David J. Spector

Earlier studies have shown that a herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) open reading frame, US3, encodes a novel protein kinase and have characterized the cognate amino acid sequence which is phosphorylated by this enzyme. This report identifies an apparently essential viral phosphoprotein whose posttranslational processing involves the viral protein kinase. Analyses of viral proteins phosphorylated in the course of productive infection revealed a phosphoprotein whose mobility was viral protein kinase and serotype dependent. Thus, the corresponding HSV-1 and HSV-2 phosphoproteins differ in their electrophoretic mobilities, and the phosphoprotein specified by the HSV-1 mutant deleted in US3 (R7041) differs from that of the corresponding HSV-1 and HSV-2 proteins. Analyses of HSV-1 x HSV-2 recombinants mapped the phosphoprotein between 0.42 and 0.47 map units on the prototype HSV-1 DNA map. Within this region, the UL34 open reading frame was predicted to encode a protein of appropriate molecular weight which would also contain the consensus target site for phosphorylation by the viral protein kinase as previously defined with synthetic peptides. Replacement of the native UL34 gene with a UL34 gene tagged with a 17-amino-acid epitope from the alpha 4 protein identified this gene as encoding the phosphoprotein. Finally, mutagenesis of the predicted phosphorylation site on UL34 in the viral genome, and specifically the substitution of threonine or serine with alanine in the product of the UL34 gene, yielded phosphoproteins whose electrophoretic mobilities could not be differentiated from that of the US3- mutant. We conclude that the posttranslational processing of the UL34 gene product to its wild-type phenotype requires the participation of the viral protein kinase. While the viral protein kinase is not essential for viral replication in cells in culture, the UL34 gene product itself may not be dispensable.

The transition from the expression of alpha, the first set of five herpes simplex virus genes expressed after infection, to beta and gamma genes, expressed later in infection, requires the participation of infected cell protein 4 (alpha 4), the major viral regulatory protein. The alpha 4 protein is present in complexes formed by proteins extracted from infected cells and viral DNA fragments derived from promoter domains. This report shows that the alpha 4 protein forms specific complexes with DNA fragments derived from 5' transcribed noncoding domains of late (gamma 2) genes whose expression requires viral DNA synthesis as well as functional alpha 4 protein. Some of the DNA fragments to which alpha 4 binds do not contain homologs of the previously reported DNA binding site consensus sequence, suggesting that alpha 4 may recognize and interact with more than one type of DNA binding site. The alpha 4 proteins can bind to DNA directly. A posttranslationally modified form of the alpha 4 protein designated alpha 4c differs from the alpha 4a and alpha 4b forms with respect to its affinity for DNA fragments differing in the nucleotide sequences of the binding sites.

Region 1 DNA sequences (map positions 0 to 11% on the linear adenovirus 2 genome) are expressed both early and late in lytic infection and are required for transformation by the virus. During productive infection six distinct cytoplasmic RNAs are synthesized from this region. These RNAs comprise two families, each consisting of three size classes that share 3' sequences. Region 1 RNA's were purified by hybridization selection, using restriction fragments bound to nitrocellulose membranes, and by size fractionation. The isolated RNAs were then translated in cell-free systems derived from wheat germ and rabbit reticulocytes. The family of RNAs specified by 0 to 4.4 sequences includes two RNAs, which are 12S and 13S in size. These RNAs were partially separated by molecular weight and translated. The 13S RNA produced 53,000-dalton (53K) and 41K peptides, and the 12S RNA synthesized 47K and 35K products. The family of RNAs mapping from 4.4 to 11.0 encodes three separate polypeptides, each of which can be assigned to a specific RNA. A 12K product that comigrates with structural polypeptide IX is synthesized from the 9S RNA as previously reported (U. Pettersson and M. B. Mathews, Cell 12:741-750, 1977). The 13S RNA encodes a 15K polypeptide that corresponds to a 15K polypeptide in infected cell extracts. The 22s RNA encodes a 52K protein distinct from the 0 to 4.4 polypeptides.

Endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) is an enzyme responsible for the production of a potent vasodilator and a key regulator of vascular tone, NO. In peripheral arteries, expression of a recombinant eNOS gene increases production of NO in the blood vessel wall. This approach appears to be a promising strategy for gene therapy of cerebrovascular disease. The major objective of the present study was to determine whether a recombinant eNOS gene (AdCMVNOS) can be functionally expressed in cerebral arteries. Replication-defective recombinant adenovirus vectors encoding bovine eNOS and Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase (AdCMVLacZ) genes, driven by the cytomegalovirus promoter, were used for ex vivo gene transfer. Rings of canine basilar artery were incubated with increasing titers of the vectors in MEM. Twenty-four or forty-eight hours after gene transfer, expression and function of AdCMVNOS were evaluated by (1) immunohistochemical staining, (2) isometric tension recording, and (3) cGMP radioimmunoassay. Transfection with AdCMVNOS resulted in the expression of recombinant eNOS protein in the vascular adventitia and endothelium, associated with significantly reduced contractile responses to UTP and enhanced endothelium-dependent relaxation to calcium ionophore A23187. Basal production of cGMP was significantly increased in the transfected vessels. The reduced contractions to UTP with increased cGMP production were reversed by a NOS inhibitor, N(G)-monomethyl-L-arginine. Contractions to UTP or production of cGMP were not affected in arteries transfected with AdCMVLacZ reporter gene. The results of the present study represent the first successful transfer and functional expression of recombinant eNOS gene in cerebral arteries. Our findings suggest that cerebral arterial tone can be modulated by recombinant eNOS expression in the vessel wall.