|
|
||||||||
Short Communication |
1 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27834, USA
2 Department of Physiology, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27834, USA
Correspondence
Shaw M. Akula
akulas{at}mail.ecu.edu
| ABSTRACT |
|---|
|
|
|---|
| MAIN TEXT |
|---|
|
|
|---|
The MAPK pathway is one of the better-studied signal-transduction pathways. TPA is reported to induce protein kinase C (PKC) and Raf/MEK/ERK signalling, along with a variety of other signalling pathways (Gao et al., 2001
; Jang et al., 2005
). In the present study, we tested whether TPA could enhance ERK1/2 activity in KSHV-infected BCBL-1 cells. We observed a sustained three- to fourfold enhancement in ERK1/2 activity due to TPA treatment. This increase in TPA-induced ERK1/2 activity was lowered significantly by treating cells with 10 µM of the MEK inhibitor U0126 (Biosource) (Fig. 1a
), but not by DMSO, the vehicle for U0126 (data not shown). U0126 treatment of uninduced cells also lowered ERK1/2 activity significantly (Fig. 1a
). The results indicate clearly that TPA can also induce ERK1/2 activity in BCBL-1 cells.
|
-actin genes by RT-PCR in uninduced and TPA-induced BCBL-1 cells. Expression of KSHV ORF8 (a lytic-cycle gene) was significantly higher in cells treated with TPA than in uninduced cells (Fig. 1b
-actin were not detected between respective treatments (data not shown), demonstrating the specificity of the effect of TPA on the expression of KSHV-encoded genes. Similar results were observed when PD98059 was used to inhibit MEK activity (data not shown).
B-Raf is believed to be the main regulator of MEK/ERK activity (O'Neill & Kolch, 2004
). It was demonstrated recently that, unlike A-Raf and Raf-1, B-Raf depletion by small interfering RNA (siRNA) inhibits ERK1/2 activity (Karasarides et al., 2004
). In a recently concluded study, we demonstrated the ability of B-Raf siRNA to significantly and specifically lower B-Raf/MEK/ERK signalling in BCBL-1 cells (Akula et al., 2005
). RT-PCR data demonstrated that the transfection of B-Raf siRNA into BCBL-1 cells significantly nullified the effects of TPA on the enhanced expression of ORF73 and ORF8 (Fig. 1c
). In contrast, no significant change in TPA-enhanced expression of ORF73 and ORF8 was observed in cells transfected with non-specific siRNA [(NS)siRNA] (Fig. 1c
). Significant differences in the levels of
-actin were not detected between respective treatments (data not shown). We confirmed the results from semi-quantitative RT-PCR by analysing the expression of KSHV-encoded late-lytic protein (gB) by a more reliable and quantitative approach using flow cytometry, as per earlier protocols (Akula et al., 2002
). BCBL-1 cells stimulated with TPA (Fig. 1e
) expressed gB protein at higher levels than in the uninduced cells (Fig. 1d
). Transfection of TPA-induced BCBL-1 cells with B-Raf siRNA lowered the surface expression of gB significantly (Fig. 1f
). Transfection of TPA-induced BCBL-1 cells with (NS)siRNA did not alter the surface expression of gB significantly, suggesting the specificity of B-Raf siRNA in lowering gB expression (Fig. 1g
). We simultaneously monitored expression of gB on target cells by confocal microscopy (Fig. 2a
). This was primarily done to rule out any non-specific interactions by antibodies to gB (Akula et al., 2001
). The results from studies involving the use of confocal microscopy corroborate those obtained by using flow cytometry. Antibodies to gB specifically reacted with 1725 % of BCBL-1 cells that were treated with TPA, compared with 13 % in the case of untreated cells (Fig. 2a
). Rabbit preimmune IgG did not react with the target cells (data not shown). Our results support earlier findings that TPA treatment induces expression of KSHV-encoded late proteins in only 2025 % of cells (Renne et al., 1996
).
