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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 279, Issue 53, 55290-55296, December 31, 2004
Overlap of Interaction Domains Indicates a Central Role of the P Protein in Assembly and Regulation of the Borna Disease Virus Polymerase Complex*![]() ![]() From the Department of Virology, University of Freiburg, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany
Received for publication, August 4, 2004 , and in revised form, October 6, 2004.
The active polymerase complex of Borna disease virus is composed of the viral proteins N, P, and L. The viral X (negative regulatory factor) protein acts as a regulator of polymerase activity. Interactions of P with N and X were previously studied, but interactions with L were poorly defined. Using a mammalian two-hybrid system, we observed that L specifically interacts with P but not with N, X, or itself. Mapping of the L-binding domain in the P molecule revealed that it overlaps with two adjacent domains required for multimerization and interaction with N. Competition experiments showed that the interaction between L and P was inefficient when N was present, indicating that L may preferentially interact with free P in infected cells. Interestingly, a multimerization-defective P mutant maintained the ability to interact with L, N, and X but failed to support reporter gene expression from an artificial Borna disease virus minigenome. Furthermore, dominant negative effects on minigenome activity were only observed when P mutants with an intact multimerization domain were used, suggesting that P multimers, rather than monomers, exhibit biological activity. P mutants lacking functional interaction domains for L or N still formed complexes with these viral proteins when wild-type P was available as a bridging molecule, indicating that P multimers have the potential to act as scaffolds on which the RNA polymerase complex is assembled.
The active transcription and replication complex of non-segmented negative strand RNA viruses, termed ribonucleoprotein complex (1), consists of the viral polymerase (L),1 the phosphoprotein (P), the nucleoprotein (N), and the viral RNA (2). P is a co-transcriptional factor of L, whereas N encapsidates the viral genome to form N·RNA complexes (3). For Sendai virus, a prototype paramyxovirus, it was shown that P acts as a scaffold protein, which brings L into close proximity to the N·RNA complex (4), thus allowing RNA synthesis. In the absence of P, the N·RNA complexes are not recognized by L (5). The viral P protein exerts this scaffolding function by employing independent binding sites for L and the N·RNA complex (6). P of Sendai virus contains an additional but distinct binding domain for free N (not bound to viral RNA) (7) and a domain required for multimer formation (8, 9). Complex formation between P and free N prevents aggregation of N (7). Oligomerization is an essential prerequisite for Sendai virus P function in viral transcription and replication (4). The precise function of oligomeric P is unclear. It is assumed that oligomer formation facilitates movement of P (and most likely of the complete polymerase complex) on the RNA template, thereby maintaining polymerase processivity (4). A requirement of P oligomers for viral RNA synthesis was also described for P proteins of other viruses of the order Mononegavirales, including vesicular stomatitis virus (10, 11) and human parainfluenza virus type 3 (12). For the P protein of Sendai virus and human parainfluenza virus type 3, a defined coiled coil region is sufficient for oligomer formation (8, 13). By contrast, vesicular stomatitis virus P oligomerization only occurs prior to phosphorylation of two amino acid residues in the N-terminal acidic region (11). Interestingly, phosphorylation-negative vesicular stomatitis virus P mutants are fully active in replication but defective in transcription (14), suggesting that the viral transcriptase and replicase are two distinct entities with different subunit composition.
BDV is the prototype member of the family Bornaviridae in the order Mononegavirales. It replicates in the nucleus of infected cells (15, 16) and uses alternative splicing for maturation of viral transcripts (17, 18). BDV persistently infects the central nervous systems of a broad range of warm-blooded animals (19). Dependent on host and age, BDV infection can result in symptomless viral persistence or severe immune-mediated neurological disease (20). Seroepidemiological surveys suggest that BDV or a related virus can infect humans (21), although the association with specific diseases awaits further clarification. The viral genome includes six open reading frames (ORFs) encoding N, X, P, matrix protein (M), glycoprotein (G), and L (22, 23). Similar to other members of the family Mononegavirales, BDV-P can form oligomers and is able to interact with N and L (24, 25). BDV-P also interacts with the viral X (negative regulatory factor) protein (24). The domains mediating the interactions with N and X were mapped, whereas the domain of P required for the interaction with L was unknown. Functional analysis of the BDV polymerase complex based on artificial minigenomes demonstrated that N, P, and L are sufficient for viral replication and transcription and that X has a negative regulatory function on polymerase activity (26, 27). It was further observed that viral RNA synthesis was only efficient when the N to P ratio was In analogy to P proteins of other Mononegavirales, we hypothesized that the ability of BDV-P to function as a transcriptional cofactor is dependent on oligomer formation. Using a mammalian two-hybrid system to detect protein-protein interactions and a viral minireplicon assay to study functional aspects of the BDV polymerase, we mapped the L-binding site on P and found that it overlaps with the domains for interaction with N and itself. We further showed that the viral negative regulatory factor X can interact with P·L and P·N complexes, and we provide evidence that P multimers are of critical importance for polymerase activity. Based on these various results, we suggest that P multimers act as central regulatory elements of assembly and activity of the polymerase complex.
