Replication of DNA occurs at discrete sites in eukaryotic cell nuclei, where replication proteins are clustered into large complexes, or 'replicases'. Similarly, viral DNA replication is a highly structured process, notably in herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1; reviewed in ref. 4) in which large globular 'replication compartments' containing the viral replication machinery exist. Replicating cellular DNA redistributes to these compartments upon HSV-1 infection. We have now used antibodies raised against several cellular proteins to detect changes in their subnuclear localization on HSV-1 infection. We found that various proteins involved in cellular DNA replication move to sites of viral DNA synthesis, whereas a selection of non-replication proteins do not. The retinoblastoma protein and p53 (the products of two putative anti-oncogenes) relocate to the same sites as known DNA replication proteins, suggesting that they may be associated with DNA replication complexes in normal, uninfected cells.

Vaccinia virus gene F12L is shown to encode a 65-kDa protein that is synthesized early and late during infection and that is not modified by glycosylation. Computational sequence comparison revealed that related proteins are encoded by all sequenced chordopoxviruses. A virus deletion mutant lacking the F12L gene (v⌬F12L) and a revertant virus with the F12L gene reinserted into the deletion mutant (vF12L-rev) were constructed and analyzed. A version of the F12L gene with a C-terminal amino acid tag derived from the influenza virus hemagglutinin and that is recognized by a monoclonal antibody was also inserted into the F12L locus of v⌬F12L. Loss of the F12L protein reduced the formation of IMV 2-fold, but there was a dramatic (99.5%) reduction in actin tail formation, and the levels of cell-associated enveloped virus and extracellular enveloped virus were reduced 8-to 11-fold and 7-fold, respectively. Consistent with the lack of actin tail formation, v⌬F12L produced a very small plaque. The v⌬F12L virus was severely attenuated in vivo, such that a dose of v⌬F12L 10,000-fold greater than the dose of wild-type virus that induced severe disease was unable to induce disease in mice infected intranasally.

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When synthesis of the 25-kDa vaccinia virus core protein VP8 is repressed, mature virus particles of normal appearance are produced to approximately 80% of wild-type levels but these particles are over 100-fold less infectious than wild-type particles (D. Wilcock and G. L. Smith, Virology 202:294-304, 1994). Here we show that virions which lack VP8 can bind to and enter cells but the levels of steady-state RNA are greatly reduced in comparison with those for wild-type infections. In vitro assays using permeabilized virions demonstrated that VP8-deficient virions had drastically reduced rates of transcription (RNA synthesis was decreased by 80 to 96%) and that the extrusion of RNA transcripts from these virions was also decreased. Low concentrations of sodium deoxycholate extracted proteins more efficiently from VP8-deficient virions than from wild-type virions. The increased fragility of VP8-deficient virions and their slower RNA extrusion rates suggest that VP8 may be required for the correct formation of the core. Virions which lack VP8 were shown to contain a full complement of transcription enzymes, and soluble extracts from these virions were active in transcription assays using either single-stranded M13 DNA or exogenous plasmid template containing a vaccinia virus early promoter. Thus, the defect in transcription is due not to a lack of specific transcriptional enzymes within virions but rather to the inability of these enzymes to efficiently transcribe the DNA genome packaged within VP8-deficient virions. These results suggest that VP8 is required for the correct packaging of the viral DNA genome and/or for the efficient transcription of packaged virion DNA, which has a higher degree of structural complexity than plasmid templates. Possible roles for VP8 in these processes are discussed.