To investigate the molecular mechanism(s) by which herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) regulatory protein ICP0 promotes viral gene expression and replication, we screened cells overexpressing ICP0 for ICP0-binding host cell proteins. Tandem affinity purification of transiently expressed ICP0 coupled with mass spectrometry-based proteomics technology and subsequent analyses showed that ICP0 interacted with cell protein RanBP10, a known transcriptional coactivator, in HSV-1-infected cells. Knockdown of RanBP10 in infected HEp-2 cells resulted in a phenotype similar to that observed with the ICP0-null mutation, including reduction in viral replication and in the accumulation of viral immediate early (ICP27), early (ICP8), and late (VP16) mRNAs and proteins. In addition, RanBP10 knockdown or the ICP0-null mutation increased the level of histone H3 association with the promoters of these viral genes, which is known to repress transcription. These effects observed in wild-type HSV-1-infected HEp-2 RanBP10 knockdown cells or those observed in ICP0-null mutant virus-infected control HEp-2 cells were remarkably increased in ICP0-null mutant virus-infected HEp-2 RanBP10 knockdown cells. Our results suggested that ICP0 and RanBP10 redundantly and synergistically promoted viral gene expression by regulating chromatin remodeling of the HSV-1 genome for efficient viral replication.
IMPORTANCEUpon entry of herpesviruses into a cell, viral gene expression is restricted by heterochromatinization of the viral genome. Therefore, HSV-1 has evolved multiple mechanisms to counteract this epigenetic silencing for efficient viral gene expression and replication. HSV-1 ICP0 is one of the viral proteins involved in counteracting epigenetic silencing. Here, we identified RanBP10 as a novel cellular ICP0-binding protein and showed that RanBP10 and ICP0 appeared to act synergistically to promote viral gene expression and replication by modulating viral chromatin remodeling. Our results provide insight into the mechanisms by which HSV-1 regulates viral chromatin remodeling for efficient viral gene expression and replication. H erpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) has more than 80 different genes that fall into three major classes, designated immediate early (IE) or ␣, early (E) or , and late (L) or ␥, which are expressed in a regulated cascade during the HSV-1 lytic infection cycle (1). ICP0, the subject of this study, is an IE protein with a RING finger domain that confers E3 ubiquitin ligase activity, thereby mediating the ubiquitination and proteasome-dependent degradation of target proteins in HSV-1-infected cells (1-4). Based on studies using ICP0-null mutant viruses, ICP0 has been shown to be required for efficient HSV-1 gene expression and replication in cell cultures (3-7). Numerous studies of ICP0 have gradually identified the mechanisms by which ICP0 acts in HSV-1-infected cells as follows. (i) ICP0 induces the disruption of nuclear structures, designated ND10, by degrading promyelocytic leukemia protein (PML) and Sp100, major cellula...