Plasmid ConstructionsPrimer sequences used in PCR to clone wild-type and mutant BDV sequences into the various vectors are available on request. PCR was performed with proofreading Pwo DNA polymerase (Peqlab, Erlangen, Germany) and standard reaction conditions in the GeneAmp PCR cycler 9600 (Applied Biosystems). The integrity of all PCR-derived DNA fragments was verified by sequencing.
To assemble cDNAs encoding VP16/L and Gal4/L fusion proteins in the pCA expression vector, the VP16 transactivation domain and the Gal4 DNA-binding domain were amplified from pVP16/P and pGal4/P (24) using primer pairs VP16(+, EcoRI) and VP16(, NotI) or Gal4(+, EcoRI) and Gal4(, NotI). The PCR fragments were EcoRI/NotI-digested and inserted together with the NotI/DraIII fragment ( The ORFs encoding C-terminally truncated forms of P were amplified from template pCA-P (27) using primer P(+, NotI) in combination with either of the primers P135(, XbaI), P172(, XbaI), P183(, XbaI) and P197(, XbaI), which all insert a stop codon and an XbaI restriction site directly downstream of the indicated C-terminal residue. The cDNA encoding N-terminally truncated protein P56201 (P') was amplified using primer pair P56(+, NotI) and P201(, XbaI). The PCR fragments were NotI/XbaI-digested and cloned together with the pCA-derived NheI/HindIII fragment into NotI/HindIII-opened pCA-N and pCA-FLAGN (27) vectors, respectively, resulting in pCA expression vectors encoding either the untagged or the FLAG-tagged version of these P deletion mutants. To generate the various pGal4/P constructs, the cDNAs encoding C-terminally truncated P proteins were reamplified from the corresponding pCA vectors using primer P(+, BamHI), which inserts a BamHI site upstream of the P initiation codon, and primer pCA(, KpnI), which hybridizes to a pCA sequence located downstream of the open reading frame. The cDNAs encoding N-terminally truncated P proteins were amplified from pCA-P using primers P56(+, BamHI), P94(+, BamHI), P135(+, BamHI), P155(+, BamHI), and P172(+, BamHI), which all insert a BamHI restriction site and an initiation codon directly upstream of the indicated N-terminal residue, in combination with primer pCA(, KpnI). The PCR fragments were BamHI/KpnI-digested and ligated into BamHI/KpnI-opened pGal4/N plasmid (24), thereby replacing the N ORF with the different P ORFs. Point mutations inserting two glycine residues in positions 141 and 148 of BDV-P were introduced into pGal4/P and pGal4/P1197 by mutagenesis PCR using complementary primers PLM2G(+) and PLM2G() and the Turbo-Pfu DNA polymerase (Stratagene), resulting in constructs pGal4/PLM2G and pGal4/PLM2G/197. To subclone PLM2G and PLM2G/197 into pCA and pCA-FLAG vectors, their ORFs were amplified from pGal4/PLM2G using primer P(+, NotI) in combination with either primer P197(, XbaI) or primer P201(, XbaI). The resulting PCR fragments were NotI/XbaI-digested and ligated together with the pCA NheI/HindIII fragment into NotI/HindIII-opened pCA-N and pCA-FLAGN (27) vectors, respectively. Cells and TransfectionsCells were maintained in Dulbecco's Unmodified Eagle's medium (DMEM) supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum for 293T cells (human embryonic kidney) and with 10% fetal calf serum plus 1.0 mg/ml G418 for BSR-T7 cells (baby hamster kidney) stably expressing the T7 RNA polymerase (28). The cells were kept at 37 °C in a 5% CO2-humidified atmosphere. Semiconfluent layers of 293T and BSR-T7 cells were grown in 15-mm (24-well) or 25-mm (12-well) dishes before transfection with the various plasmids using Metafectene (Biontex, Munich, Germany). DNA dilutions were prepared in 25 µl of DMEM for the transfection of the 15-mm dishes and in 50 µl of DMEM for the transfection of the 25-mm dishes. The DNA preparations were subsequently mixed with 25 µl of DMEM containing 2.5 µl of Metafectene and 50 µl of DMEM containing 5 µl of Metafectene, respectively. The transfection solutions were incubated for 30 min at room temperature and then applied directly to the cell supernatants. Mammalian Two-hybrid AssaySemiconfluent 293T cells