Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon 97239, USA.
J Virol. 2010 Mar;84(5):2585-96. doi: 10.1128/JVI.02249-09. Epub 2009 Dec 23.
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) depends upon a five-protein complex, gH/gL/UL128-131, to enter epithelial and endothelial cells. A separate HCMV gH/gL-containing complex, gH/gL/gO, has been described. Our prevailing model is that gH/gL/UL128-131 is required for entry into biologically important epithelial and endothelial cells and that gH/gL/gO is required for infection of fibroblasts. Genes encoding UL128-131 are rapidly mutated during laboratory propagation of HCMV on fibroblasts, apparently related to selective pressure for the fibroblast entry pathway. Arguing against this model in the accompanying paper by B. J. Ryckman et al. (J. Virol., 84:2597-2609, 2010), we describe evidence that clinical HCMV strain TR expresses a gO molecule that acts to promote endoplasmic reticulum (ER) export of gH/gL and that gO is not stably incorporated into the virus envelope. This was different from results involving fibroblast-adapted HCMV strain AD169, which incorporates gO into the virion envelope. Here, we constructed a TR gO-null mutant, TRDeltagO, that replicated to low titers, spread poorly among fibroblasts, but produced normal quantities of extracellular virus particles. TRDeltagO particles released from fibroblasts failed to infect fibroblasts and epithelial and endothelial cells, but the chemical fusogen polyethylene glycol (PEG) could partially overcome defects in infection. Therefore, TRDeltagO is defective for entry into all three cell types. Defects in entry were explained by observations showing that TRDeltagO incorporated about 5% of the quantities of gH/gL in extracellular virus particles compared with that in wild-type virions. Although TRDeltagO particles could not enter cells, cell-to-cell spread involving epithelial and endothelial cells was increased relative to TR, apparently resulting from increased quantities of gH/gL/UL128-131 in virions. Together, our data suggest that TR gO acts as a chaperone to promote ER export and the incorporation of gH/gL complexes into the HCMV envelope. Moreover, these data suggest that it is gH/gL, and not gH/gL/gO, that is present in virions and is required for infection of fibroblasts and epithelial and endothelial cells. Our observations that both gH/gL and gH/gL/UL128-131 are required for entry into epithelial/endothelial cells differ from models for other beta- and gammaherpesviruses that use one of two different gH/gL complexes to enter different cells.
人类巨细胞病毒 (HCMV) 依赖于一个由五种蛋白组成的复合物 gH/gL/UL128-131 进入上皮细胞和内皮细胞。已经描述了另一种含有 HCMV gH/gL 的复合物 gH/gL/gO。我们的主流模型是 gH/gL/UL128-131 是进入重要的上皮细胞和内皮细胞所必需的,而 gH/gL/gO 是感染成纤维细胞所必需的。在实验室培养 HCMV 时,编码 UL128-131 的基因会迅速突变,这显然与成纤维细胞进入途径的选择压力有关。B. J. Ryckman 等人在随附的论文中对这一模型提出质疑(J. Virol.,84:2597-2609, 2010),他们描述了证据表明临床 HCMV 株 TR 表达一种 gO 分子,可促进 gH/gL 的内质网 (ER) 输出,并且 gO 不能稳定地掺入病毒包膜。这与涉及成纤维细胞适应株 AD169 的结果不同,AD169 将 gO 掺入病毒包膜。在这里,我们构建了一株 TR gO 缺失突变株 TRDeltagO,其复制滴度较低,在成纤维细胞中传播较差,但产生正常数量的细胞外病毒颗粒。从成纤维细胞释放的 TRDeltagO 颗粒不能感染成纤维细胞和上皮细胞和内皮细胞,但化学融合剂聚乙二醇 (PEG) 可以部分克服感染缺陷。因此,TRDeltagO 不能进入所有三种细胞类型。通过观察发现,TRDeltagO 在外节病毒颗粒中掺入的 gH/gL 数量约为野生型病毒颗粒的 5%,这解释了进入缺陷。尽管 TRDeltagO 颗粒不能进入细胞,但涉及上皮细胞和内皮细胞的细胞间传播增加,与 TR 相比,这显然是由于病毒颗粒中 gH/gL/UL128-131 的数量增加所致。总之,我们的数据表明,TR gO 作为一种伴侣蛋白,促进 ER 输出和 gH/gL 复合物掺入 HCMV 包膜。此外,这些数据表明,进入成纤维细胞和上皮细胞和内皮细胞所需的是 gH/gL,而不是 gH/gL/gO。我们观察到 gH/gL 和 gH/gL/UL128-131 都需要进入上皮/内皮细胞,这与其他β和γ疱疹病毒的模型不同,这些模型使用两种不同的 gH/gL 复合物进入不同的细胞。