Alpha 4, the major regulatory protein of herpes simplex virus type 1, is stably and specifically associated with promoter-regulatory domains of alpha genes and of selected other viral genes.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 genes form at least five groups (alpha, beta 1, beta 2, gamma 1, and gamma 2) whose expression is coordinately regulated and sequentially ordered in a cascade fashion. Previous studies have shown that functional alpha 4 gene product is essential for the transition from alpha to beta protein synthesis and have suggested that alpha 4 gene expression is autoregulatory. However, the mechanism by which alpha 4 regulates gene expression remained unknown. We report that labeled DNA fragments containing promoter-regulatory domains of three alpha (alpha 0, alpha 4, and alpha 27) and a gamma 2 gene form stable complexes with proteins from infected-cell lysates as detected by a gel electrophoresis binding assay. The protein(s) exhibits sequence specificity since autologous DNA fragments but not heterologous DNA fragments, synthetic polydeoxynucleotide chains, or salmon sperm DNA competitively displace the DNA probe from the complexes. Murine monoclonal antibody to alpha 4 protein added before or after DNA-protein complex formation further retarded the electrophoretic mobility of the complexes whereas monoclonal antibody to alpha 0, alpha 27, or to a viral glycoprotein had no effect. Complexes consisting of the promoter-regulatory domain of the beta-class thymidine kinase gene and infected cell proteins were low in abundance and could be detected only in the presence of antibody to alpha 4 protein. The alpha 4 protein, therefore, forms stable complexes with promoter-regulatory domains of alpha genes and of selected other herpes simplex virus type 1 genes either alone or in combination with other proteins.