in 24-well dishes were transfected with the indicated plasmids as described above. Twenty-four h post-transfection, firefly and Renilla luciferase expression were analyzed using the dual luciferase kit from Promega, basically as described by the manufacturer's protocol. Briefly, the cells were lysed in 100 µl of lysis buffer (Promega) and incubated for 15 min on a shaking table. Ten µl of the cellular extract were mixed with 50 µl of ice-cold firefly luciferase substrate (Promega), and the emitted photons were measured as relative light units for 10 s in a Lumat LB9501 luminometer (Berthold). Then 50 µl of ice-cold stop and glow Renilla luciferase substrate (Promega) was added to the mixture, and the Renilla luciferase-mediated light emission was measured again for 10 s in the LB9501 luminometer.
Immunoprecipitation and Western Blot AnalysisSemiconfluent 293T cells in 25-mm dishes were transfected with the indicated amount of plasmids as described above. Twenty-four h post-transfection, the cells were washed in 500 µl of ice-cold phosphate-buffered saline and lysed in 200 µl of lysis buffer (50 mM Tris, pH 7.5, 1 mM EDTA, 150 mM NaCl, 1% Nonidet P-40, 0.1% deoxycholate) supplemented with 8 µl of a 25x stock of complete protease inhibitor mixture (Roche Applied Science) and 0.4 µl of Benzonase (Merck). The tubes were incubated for 30 min on ice and vortexed every 10 min to allow for complete lysis of the cells. The supernatant was clarified and transferred to a fresh tube. After addition of 0.4 µg of M2 monoclonal antibody directed against the FLAG tag (Sigma), the cellular extracts were incubated at 4 °C for 1 h under continuous rotation before 50 µl of washed protein A-coated Sepharose beads (Bio-Rad) were added and incubation was continued for another 1.5 h. Thereafter, the beads were sedimented by quick centrifugation, and the supernatant was replaced by 500 µl of washing buffer 1 (20 mM Tris, pH 7.5, 150 mM NaCl, 0.5% Nonidet P-40) followed by 5 min of incubation at 4 °C under continuous rotation. This washing step was repeated twice using washing buffer 2 (20 mM Tris, pH 7.5, 500 mM NaCl, 0.5% Nonidet P-40) for the second and washing buffer 3 (20 mM Tris, pH 7.5) for the third washing step. Finally, all liquid was carefully removed and bound protein complexes were released by boiling in 30 µl of Laemmli gel loading buffer (64.5 mM Tris, pH 7.5, 10% glycerol, 5% SDS) supplemented with 5% Gel FiltrationSemiconfluent 293T cells in 75-mm dishes were transfected with 12 µg of pCA-P or pCA-PLM2G using Metafectene (Biontex) as described above. At 48 h post-transfection, the cells were washed with ice-cold phosphate-buffered saline, scraped off the plates and centrifuged for 2 min at 1,000 rpm at 4 °C. All subsequent steps were carried out at 4 °C. Cell pellets were suspended in 600 µl of buffer A (10 mM Hepes, pH 7.9, 1.5 mM MgCl2, 10 mM KCl, 0.5 mM dithiothreitol, protease inhibitor mix (Roche)). After 10 min of incubation, 200 µl of buffer B (50 mM Hepes pH 7.5, 1.26 M K-acetate, 1.5 mM MgCl2, 0.5 mM dithiothreitol, protease inhibitor mix) were added to the suspension. Disruption of the cell nuclei was achieved by homogenization (20 strokes) using a tight fitting glass douncer. The resulting cell extract was subjected to centrifugation for 15 min at 13,000 rpm to remove cell debris. The supernatant was further centrifuged for 30 min at 100,000 x g in a TLA-120.2 fixed angle rotor, and 200 µl of this supernatant were loaded onto a Superose 12 HR10/30 column (Pharmacia Corporation) equilibrated with buffer C (20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, 150 mM NaCl, 5 mM MgCl2), and fractions of 0.5 ml were collected at a flow rate of 0.5 ml/min. Minireplicon AssayBSR-T7 cells in 25-mm dishes were transfected with the indicated plasmids as described above. After overnight incubation, the transfection solution was removed from the BSR-T7 cells, fresh medium was added, and the incubation was continued. Three days post-transfection, the cells were lysed, and CAT and luciferase expression were quantified as described previously (27).
