Search

Several mouse cell lines expressing hybrid human poliovirus receptors (hPVRs) bearing mutations in the first immunoglobulin-like domain were previously characterized for their defective binding and replication of poliovirus type 1 Mahoney (G. Bernhardt, J. Harber, A. Zibert, M. DeCrombrugghe, and E. Wimmer, Virology, 203, 344-356, 1994). Here we report that these mutant hPVRs were utilized to explore differences in the binding behavior of the three serotypes of poliovirus. Type 3 polioviruses (both Sabin and the neurovirulent Leon strain) clearly bound to the hPVR mutant Q130G/GD, but were incapable of initiating infection. Also, binding at 25 degrees of poliovirus types 2 and 3 to cell lines expressing the hPVR mutants P84SYS/HPGA, L99GAE/AAAA, and D117F was greater than type 1 poliovirus. Further study of the serotype-specific interaction with mutant hPVRs was accomplished with antigenic hybrid viruses. Improved binding by antigenic hybrid viruses demonstrated that serotype-specific binding to mutant hPVRs is, in part, determined by the amino acid sequence of neutralization antigenic sites (NAgs) and the probable conformational rearrangement of amino acids adjacent to the NAg sites. Finally, site-directed mutants of poliovirus were utilized to determine the relative contributions, to hPVR interactions, of individual amino acids with solvent accessible side chains in the viral canyon. Of the 18 viable virus mutants produced, 3 (D1226A, I1089A, and VPEK1166HPGA) expressed impaired replication phenotypes on the mutant hPVR cell lines P84SYS/HYSA and D117F. A location at the rim of the poliovirus canyon was implicated for the interaction of the amino terminal domain of the poliovirus receptor with conserved and serotype-specific viral surface amino acids. The possible involvement of elements of neutralization antigenic sites in receptor binding may explain, in part, why poliovirus exists in only three serotypes.

Poliovirus type 1 strain LS-a [PV1(LS-a)] is a OV variant adapted to mice by multiple passages through mouse and monkey tissues. To investigate the molecular basis underlying mouse neurovirulence of PV1(LS-a), a cDNA of the viral genome containing nucleotides 112 to 7441 was cloned, and the nucleotide sequence was determined. Compared with that of the mouse avirulent progenitor PV1(Mahoney), 54 nucleotide changes were found in the genome of the PV1(LS-a) virus, resulting in 20 amino acid substitutions in the virus polyprotein. Whereas the nucleotide changes were scattered throughout the genome, the amino acid substitutions were largely clustered in the capsid proteins and, to a certain extent, in the virus proteinase 2Apro. By in vitro mutagenesis, PV1(LS-a)-specific capsid mutations were introduced into a cDNA clone of PV1(Mahoney). We show that neither the individual amino acid mutations nor combinations of mutations in the region encoding VP1 conferred to PV1(Mahoney) the mouse-adapted phenotype of PV1(LS-a). Chimeric cDNA studies demonstrated that a recombinant type 1 virus containing the PV1(LS-a) sequence from nucleotide 2470 to nucleotide 3625 displayed a neurovirulent phenotype in mice. Further dissection of this region revealed that mouse neurovirulence of PV1(LS-a) was determined by multiple mutations in regions encoding both viral proteinase 2Apro and capsid protein VP1. The mouse neurovirulent viruses, PV1(LS-a), W1-M/LS-Pf [nucleotides 496 to 3625 from PV1(LS-a)], and W1-M/LS-NP [nucleotides 2470 to 3625 from PV1(LS-a)], showed increased sensitivity to heat treatment at 45 degrees C for 1 h. Surprisingly, the thermolabile phenotype was also displayed by a recombinant of PV1(Mahoney) carrying a PV1(LS-a) DNA fragment encoding the N-terminal portion of 2Apro. This suggests that base substitutions in the region encoding 2Apro affected capsid stability, thereby contributing to the neurovirulence of the virus in mice.

The maturation of the poliovirus capsid occurs as the result of a single unexplained proteolytic event during which 58 to 59 copies of the 60 VP0 capsid protein precursors are cleaved. An autocatalytic mechanism for cleavage of VP0 to VP4 and VP2 was proposed by Arnold et al. (E. Arnold, M. Luo, G. Vriend, M. G. Rossman, A. C. Palmenberg, G. D. Parks, M. J. Nicklin, and E. Wimmer, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84:21-25, 1987) in which serine 10 of VP2 is activated by virion RNA to catalyze VP4-VP2 processing. The hypothesis rests on the observation that a hydrogen bond was observed between serine 10 of VP2 (S2010) and the carboxyl terminus of VP4 in three mature picornaviral atomic structures: rhinovirus 14, mengovirus, and poliovirus type 1 (Mahoney). We constructed mutant viruses with cysteine (S2010C) or alanine (S2010A) replacing serine 10 of VP2; these exhibited normal proteolytic processing of VP0. While our results do not exclude an autocatalytic mechanism for the maturation cleavage, they do eliminate the conserved S2010 residue as the catalytic amino acid.

The poliovirus polyprotein is cotranslationally linked to myristic acid at its amino-terminal glycine residue. We investigated the role of myristoylation in the viral replication cycle by site-directed mutagenesis of this glycine codon. Synthetic full-length RNA transcripts carrying a Gly-to-Ala mutation (G4002A) gave no infectious virus on transfection into permissive cells (HeLa). However, mutant viral RNA was replicated in the transfected cells, albeit at a reduced level. The virus-specific polypeptide P1, the precursor for the capsid proteins, was found in HeLa cells transfected with wild-type or mutant RNA, but only the wild-type P1 was myristoylated; the G4002A mutant P1 was not myristoylated. We also introduced the G4002A mutation into an in vitro transcription-translation vector encoding poliovirus P1 precursor. Processing of the mutant precursor by poliovirus-infected cell lysate (providing 3Cpro and 3CDpro activities) was severely inhibited, whereas the normally inefficient cleavage by purified 3Cpro was not affected. These results suggest that the myristic acid moiety of the P1 precursor may be required for efficient processing by 3CDpro.