Activation of Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Lytic Gene Expression during Epithelial Differentiation

Replication and transcription activator (RTA) encoded by open reading frame 50 (ORF50) of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is essential and sufficient to initiate lytic reactivation. RTA activates its target genes through direct binding with high affinity to its responsive elements or by interaction with cellular factors, such as RBP-J, Ap-1, C/EBP-␣, and Oct-1. In this study, we identified transducin-like enhancer of split 2 (TLE2) as a novel RTA binding protein by using yeast two-hybrid screening of a human spleen cDNA library. The interaction between TLE2 and RTA was confirmed by glutathione S-transferase (GST) binding and coimmunoprecipitation assays. Immunofluorescence analysis showed that TLE2 and RTA were colocalized in the same nuclear compartment in KSHV-infected cells. This interaction recruited TLE2 to RTA bound to its recognition sites on DNA and repressed RTA auto-activation and transactivation activity. Moreover, TLE2 also inhibited the induction of lytic replication and virion production driven by RTA. We further showed that the Q (Gln-rich), SP (Ser-Pro-rich), and WDR (Trp-Asp repeat) domains of TLE2 and the Pro-rich domain of RTA were essential for this interaction. RBP-J has been shown previously to bind to the same Pro-rich domain of RTA, and this binding can be subject to competition by TLE2. In addition, TLE2 can form a complex with RTA to access the cognate DNA sequence of the RTA-responsive element at different promoters. Intriguingly, the transcription level of TLE2 could be upregulated by RTA during the lytic reactivation process. In conclusion, we identified a new RTA binding protein, TLE2, and demonstrated that TLE2 inhibited replication and transactivation mediated by RTA. This provides another potentially important mechanism for maintenance of KSHV viral latency through interaction with a host protein.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cellular Corepressor TLE2 Inhibits Replication-and-Transcription- Activator-Mediated Transactivation and Lytic Reactivation of Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus

Liu

Liang

et al. 2010

“…Previous studies have shown that KSHV readily infects oral epithelial cells in vitro and establishes latent infection in most of the infected cells (9,10,28). Here, we reexamined de novo KSHV infection of oral epithelial cells by using a concentrated KSHV viral stock (10 8 IU/ml) obtained from the iSLK-KSHV BAC16 system (Materials and Methods).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is thought that KSHV may infect oral epithelial cells in transit during initial infection. Moreover, studies from Johnson et al have shown that latent KSHV in the infected oral keratinocytes can be activated and reenters the lytic cycle to produce infectious progeny virions when oral keratinocytes differentiate into mature epithelium (10). The other human gammaherpesvirus, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), is also transmitted by saliva.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus ORF18 and ORF30 Are Essential for Late Gene Expression during Lytic Replication

Gong

Xie

et al. 2014

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is associated with several human malignances. As saliva is likely the major vehicle for KSHV transmission, we studied in vitro KSHV infection of oral epithelial cells. Through infection of two types of oral epithelial cells, normal human oral keratinocytes (NHOKs) and papilloma-immortalized human oral keratinocyte (HOK16B) cells, we found that KSHV can undergo robust lytic replication in oral epithelial cells. By employing de novo lytic infection of HOK16B cells, we studied the functions of two previously uncharacterized genes, ORF18 and ORF30, during the KSHV lytic cycle. For this purpose, an ORF18-deficient virus and an ORF30-deficient virus were generated using a mutagenesis strategy based on bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) technology. We found that neither ORF18 nor ORF30 is required for immediately early or early gene expression or viral DNA replication, but each is essential for late gene expression during both de novo lytic replication and reactivation. This critical role of ORF18 and ORF30 in late gene expression was also observed during KSHV reactivation. In addition, global analysis of viral transcripts by RNA sequencing indicated that ORF18 and ORF30 control the same set of viral genes. Therefore, we suggest that these two viral ORFs are involved in the same mechanism or pathway that coregulates the viral late genes as a group. IMPORTANCEWhile KSHV can infect multiple cell types in vitro, only a few can support a full lytic replication cycle with progeny virions produced. Consequently, KSHV lytic replication is mostly studied through reactivation, which requires chemicals to induce the lytic cycle or overexpression of the viral transcriptional activator, RTA. In this study, we present a robust de novo lytic infection system based on oral epithelial cells. Using this system, we demonstrate the role of two viral ORFs, ORF18 and ORF30, in regulating viral gene expression during KSHV lytic replication. As the major route of KSHV transmission is thought to be via saliva, this new KSHV lytic replication system will have important utility in the field.

“…XBP-1s fulfills such criteria by potentially allowing KSHV lytic reactivation from latently infected B cells as they terminally differentiate into plasma cells at mucosal surfaces. The lymphoid tissue of the nasopharynx that comprises the Waldeyers ring is infected by KSHV (7,11), and the virus is able to lytically infect oral epithelial cells (21) and is detectable in saliva samples of infected individuals. Together, this suggests that KSHV is present as a latent infection in an as-yet-undefined B-cell compartment in the oral mucosa, is triggered into lytic replication as the B cells differentiate, and is shed into saliva.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

X Box Binding Protein XBP-1s Transactivates the Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus (KSHV) ORF50 Promoter, Linking Plasma Cell Differentiation to KSHV Reactivation from Latency

Wilson¹,

Tsao²,

Webb³

et al. 2007

100

130

Reactivation of lytic replication from viral latency is a defining property of all herpesviruses. Despite this, the authentic physiological cues for the latent-lytic switch are unclear. Such cues should ensure that viral lytic replication occurs under physiological conditions, predominantly in sites which facilitate transmission to permissive uninfected cells and new susceptible hosts. Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is associated with the B-cell neoplasm primary effusion lymphoma (PEL), in which the virus remains latent. We have previously shown that PEL cells have the gene expression profile and immunophenotype of cycling preplasma cells (plasmablasts). Here, we show that the highly active spliced isoform of plasma cell transcription factor X box binding protein 1 (XBP-1s) is a lytic switch for KSHV. XBP-1s is normally absent in PEL, but the induction of endoplasmic reticulum stress leads to XBP-1s generation, plasma cell-like differentiation, and lytic reactivation of KSHV. XBP-1s binds to and activates the KSHV immediate-early gene ORF50 and synergizes with the ORF50 gene product RTA to induce a full lytic cycle. These data suggest that KSHV remains latent until B-cell terminal differentiation into plasma cells, the transcriptional environment of which provides the physiological "lytic switch" through XBP-1s. This links B-cell terminal differentiation to KSHV lytic reactivation.