Identification of the L-binding Domain in BDV-P by Mammalian Two-hybrid AnalysisTo study the interaction of BDV-L with itself and with other viral proteins in the mammalian two-hybrid assay (29), we generated expression constructs pCA-VP16/L and pCA-Gal4/L that code for the complete L protein of BDV fused at the N terminus to either the transactivation domain of VP16 or the DNA-binding domain of Gal4. Semiconfluent 293T cells were co-transfected with pCA-VP16/L and either pGal4/N, pGal4/P, pGal4/X (24), or pCA-Gal4/L, respectively. The transfection mixtures further contained two different reporter constructs, one containing a Gal4 promoter-controlled firefly luciferase gene and one containing a constitutively expressed Renilla luciferase gene. Firefly luciferase activity (which indicates protein-protein interaction) was normalized for transfection efficacy by taking the Renilla luciferase activity into account. Expression of VP16/L together with Gal4/P resulted in >200-fold increased luciferase activity over the Gal4/MxA negative control (Fig. 1A). No enhanced luciferase expression was detected when VP16/L was expressed with Gal4/N, Gal4/X, Gal4/L, or the Gal4/MxA negative control (Fig. 1A), indicating specific interaction between the viral L and P proteins. BDV-L still interacted exclusively with BDV-P when the VP16 and Gal4 fusion partners were swapped (data not shown).
Unmodified N and X proteins were expressed together with VP16/L and GAL4/P to determine whether their presence would interfere with the L-P interaction. The X interaction domain is located between P residues 72 and 87 (30), and the N interaction domain includes P residues 197201 (24). Co-transfection of pCA-N (encoding BDV-N) reduced luciferase activity some 5-fold (Fig. 1B). By contrast, co-transfection of pCA-X (encoding BDV-X) had no detectable impact on the L-P interaction (Fig. 1B). These data indicated that the domain of P required for interaction with L overlapped at least partially with the N but not with the X interaction domain. Because X acts as regulator of BDV transcription and replication (27), we asked whether P would mediate the association of X with L and N. To address this question, we determined whether unmodified wild-type P could serve as a bridging molecule in the mammalian two-hybrid assay that brings Gal4/X into physical contact with either VP16/L or VP16/N (see schematics included in Fig. 1, C and D). In the presence of unmodified wild-type P, strongly enhanced luciferase activity was observed (Fig. 1, C and D) indicating that the formation of X·P·L and X·P·N complexes was induced. To map the domain in P responsible for binding to BDV-L, we generated a series of constructs in which various Nor C-terminally truncated P proteins were fused to Gal4 (Fig. 2A). Truncations were designed to selectively remove one or more of the previously defined domains on BDV-P known to mediate interaction with the viral proteins N, X, and P (24). Selective elimination of parts of the N-binding domain (Gal4/P1197) or of the complete X-binding domain (Gal4/P94201) did not significantly alter the ability of the resulting P fusion proteins to interact with VP16/L (Fig. 2B). In contrast, elimination of the P oligomerization domain (Gal4/P1135 and Gal4/P172201) abolished the interaction with VP16/L almost completely, suggesting that this region contains essential sequences for interaction with L. The Gal4/P1172 fusion protein did not interact with VP16/L, whereas Gal4/P1183 did (Fig. 2B), indicating that P residues 172183 (which are not required for P oligomerization) are important for the interaction with L. Because Gal4/P135201 (but not Gal4/P155201) interacted with VP16/L (Fig. 2B), amino acid positions 135 and 183 determine the N- and C-terminal boundaries of the L interaction domain on BDV-P, as indicated in Fig. 2A.
