural protein mu 1 of mammalian reoviruses was noted to have a potential N-myristoylation sequence at the amino terminus of its deduced amino acid sequence. Virions labeled with [3H]myristic acid were used to demonstrate that mu 1 is modified by an amide-linked myristoyl group. A myristoylated peptide having a relative molecular weight (Mr) of approximately 4,000 was also shown to be a structural component of virions and was concluded to represent the 4.2-kDa amino-terminal fragment of mu 1 which is generated by the same proteolytic cleavage that yields the carboxy-terminal fragment and major outer capsid protein mu 1C. The myristoylated 4,000-Mr peptide was found to be present in reovirus intermediate subviral particles but to be absent from cores, indicating that it is a component of the outer capsid. A distinct large myristoylated fragment of the intact mu 1 protein was also identified in intermediate subviral particles, but no myristoylated mu-region proteins were identified in cores, consistent with the location of mu 1 in the outer capsid. Similarities between amino-terminal regions of the reovirus mu 1 protein and the poliovirus capsid polyprotein were noted. By analogy with other viruses that contain N-myristoylated structural proteins (particularly picornaviruses), we suggest that the myristoyl group attached to mu 1 and its amino-terminal fragments has an essential role in the assembly and structure of the reovirus outer capsid and in the process of reovirus entry into cells.

Growth and survival of reovirus in intestinal tissue: role of the L2 and S1 genes

Reovirus serotype 1 Lang can be recovered in high titer from the intestines of neonatal mice up to day 8 after peroral inoculation. By contrast, reovirus serotype 3 Dearing cannot be recovered from intestinal tissue past day 4 after peroral inoculation. This difference between the two reoviruses was mapped by using reassortants generated from nonmutagenized laboratory stocks. When the L2 and S1 genes of reovirus serotype 3 Dearing were present in reassortants, the reassortants behaved like serotype 3 Dearing in exhibiting a decreased capacity to be recovered from intestinal tissue. Likewise, viruses which contained the L2 and S2 genes from serotype 1 Lang exhibited an enhanced capacity to grow and survive, which is characteristic of serotype 1 Lang. Thus, the capacity of reovirus to survive in intestinal tissue was determined by the L2 and S1 genes.

Avian reovirus mRNAs are nonfunctional in infected mouse cells: translational basis for virus host-range restriction

Avian reovirus S1133 penetrates and uncoats in suspension cultures of mouse L cells. The multiple species of viral transcripts are produced in the cytoplasm of the infected cell, but they fail to associate with polysomes, consistent with the absence of viral protein synthesis. The selective block in avian virus mRNA translation is not overcome by coinfection with mammalian reovirus type 3, which replicates in mouse L cells, or by hypertonic shock or exposure to a low concentration of cycloheximide. Although the avian viral transcripts are inactive in vivo, RNA extracted from infected, nonpermissive L cells directs the synthesis of a normal spectrum of viral proteins in rabbit reticulocyte lysates. These results indicate that avian viral transcription is not restricted in mouse cells and that viral replication is prevented at the level of initiation of protein synthesis.

Complete nucleotide sequence of the M2 gene segment of reovirus type 3 dearing and analysis of its protein product mu 1

The nucleotide sequence of the M2 gene segment of the mammalian reovirus prototype strain, type 3 Dearing, was determined from a cloned full-length cDNA copy of the viral double-stranded RNA segment. The gene comprises 2203 nucleotides and has a single long open reading frame that spans bases 30 through 2154 and encodes the 708 amino acid outer capsid protein mu 1. Aminoterminal sequence analysis of mu 1C, the proteolytically cleaved form of mu 1 that is found in purified reovirions, has identified the site of mu 1 to mu 1C cleavage between residues 42 and 43 in the mu 1 sequence. Aminoterminal sequence analysis of delta, the proteolytically cleaved product of mu 1C that is found in chymotrypsin-generated intermediate subviral particles, has indicated that the mu 1C to delta cleavage occurs near the carboxyterminus of mu 1C. Lastly, stoichiometric determinations using new sequence information have suggested that approximately equimolar amounts of mu 1C and the other major outer capsid component sigma 3 are present in virions. The data presented in this study should be useful for understanding the molecular basis of the functions of the mu 1 protein in reovirus entry into cells and in pathogenesis in the host animal.

Distinct binding sites for zinc and double-stranded RNA in the reovirus outer capsid protein sigma 3

By atomic absorption analysis, we determined that the reovirus outer capsid protein sigma 3, which binds double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), is a zinc metalloprotein. Using Northwestern blots and a novel zinc blotting technique, we localized the zinc- and dsRNA-binding activities of sigma 3 to distinct V8 protease-generated fragments. Zinc-binding activity was contained within an amino-terminal fragment that contained a transcription factor IIIA-like zinc-binding sequence, and dsRNA-binding activity was associated with a carboxy-terminal fragment. By these techniques, new zinc- and dsRNA-binding activities were also detected in reovirus core proteins. A sequence similarity was observed between the catalytic site of the picornavirus proteases and the transcription factor IIIA-like zinc-binding site within sigma 3. We suggest that the zinc- and dsRNA-binding activities of sigma 3 may be important for its proposed regulatory effects on viral and host cell transcription and translation.