|
Finally, we analysed the effect of transient transfection of BCBL-1 cells with a vector encoding MEK1 (pCMV-MEK1; Clontech) on inducing the lytic cycle of KSHV infection. We observed fourfold-enhanced ERK1/2 activity in cells transfected with pCMV-MEK1 compared with both untransfected cells and those that were transfected with empty vector (Fig. 3a
). We monitored expression of ORF73, ORF8 and
-actin genes by RT-PCR in the above cells. Expression of ORF8 was significantly higher in cells transfected with pCMV-MEK1 than in both untransfected cells and those transfected with empty vector (Fig. 3b
). There was only a marginal increase in the expression of ORF73 in BCBL-1 cells transfected with pCMV-MEK1 compared with either untransfected cells or those transfected with empty vector (Fig. 3b
). There was no significant difference in the levels of
-actin detected between respective treatments (data not shown). The RT-PCR data were confirmed by analysing the expression of KSHV gB by flow cytometry. BCBL-1 cells transfected with pCMV-MEK1 expressed elevated levels of gB on the cell surface compared with cells that were either untransfected or transfected with empty vector (Fig. 3ce
). The above results were further confirmed by confocal microscopy, as done previously (Fig. 2a
). Antibodies to gB specifically reacted with 1317 % of BCBL-1 cells that were transfected with pCMV-MEK1, compared with 13 % in the case of cells that were untransfected or transfected with empty vector (data not shown).
|
Earlier studies identified TPA to activate PKC signalling (Jang et al., 2005
). TPA-induced PKC-
was concluded to be an essential mediator of KSHV reactivation (Deutsch et al., 2004
). However, these authors demonstrated that the stimulation of PKC-
was not sufficient to induce KSHV lytic reactivation. TPA can also activate ERK via the PKC/Raf/MEK signalling (Jang et al., 2005
; Marquardt et al., 1994
). Such a diverse role for the Raf/MEK/ERK signalling pathway in mediating lytic infection of EBV has been reported previously (Fenton & Sinclair, 1999
; Satoh et al., 1999
).
Our results identified B-Raf/MEK/ERK signalling as one of the mediators that is able to reactivate KSHV latency in PEL cells. KSHV-associated pathogenesis is mediated by a complex interplay between inflammatory cytokines (ICs) and growth factors (GFs) (Ensoli et al., 2001
). Constitutive activation of the components (Ras/Raf) of the MAPK pathway of signalling has been a common feature associated with KSHV pathogenesis (Faris et al., 1998
). Interestingly, B-Raf-associated signalling plays multiple roles in KSHV pathogenesis by regulating expression of a variety of ICs/GFs (Giri et al., 2003
; Man et al., 2005
; Matsubara et al., 2005
; Nakayama et al., 2003
), including that of VEGF (Akula et al., 2005
). We hypothesize that B-Raf/MEK/ERK signalling triggers KSHV lytic replication by its ability to modulate the expression of ICs/GFs. Such a role for MAPK signalling in the activation of HIV-1 latency has been reported previously (Yang et al., 1999
). These authors demonstrated the ability of MAPK to modulate cytokine expression as one of the reasons for reactivation of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 latency. Having said this, the obvious question would be about the manner in which this B-Raf/MEK/ERK signalling regulates the reactivation process in vivo. At this point, based on our recently published study (Bryan et al., 2006
), we conjecture a complex, intricate interaction between tightly regulated cell-cycle events and the MAPK pathway to play a crucial role in the actual switch from latent to lytic cycles of KSHV infection. Taken together, the present findings will serve as a starting point in unravelling the mystery surrounding virus latency. Future studies are focused on deciphering the specific signature of cells critical for the B-Raf/MEK/ERK signalling-induced KSHV lytic cycle of infection.
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |
|---|
| REFERENCES |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Akula, S. M., Pramod, N. P., Wang, F.-Z. & Chandran, B. (2002). Integrin
3
1 (CD 49c/29) is a cellular receptor for Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV/HHV-8) entry into the target cells. Cell 108, 407419.[CrossRef][Medline]
Akula, S. M., Ford, P. W., Whitman, A. G., Hamden, K. E., Shelton, J. G. & McCubrey, J. A. (2004). Raf promotes human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8/KSHV) infection. Oncogene 23, 52275241.[CrossRef][Medline]
Akula, S. M., Ford, P. W., Whitman, A. G., Hamden, K. E., Bryan, B. A., Cook, P. P. & McCubrey, J. A. (2005). B-Raf-dependent expression of vascular endothelial growth factor-A in Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus-infected human B cells. Blood 105, 45164522.