A Monomeric Variant of BDV-P Retains the Ability to Interact with L, N, and XMammalian two-hybrid analyses suggested that BDV-P can oligomerize (24). To determine whether P monomers can interact with other viral proteins, we mutated a leucine zipper motif in the oligomerization domain of P (Fig. 3A) by inserting two point mutations that replaced leucine 141 and methionine 148 by glycine residues. The resulting construct encoding PLM2G was further engineered to encode a variant with an N-terminal FLAG tag (FLAGPLM2G). An additional construct was generated encoding a FLAGPLM2G variant lacking four amino acids at the C terminus (FLAGPLM2G/197). The effect of these mutations on oligomerization was first analyzed in a co-immunoprecipitation experiment in which 293T cells were co-transfected with these constructs and a vector (pCA-haP) encoding N-terminally HA-tagged wild-type P. Western blot analysis showed that the extent of expression of all FLAG-tagged P variants was comparable (data not shown). Protein complexes were isolated using a mouse anti-FLAG monoclonal antibody M2 and protein A-coated Sepharose beads. After intense washing, protein A-bound complexes were eluted and analyzed using a goat anti-HA polyclonal antiserum. All constructs containing an intact P oligomerization domain (FLAGPwt, FLAGP56201, FLAGP1172, FLAGP1183) were able to co-precipitate HA-labeled P, whereas FLAGGFP and FLAGP1135 were not (Fig. 3B). FLAGPLM2G co-precipitated HA-labeled P with greatly reduced efficacy. FLAGPLM2G/197 had lost this residual activity (Fig. 3B). These results strongly suggested that the leucine-zipper motif within the oligomerization domain is essential for the formation of the P oligomers.
To assess the ability of PLM2G and PLM2G/197 to interact with L, N, P, and X in the mammalian two-hybrid assay, we inserted their coding regions into vector pGal4/P, resulting in constructs pGal4/PLM2G and pGal4/PLM2G/197, respectively. Gal4/PLM2G and Gal4/PLM2G/197 both failed to induce luciferase activity above background level when co-expressed with VP16/P (Fig. 3C), confirming that the oligomerization potential of these molecules is strongly reduced. Lack of activity of Gal4/PLM2G in this assay presumably reflects lower sensitivity of the mammalian two-hybrid assay compared with the immunoprecipitation assay. As expected based on the known position of the N and P interaction domains (24), VP16/N interacted with Gal4/PLM2G but not with Gal4/PLM2G/197. Interestingly, ablation of the oligomerization capacity enhanced the interaction of P with X almost 2-fold, suggesting that extensive P multimerization might interfere with efficient X-P interaction. Most importantly, Gal4/PLM2G and Gal4/PLM2G/197 both strongly interacted with VP16/L (Fig. 3C), demonstrating that oligomerization of P is not a prerequisite for interaction with L. P oligomers had previously not been demonstrated with biochemical techniques. To find out which oligomeric forms might exist, we expressed wild-type P (and PLM2G as negative control) in 293T cells and analyzed cell lysates by gel filtration. The bulk of wild-type P eluted between the positions of the marker proteins bovine serum albumin (66 kDa) and apo-transferrin (7681 kDa), suggesting the predominant presence of trimeric (and possible tetrameric) forms of this 23-kDa protein (Fig. 4). Significant amounts of P eluted in later fractions, suggesting that dimeric P was also present. By contrast, the bulk of PLM2G eluted as a sharp peak between the ovalbumin marker (44.5 kDa) and cytochrome c marker (12.4. kDa) (Fig. 4), indicating that this mutant is unable to form oligomers as predicted from the two-hybrid and co-immunoprecipitation results presented above.
P Oligomerization Is Required for BDV Polymerase ActivityBecause monomeric P protein was able to interact with L and N, we next asked whether oligomerization-defective P (PLM2G) or N- and C-terminally truncated or modified P mutants could reconstitute functional BDV polymerase complexes in a minireplicon assay (27). BSR-T7 cells were transfected with pT7gmgA encoding BDV minigenomic RNA, harboring a CAT reporter gene, pCA-L, pCA-N, and either pCA-Pwt or pCA vectors encoding the indicated P mutants and analyzed for expression of the CAT reporter gene by CAT enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (27). None of the P mutants was able to support CAT expression (Fig. 5A). Even the addition of an N-terminal FLAG tag to wild-type P abolished the activity of this protein in the minireplicon assay, indicating that even minor modifications destroyed the activity of BDV-P.