Distinct binding sites for zinc and double-stranded RNA in the reovirus outer capsid protein sigma 3

By atomic absorption analysis, we determined that the reovirus outer capsid protein sigma 3, which binds double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), is a zinc metalloprotein. Using Northwestern blots and a novel zinc blotting technique, we localized the zinc- and dsRNA-binding activities of sigma 3 to distinct V8 protease-generated fragments. Zinc-binding activity was contained within an amino-terminal fragment that contained a transcription factor IIIA-like zinc-binding sequence, and dsRNA-binding activity was associated with a carboxy-terminal fragment. By these techniques, new zinc- and dsRNA-binding activities were also detected in reovirus core proteins. A sequence similarity was observed between the catalytic site of the picornavirus proteases and the transcription factor IIIA-like zinc-binding site within sigma 3. We suggest that the zinc- and dsRNA-binding activities of sigma 3 may be important for its proposed regulatory effects on viral and host cell transcription and translation.

Sigma 1 protein of mammalian reoviruses extends from the surfaces of viral particles

Electron microscopy revealed structures consisting of long fibers topped with knobs extending from the surfaces of virions of mammalian reoviruses. The morphology of these structures was reminiscent of the fiber protein of adenovirus. Fibers were also seen extending from the reovirus top component and intermediate subviral particles but not from cores, suggesting that the fibers consist of either the mu 1C or sigma 1 outer capsid protein. Amino acid sequence analysis predicts that the reovirus cell attachment protein sigma 1 contains an extended fiber domain (R. Bassel-Duby, A. Jayasuriya, D. Chatterjee, N. Sonenberg, J. V. Maizell, Jr., and B. N. Fields, Nature [London] 315:421-423, 1985). When sigma 1 protein was released from viral particles with mild heat and subsequently obtained in isolation, it was found to have a morphology identical to that of the fiber structures seen extending from the viral particles. The identification of an extended form of sigma 1 has important implications for its function in cell attachment. Other evidence suggests that sigma 1 protein may occur in virions in both an extended and an unextended state.

Reovirus major capsid protein expressed in Escherichia coli

A DNA copy of the open reading frame of the S4 gene of reovirus type 3 was cloned into a temperature-regulated bacterial expression vector. Induction at 42 degrees C resulted in the synthesis of a polypeptide that comigrated with virion capsid protein sigma 3 by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and reacted with sigma 3-specific antisera. The protein was expressed in bacteria as insoluble aggregates that accumulated in polar inclusion bodies. Aggregated product also resulted when the expression system was manipulated to induce bacterial sigma 3 (b sigma 3) synthesis at temperatures below 42 degrees C. Various methods used to solubilize b sigma 3 did not yield the monomeric protein. The results indicate that sigma 3, the major surface component of reovirions, is expressed in transfected Escherichia coli as an aggregated, disulfide cross-linked protein.

Ammonium inhibits processing and cytotoxicity of reovirus, a nonenveloped virus

Successful viral infection involves a series of interactions between the virus and the host cell. The outcome of viral infection is, in fact, dependent on intact cellular function; it is required for viral binding, internalization, and uncoating. To determine the potential importance of lysosomal processing on the outcome of infection with a nonenveloped virus, we have studied the effects of NH4Cl on the course of reovirus infection on a beta-cell tumor in culture. Addition of 10 mM NH4C1 to the medium inhibited viral growth by greater than 80% and reduced toxic effects of the virus on cell viability, protein, and DNA synthesis by 30-45%. In addition, synthesis of viral proteins was markedly decreased. Uptake of virus prelabeled with [35S]methionine was not affected by the ammonium; however, cleavage of mu1C, an outer capsid protein of the virus whose cleavage appears to be required for viral replication, was delayed. These results suggest that intracellular processing of reovirus is dependent on a lysosomal pathway and that disruption of this pathway can alter the course of viral infection.

Switch-on of transcriptase function in reovirus: analysis of polypeptide changes using 2-D gels

Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (IEF and SDS-PAGE) was used to examine virion polypeptide changes associated with switch-on of transcriptase function in reovirus. Results reveal that switch-on is correlated with altered electrophoretic behavior of a specific minor polypeptide (delta 1) which is present in intermediate subviral particles. A second finding is that each of the molecular weight classes of viral polypeptides exists as a series of subspecies with different isoelectric points. This suggests that extensive posttranslational modification of progeny viral polypeptides occurs during particle morphogenesis. These findings have important theoretical and practical implications.