An, F.-Q., Compitello, N., Horwitz, E., Sramkoski, M., Knudsen, E. S. & Renne, R. (2005). The latency-associated nuclear antigen of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus modulates cellular gene expression and protects lymphoid cells from p16 INK4A-induced cell cycle arrest. J Biol Chem 280, 38623874.
Bryan, B. A., Dyson, O. F. & Akula, S. M. (2006). Identifying cellular genes crucial for the reactivation of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus latency. J Gen Virol 87, 519529.
Chang, Y., Cesarman, E., Pessin, M. S., Lee, F., Culpepper, J., Knowles, D. M. & Moore, P. S. (1994). Identification of herpesvirus-like DNA sequences in AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma. Science 266, 18651869.
Cook, S. D., Paveloff, M. J., Doucet, J. J., Cottingham, A. J., Sedarati, F. & Hill, J. M. (1991). Ocular herpes simplex virus reactivation in mice latently infected with latency-associated transcript mutants. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 32, 15581561.
Deutsch, E., Cohen, A., Kazimirsky, G., Dovrat, S., Rubinfeld, H., Brodie, C. & Sarid, R. (2004). Role of protein kinase C
in reactivation of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus. J Virol 78, 1018710192.
Ensoli, B., Sgadari, C., Barillari, G., Sirianni, M. C., Stürzl, M. & Monini, P. (2001). Biology of Kaposi's sarcoma. Eur J Cancer 37, 12511269.[CrossRef][Medline]
Faris, M., Ensoli, B., Kokot, N. & Nel, A. E. (1998). Inflammatory cytokines induce the expression of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) isoforms required for the growth of Kaposi's sarcoma and endothelial cells through the activation of AP-1 response elements in the bFGF promoter. AIDS 12, 1927.[CrossRef][Medline]
Fenton, M. & Sinclair, A. J. (1999). Divergent requirements for the MAPKERK signal transduction pathway during initial virus infection of quiescent primary B cells and disruption of Epstein-Barr virus latency by phorbol esters. J Virol 73, 89138916.
Friborg, J., Jr, Kong, W.-P., Hottiger, M. O. & Nabel, G. J. (1999). p53 inhibition by the LANA protein of KSHV protects against cell death. Nature 402, 889894.[Medline]
Fujimuro, M., Liu, J., Zhu, J., Yokosawa, H. & Hayward, S. D. (2005). Regulation of the interaction between glycogen synthase kinase 3 and the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus latency-associated nuclear antigen. J Virol 79, 1042910441.
Gao, X., Ikuta, K., Tajima, M. & Sairenji, T. (2001). 12-O-Tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate induces EpsteinBarr virus reactivation via NF-
B and AP-1 as regulated by protein kinase C and mitogen-activated protein kinase. Virology 286, 9199.[CrossRef][Medline]
Giri, R. K., Selvaraj, S. K. & Kalra, V. K. (2003). Amyloid peptide-induced cytokine and chemokine expression in THP-1 monocytes is blocked by small inhibitory RNA duplexes for early growth response-1 messenger RNA. J Immunol 170, 52815294.
Hamden, K. E., Ford, P. W., Whitman, A. G., Dyson, O. F., Cheng, S.-Y., McCubrey, J. A. & Akula, S. M. (2004). Raf-induced vascular endothelial growth factor augments Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus infection. J Virol 78, 1338113390.
Jang, B.-C., Jung, T.-Y., Paik, J.-H., Kwon, Y.-K., Shin, S.-W., Kim, S.-P., Ha, J.-S., Suh, M.-H. & Suh, S.-I. (2005). Tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate induces expression of Toll-like receptor 2 in U937 cells: involvement of PKC, ERK, and NF-
B. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 328, 7077.[CrossRef][Medline]
Jenner, R. G., Albà, M. M., Boshoff, C. & Kellam, P. (2001). Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus latent and lytic gene expression as revealed by DNA arrays. J Virol 75, 891902.
Jordan, M. C., Jordan, G. W., Stevens, J. G. & Miller, G. (1984). Latent herpesviruses of humans. Ann Intern Med 100, 866880.[Medline]
Karasarides, M., Chiloeches, A., Hayward, R. & 9 other authors (2004). B-RAF is a therapeutic target in melanoma. Oncogene 23, 62926298.[CrossRef][Medline]
Lan, K., Kuppers, D. A., Verma, S. C. & Robertson, E. S. (2004). Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus-encoded latency-associated nuclear antigen inhibits lytic replication by targeting Rta: a potential mechanism for virus-mediated control of latency. J Virol 78, 65856594.