Because direct analysis of P mutants was thus not possible in the minireplicon assay, we determined whether the various FLAG-tagged mutant proteins would exhibit dominant negative activity when added to the standard BDV minireplicon assay. BSR-T7 cells were transfected as described above, and pCA plasmids encoding one of the various N-terminally FLAG-tagged P proteins were added. The addition of FLAGPwt reduced CAT signals 4-fold relative to the control value (Fig. 5B). FLAGP1197 and FLAGP1172 inhibited the reaction to a similar extent as FLAGPwt (p < 0.01), whereas FLAGP1135 was not inhibitory in this assay. FLAGPLM2G/197, which can no longer interact with wild-type P, exhibited no inhibitory activity in the minireplicon assay. FLAGPLM2G, which also carried mutations in the leucine zipper motif but still interacted weakly with wild-type P (see Fig. 3B), showed significantly reduced (p < 0.05) inhibitory activity compared with FLAGPwt (Fig. 5B). The good correlation between the ability of the various FLAG-tagged P mutants to form multimers and their ability to exhibit a dominant negative effect in the minireplicon assay suggested that P oligomerization plays a key role in BDV polymerase regulation. BDV-P Oligomers Can Interact with L and PTo provide direct evidence that oligomeric P can interact with L and N, we determined whether co-expression of unmodified wild-type P might induce interaction between VP16/L and Gal4/P1172 or VP16/N and Gal4/P1197, respectively, which do not interact directly (see Fig. 2B). We assumed that the intact interaction domains of wild-type P should enable this molecule to function as a bridging factor that brings the VP16 fusion proteins into physical contact with the Gal4/P mutant proteins (as illustrated in the schematics in Fig. 6). This was indeed the case. We observed strongly enhanced luciferase activity in the mammalian two-hybrid assay when wild-type P was used as a bridging factor (Fig. 6). No such enhancement was seen when mutant PLM2G carrying a defective oligomerization domain was used, demonstrating that the observed effects resulted from specific bridging. We concluded from these data that oligomerized P might serve as an assembly platform of the BDV polymerase complex.
Available information from Sendai virus and some other non-segmented negative strand RNA viruses indicates that P proteins may serve as a scaffold for the assembly of the viral polymerase complex (4, 11, 12). It was previously shown that P of BDV can form oligomers and that it can interact with N, X, and L (24, 25). In this work, we found that the L polymerase subunit of the BDV polymerase exclusively binds to P but fails to interact with N, X, and itself, adding weight to the assumption that P plays a central role in polymerase complex conformation. Mapping studies showed that the L-binding domain of P is partially overlapping with the domains required for oligomerization and N binding. The tight packaging of the P-, L-, and N-binding domains in the C-terminal 70 residues of the P molecule suggested a strong interdependence of the various interactions. In agreement with this view, we found that the L-P interaction was strongly inhibited when N was present, indicating that L preferentially interacts with free P. From interaction studies with mutant PLM2G that carries an inactive leucine zipper motif, we arrived at the conclusion that oligomerization does not strongly influence the ability of P to interact with the other viral proteins. However, although monomeric P interacted with viral proteins similar to its wild-type counterpart, it was inactive when used in place of wild-type P in a BDV polymerase reconstitution assay, indicating that oligomerization is critical for its function. Because P mutants with other minor modifications were also inactive in this system, the possibility remained that inactivity in the minireplicon assay was not caused by the inability of PLM2G to form oligomers. However, additional work with various P mutants clearly demonstrated that the oligomerization domain of P is indispensable for activity. We initially observed that wild-type P with a short N-terminal tag (FLAG-P) lost the ability to reconstitute active BDV polymerase complexes and simultaneously gained the ability to act as a dominant negative factor when used in combination with wild-type P. Using this system, we could show that dominant negative effects of FLAG-P were only observed with P mutants that retained the ability of form oligomers. We found that oligomerization-competent P mutants continued to act as dominant negative factors in this assay even when they lacked the ability to interact with N and L. Interestingly, mutant FLAG-PLM2G that oligomerized only poorly retained residual interference activity, which disappeared after the oligomerization potential was further diminished by introducing an additional mutation. These data collectively demonstrated that oligomeric rather than monomeric P exhibits high biological activity. Gel filtration studies further