DNA Damage Signaling Is Required for Replication of Human Bocavirus 1 DNA in Dividing HEK293 Cells.

Human bocavirus 1 (HBoV1), an emerging human-pathogenic respiratory virus, is a member of the genus Bocaparvovirus of the Parvoviridae family. In human airway epithelium air-liquid interface (HAE-ALI) cultures, HBoV1 infection initiates a DNA damage response (DDR), activating all three phosphatidylinositol 3-kinaserelated kinases (PI3KKs): ATM, ATR, and DNA-PKcs. In this context, activation of PI3KKs is a requirement for amplification of the HBoV1 genome (X. Deng, Z. Yan, F. Cheng, J. F. Engelhardt, and J. Qiu, PLoS Pathog, 12:e1005399, 2016, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005399), and HBoV1 replicates only in terminally differentiated, nondividing cells. This report builds on the previous discovery that the replication of HBoV1 DNA can also occur in dividing HEK293 cells, demonstrating that such replication is likewise dependent on a DDR. Transfection of HEK293 cells with the duplex DNA genome of HBoV1 induces hallmarks of DDR, including phosphorylation of H2AX and RPA32, as well as activation of all three PI3KKs. The large viral nonstructural protein NS1 is sufficient to induce the DDR and the activation of the three PI3KKs. Pharmacological inhibition or knockdown of any one of the PI3KKs significantly decreases both the replication of HBoV1 DNA and the downstream production of progeny virions. The DDR induced by the HBoV1 NS1 protein does not cause obvious damage to cellular DNA or arrest of the cell cycle. Notably, key DNA replication factors and major DNA repair DNA polymerases (polymerase η [Pol η] and polymerase κ [Pol κ]) are recruited to the viral DNA replication centers and facilitate HBoV1 DNA replication. Our study provides the first evidence of the DDR-dependent parvovirus DNA replication that occurs in dividing cells and is independent of cell cycle arrest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]