Analysis of the TK enzyme complex induced by HSV types 1 and 2 by means of isoelectric focusing and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

Recently we have described that the Herpes simplex virus (HSV)-induced thymidine kinase (TK) induces AMP- and ADP-dThd-5'-phosphotransferase activities. We now demonstrate the heterogeneity of the described activities in isoelectric focusing experiments and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. A TK--mutant of HSV type 1 fails to induce these activities. The activities of the type 1 enzyme complex was neutralized by an anti-HSV-serum. The TK-enzyme complex expressed in LTK--cells transformed to a TK+-phenotype by sheared HSV-1 DNA was compared with the wild type TK complex in isoelectric focusing experiments. Additionally we demonstrate that the HSV type 1 enzyme complex has thymidylate kinase activity, while the type 2 TK complex did not exhibit thymidylate kinase activity. Feedback regulation mechanisms by dTMP, dTDP and dTTP were investigated using partially purified enzyme preparations of HSV types 1 and 2 infected TK--cells.