revealed that BDV-P could form stable dimers, trimers, and possible tetramers, suggesting that one of these oligomeric states represents the biological active form of this protein. The conclusion that P is only active in its oligomeric state helps to draw a picture of the active BDV polymerase complex. As suggested by our results, L is unable to interact directly with N. We therefore assume that P oligomers represent the critical link that connects L with encapsidated viral RNA. Oligomeric P may simultaneously interact with several partners, thereby acting as a scaffold, which brings L in close proximity to the N·RNA complex. We assume that interaction with L and N·RNA is accomplished by different P subunits of the multimeric complex. A similar scenario of P-mediated polymerase assembly was suggested for Sendai virus, where interaction of P and L is believed to induce a subtle conformational change in the P multimer, which allows neighboring P molecules to interact with the N·RNA complex (4). Using a modified mammalian two-hybrid system in which interaction is mediated by a bridging molecule, we were able to demonstrate that oligomeric P can indeed interact with L. With the same system, we also showed that oligomeric P can interact with N. These results support the view that the various subunits of the P multimer are capable of engaging in different interactions, bringing L and encapsidated RNA into close contact. Restricted interaction of L may prevent inactivation of polymerase molecules through non-productive binding to free N molecules that are abundantly present in infected cells. Association of N with viral RNA might induce a conformational change in N, which in turn might expose a binding site for the P·L complex. In this context, it is of interest to note that two independent binding sites for P have been described (31).
The main conclusion of the present work is that P oligomerization is essential for the formation of active BDV polymerase complexes. We suggest a model for the assembly and the regulation of the BDV polymerase complex, which shows that by interactions with the different subunits of the P multimer, L and the viral N·RNA complex are brought into close contact. At an optimal N to P ratio of We recently showed that X acts as a regulator of the polymerase complex through interaction with P (32). Other negative strand RNA viruses also code for proteins that act as negative regulatory factors. The M1 protein of the influenza A virus and the Z protein of the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus exhibit an inhibitory effect on viral polymerase activity (33, 34). The NS1 and M22 proteins of respiratory syncytial virus are potent inhibitors of viral transcription and replication (35, 36). Similarly, the V and C proteins of Sendai virus, the V protein of measles virus, and the NSs protein of bunyamwera virus were shown to interfere with viral genome replication (3739). In these cases, the interactions of negative regulatory factors with components of the viral polymerase complexes are poorly characterized, and direct association with the polymerase complex has not been demonstrated. From previous work, it was clear that the X protein of BDV can physically interact with P (24, 32, 40). We therefore tested whether X could directly associate with P·L and P·N complexes in our modified mammalian two-hybrid-based system, in which interaction is mediated by bridging proteins. Results from these binding studies indicate that X·P·L and also X·P·N complexes are formed. Based on immunofluorescence studies of either BDV-infected cells or transfected cells overexpressing X, it was previously suggested that X might act by sequestration of P to the cytoplasm, thereby limiting the availability of P for viral RNA synthesis in the nucleus (30, 32). Although translocation of P into the cytoplasm might partially explain the effect of X, our new data suggest that X could also act more directly in the nucleus, namely by association with the viral polymerase complex through binding to P. This interaction would inhibit the formation of functional polymerase complexes by blocking the association of P·L with P·N·RNA complexes or, alternatively, by blocking the gliding process. A picture thus emerges from these studies that shows that the BDV polymerase complex is highly regulated. It supports previous speculation that a high complexity of polymerase regulation is a prerequisite for the persistent lifestyle of BDV.
* This work was supported by Grant SCHN 765/1-3 from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
1 The abbreviations used are: L, viral polymerase; P, phosphoprotein; N, nucleoprotein; M, matrix protein; G, glycoprotein; X, negative regulatory factor; BDV, Borna disease virus; ORF, open reading frame; GFP, green fluorescent protein; DMEM, Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium; HA, hemagglutinin; wt, wild type.
We thank Stephan Becker for critically reading the manuscript.
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