Expression of viral early functions in rat 3Y1 cells infected with human papovavirus BK

Update on BK virus entry and intracellular trafficking

BK virus (BKV) is a small, non-enveloped, double-stranded DNA virus and a member of the Polyomaviridae family. As the recently recognized etiologic agent of polyomavirus-associated nephropathy, the events involved in BKV invasion of host cells are an important area of study. Using cell culture models, the mechanism by which BKV infects permissive hosts to gain access to the replication machinery within these cells is beginning to unfold. BKV uses an N-linked glycoprotein containing an alpha(2,3)-linked sialic acid as a receptor. After this initial attachment, BKV enters cells through caveolae-mediated endocytosis. Intracellular trafficking via cellular cytoskeletal components follows this relatively slow and cholesterol-dependent internalization. BKV must reach the nucleus for viral transcription and replication to occur. Elucidating the steps of the early viral lifecycle would provide clues to help explain the infectious spread and pathology of this human pathogen.

Mutagenic activity of BKV and JCV in human and other mammalian cells

We present data suggesting that human polyomaviruses BKV and JCV, widely distributed throughout human populations, are able to induce gene mutations in cultured cells. In this study, using different infecting agents, cell lines to be infected, mutation expression periods, and selection systems, we observed mutagenic effects of varying extent with values of spontaneous mutant frequencies being increased after BKV infection up to 100-fold in BHK cells (6-thioguanine resistance) and nearly 35-fold in virus-transformed human Lesch-Nyhan cells (ouabain resistance). In experiments with BKV the viral mutagenic potential was found to be raised both in moderately uv-irradiated cells, or when wild-type virus was replaced by the variant BKV-IR isolated from a human tumor. Since BKV-IR is defective in the expression of small-t antigen, the viral mutagenicity does not require this protein to be active. BKV was shown to mutate, besides different established cell lines, human peripheral blood lymphocytes. Moreover, as demonstrated by comparing mutagenicities of DNAs from BKV, JCV, and the related polyomavirus SV40, the mutagenic effects of the three viruses do not appear to be essentially different. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Human papovavirus BK early gene regulation in nonpermissive cells

The human papovavirus BK latently infects a majority of the population worldwide, and its DNA has been found in human tumor tissue. BKV is known to be highly oncogenic in rodents, and is capable of transforming cells in vitro. Rearrangements in the transcriptional regulatory sequences controlling expression of the transforming early gene, T antigen, are known to affect both the tumorigenic and transforming properties of this virus. Little is known about the mechanism by which this occurs. We have examined several aspects of BKV early promoter/enhancer regulation in cell types which the virus transforms, baby hamster kidney (BHK) and newborn rat kidney (NRK) cells, and compare them to the same processes in monkey kidney CV1 cells. We find that BKV early transcriptional efficiency requires the same enhancer repeat elements in all three cell types, but that requirements for sequences to the early and late side of these repeats vary between these cells. While the BKV T antigen was found to repress early gene expression from the BKV early promoter in CV1 cells, this effect was lower in BHK cells and essentially absent in NRK cells. The impaired autoregulation observed in rodent cells may be the result of inefficient T antigen production in these cells. DNA replication from the BKV origin was not detected in either BHK or NRK cells. Finally, we find no correlation between the efficiency of the BKV early regulatory region in directing gene expression and the ability to transform NRK cells.

Inefficient expression in rat cells of transforming gene of BK virus with 68-bp tandem repeats in the viral promoter-enhancer

Large-plaque BK virus (wt-501), which has three 68-bp tandem repeats in the viral promoter-enhancer, is not transforming for rat cells, whereas the minute-plaque mutant (dl-504) with only one 68-bp element is. We tested the BKV wt-501 and dl-504 promoter-enhancers for their ability to activate the heterologous and homologous genes in rat 3Y1 cells. The 501 promoter-enhancer activated expression of the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene and the neomycin-resistance gene more efficiently than the 504 promoter-enhancer. The 501 enhancer could not allow the efficient expression of BK virus T-antigen gene, whereas the 504 enhancer could. The wt-BKV enhancer with three 68-bp repeats seemed to function positively on the heterologous genes but negatively on the homologous transforming gene in rat cells. The sequence causing the suppressive effects by duplication was confined within the 29-bp segment containing two SV40 enhancer core homologies in the 68-bp element. The results show that inability of wt-BKV to transform rat cells is ascribable to inefficient T-antigen gene expression caused by the duplication in the enhancer and by the surrounding or downstream DNA sequence.

Evolutionary changes of transcriptional control region in a minute-plaque viable deletion mutant of BK virus

Two plaque morphology BK virus (BKV) mutants (pm526 and pm527) rescued from a hamster pineocytoma cell line Pc13 were characterized and compared with a similarly rescued and previously characterized mutant (pm522), its derivatives (tr530, tr531, and tr532), and the wild type (501) for their biological activities and for the structures of their transcriptional control regions. The two mutants grew somewhat more slowly in human embryonic kidney cells but transformed rat 3Y1 cells more efficiently than did the wild-type BKV. BKV pm526 formed minute plaques and had the shortest transcriptional control region, having only one 68-base-pair element, which is triplicated in the wild-type BKV. BKV pm526 was unstable during repeated replication in human embryonic kidney cells and yielded large-plaque viruses with longer HindIII C segments encompassing the BKV DNA replication origin. Comparison of nucleotide sequences of the transcriptional control regions among the mutants and the wild type showed that pm526 is a parent virus, from which all the other mutants had evolved, and that the evolutionary changes of the plaque size, from minute to small to large, were due to duplications of a certain segment containing the adenovirus E1A enhancer core or the simian virus 40 enhancer core found in the BKV 68-base-pair element. The activities to enhance early transcription, as measured by the ability to direct the synthesis of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase, approximately paralleled the plaque size. The duplication containing the adenovirus E1A enhancer core did not affect the transforming capacity of the parent virus, but the duplication including the simian virus 40 enhancer core significantly lowered the transforming capacity for rat cells.

