Rhesus and human cytomegalovirus glycoprotein L are required for infection and cell-to-cell spread of virus but cannot complement each other.

Rhesus cytomegalovirus (RhCMV), the homolog of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), serves as a model for understanding the pathogenesis of HCMV and for developing candidate vaccines. In order to develop a replication-defective virus as a vaccine candidate, we constructed RhCMV with glycoprotein L (gL) deleted. RhCMV gL was essential for viral replication, and virus with gL deleted could only replicate in cells expressing RhCMV gL. Noncomplementing cells infected with RhCMV with gL deleted released intact, noninfectious RhCMV particles that were indistinguishable from wild-type RhCMV by electron microscopy and could be rescued by treatment of cells with polyethylene glycol. In addition, noncomplementing cells infected with RhCMV with gL deleted produced levels of gB, the major target of neutralizing antibodies, at levels similar to those observed in cells infected with wild-type RhCMV. Since RhCMV and HCMV gL share 53% amino acid identity, we determined whether the two proteins could complement the heterologous virus. Cells transfected with an HCMV bacterial artificial chromosome with gL deleted yielded virus that could replicate in human cells expressing HCMV gL. This is the second HCMV mutant with an essential glycoprotein deleted that has been complemented in cell culture. Finally, we found that HCMV gL could not complement the replication of RhCMV with gL deleted and that RhCMV gL could not complement the replication of HCMV with gL deleted. These data indicate that RhCMV and HCMV gL are both essential for replication of their corresponding viruses and, although the two gLs are highly homologous, they are unable to complement each another.