Man, K., Ng, K. T., Lee, T. K., Lo, C. M., Sun, C. K., Li, X. L., Zhao, Y., Ho, J. W. & Fan, S. T. (2005). FTY720 attenuates hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury in normal and cirrhotic livers. Am J Transplant 5, 4049.[CrossRef][Medline]
Marquardt, B., Frith, D. & Stabel, S. (1994). Signalling from TPA to MAP kinase requires protein kinase C, raf and MEK: reconstitution of the signalling pathway in vitro. Oncogene 9, 32133218.[Medline]
Matsubara, M., Tamura, T., Ohmori, K. & Hasegawa, K. (2005). Histamine H1 receptor antagonist blocks histamine-induced proinflammatory cytokine production through inhibition of Ca2+-dependent protein kinase C, Raf/MEK/ERK and IKK/I
B/NF-
B signal cascades. Biochem Pharmacol 69, 433449.[CrossRef][Medline]
Nakayama, K., Ota, Y., Okugawa, S., Ise, N., Kitazawa, T., Tsukada, K., Kawada, M., Yanagimoto, S. & Kimura, S. (2003). Raf1 plays a pivotal role in lipopolysaccharide-induced activation of dendritic cells. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 308, 353360.[CrossRef][Medline]
O'Neill, E. & Kolch, W. (2004). Conferring specificity on the ubiquitous Raf/MEK signalling pathway. Br J Cancer 90, 283288.[CrossRef][Medline]
Radkov, S. A., Kellam, P. & Boshoff, C. (2000). The latent nuclear antigen of Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus targets the retinoblastomaE2F pathway and with the oncogene Hras transforms primary rat cells. Nat Med 6, 11211127.[CrossRef][Medline]
Renne, R., Zhong, W., Herndier, B., McGrath, M., Abbey, N., Kedes, D. & Ganem, D. (1996). Lytic growth of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (human herpesvirus 8) in culture. Nat Med 2, 342346.[CrossRef][Medline]
Satoh, T., Hoshikawa, Y., Satoh, Y., Kurata, T. & Sairenji, T. (1999). The interaction of mitogen-activated protein kinases to Epstein-Barr virus activation in Akata cells. Virus Genes 18, 5764.[CrossRef][Medline]
Vieira, J., O'Hearn, P., Kimball, L., Chandran, B. & Corey, L. (2001). Activation of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (human herpesvirus 8) lytic replication by human cytomegalovirus. J Virol 75, 13781386.
Yang, X., Chen, Y. & Gabuzda, D. (1999). ERK MAP kinase links cytokine signals to activation of latent HIV-1 infection by stimulating a cooperative interaction of AP-1 and NF-
B. J Biol Chem 274, 2798127988.
Yang, T.-Y., Chen, S.-C., Leach, M. W. & 8 other authors (2000). Transgenic expression of the chemokine receptor encoded by human herpesvirus 8 induces an angioproliferative disease resembling Kaposi's sarcoma. J Exp Med 191, 445454.
Received 24 October 2005;
accepted 17 January 2006.
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
E. Kuang, Q. Tang, G. G. Maul, and F. Zhu Activation of p90 Ribosomal S6 Kinase by ORF45 of Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus and Its Role in Viral Lytic Replication J. Virol., February 15, 2008; 82(4): 1838 - 1850. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
Y. Zeng, X. Zhang, Z. Huang, L. Cheng, S. Yao, D. Qin, X. Chen, Q. Tang, Z. Lv, L. Zhang, et al. Intracellular Tat of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Activates Lytic Cycle Replication of Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus: Role of JAK/STAT Signaling J. Virol., March 1, 2007; 81(5): 2401 - 2417. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. G. Whitman, O. F. Dyson, P. J. Lambert, T. L. Oxendine, P. W. Ford, and S. M. Akula Changes occurring on the cell surface during KSHV reactivation J. Electron Microsc. (Tokyo), January 1, 2007; 56(1): 27 - 36. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| INT J SYST EVOL MICROBIOL | MICROBIOLOGY | J GEN VIROL |
| J MED MICROBIOL | ALL SGM JOURNALS | |