Human papillomaviruses in Buschke-Löwenstein tumors: physical state of the DNA and identification of a tandem duplication in the noncoding region of a human papillomavirus 6 subtype

Six Buschke-Löwenstein tumors, i.e., highly differentiated squamous cell tumors of the genital region, were shown to contain human papillomavirus 6 (HPV 6) or HPV 11 genomes. The viral DNA was found in an episomal state, including a very small fraction of circular oligomers. HPV 6a and HPV 6d genomes were cloned from two of the tumors. Comparison with HPV 6b, cloned from a benign genital wart (E. -M. de Villiers, L. Gissmann, and H. zur Hausen, J. Virol. 40:932-935, 1981) by restriction mapping and partial sequence analysis, revealed a very high degree of homology with the different HPV 6 subtypes. A tandem duplication of 459 base pairs within the noncoding region of the genome was found in the new subtype HPV 6d. This structural rearrangement in a region containing the putative control elements for early gene transcription might influence the biological potential of that virus. No evidence for rearrangement of this region was found in the HPV DNA from the five other tumors.

Decreasing the number of 68-base-pair tandem repeats in the BK virus transcriptional control region reduces plaque size and enhances transforming capacity

Wild-type BK virus, which has three 68-base-pair (bp) elements tandemly repeated in its transcriptional control region, forms clear, large plaques in human embryonic kidney cell cultures but rarely transforms hamster or rat cells. From this BK virus DNA, deletion mutants with fewer than three 68-bp elements were constructed and characterized. The mutant DNA with two 68-bp elements formed small, turbid plaques in human cell cultures and transformed rat 3Y1 cells inefficiently. The mutant DNA with one 68-bp element formed minute, turbid plaques in human cell cultures and transformed rat cells efficiently.

Enhancement of the transforming capacity of BK virus by partial deletion of the 68-base-pair tandem repeats

We constructed a set of deleted BK viral DNAs that lack part of the triplicated 68-base-pair (bp) sequences (the central unit has an 18-bp deletion) and assayed them for capacity to transform hamster kidney cells. Deletion of one of the two 68-bp units remarkably enhanced transforming capacity.

Naturally occurring BK virus variants (JL and Dik) with deletions in the putative early enhancer-promoter sequences

The genomes of two independently isolated BK virus (BKV) variants (JL and Dik) were compared with prototype BKV DNA by restriction endonuclease mapping and sequence analysis. Differences were mainly detected in two regions: the BKV (JL) and BKV (Dik) putative early enhancer-promoter regions and the middle of the T-antigen-coding regions. Base sequence analysis of these two regions showed the following. (i) The putative enhancer-promoter regions of BKV (Dik) and BKV (JL) contained only one 68-base-pair (bp) unit of the 68-bp triplication (the central copy of which is missing 18 bp) present in prototype BKV. (ii) In the same region, BKV (JL) and BKV (Dik) contained unique stretches of DNA 33 and 63 bp long, respectively. In these 63 bp, a sequence which was very similar to the proposed simian virus 40 enhancer core sequence (GGAGTGGAAAG) was present. (iii) The altered restriction endonuclease recognition sites in the sequenced part of the T-antigen-coding region of BKV (JL) and BKV (Dik) were due to base sequence changes, leaving the amino acid sequence unchanged.

Demonstration of T antigens on the surface of cells transformed with primate polyoma viruses

Primate polyoma virus-transformed hamster, mouse, and rat cell lines were examined by indirect immunofluorescence staining for cell surface-associated T antigens, by using a rabbit antiserum prepared against sodium dodecyl sulfate-denatured large T antigen of simian virus 40 (anti-SV40-SDS-T serum). Positive surface staining was shown not only on SV40-transformed cells, but also on BK and JC virus-transformed cells. In contrast, normal cells and cells transformed with mouse polyoma-, human adeno-, and murine sarcoma viruses were negative. The data on SV40-transformed cells confirmed the reports of others demonstrating the cell surface location of SV40 large T antigen, and the data on BK and JC virus-transformed cells proved that these cells have cell-surface T antigens that cross-react with anti-SV40-SDS-T serum.

DNA rearrangement affecting expression of the BK virus transforming gene

BK virus mutant pm-522, forming small turbid plaques on human cells, can transform rat or hamster cells much more efficiently than the wild-type BK virus (wt-501) does. We compared the nucleotide sequence of wt-501 HindIII C segment with that of pm-522 HindIII-C, which contains the mutation responsible for the altered plaque type and transforming capacity. The difference between the two BK viruses was the local DNA rearrangement (deletions and duplications) that had occurred in the putative control region for early transcription in pm-522 DNA. Whereas wt-501 had three sets of 68-base pair repeats (the central set had a deletion of 18 base pairs) in this region, pm-522 had one set of 68-base-pair units and two sets of shorter 37-base-pair repeats. Three BK virus mutants, forming clear large plaques like those of wt-501 but capable of transforming rat cells, were derived from the recombinant virus carrying the HindIII C segment of pm-522. These mutants had further duplications of short segments originating from the pm-522 sequence in the putative early control region.