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Journal of Virology, May 2005, p. 5850-5856, Vol. 79, No. 9
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.79.9.5850-5856.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
National Centre for Cell Science, Pune University Campus, Ganeshkhind, Pune, India
Received 4 August 2004/ Accepted 29 December 2004
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Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) or human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) is the most recently discovered human tumor virus belonging to the gammaherpesvirus family. KSHV DNA has been found in all the epidemiological forms of Kaposi's sarcoma and has thus been implicated in the pathogenesis of Kaposi's sarcoma. It is also associated with two lymphoproliferative disorders, body cavity-based B-cell lymphoma, or primary effusion lymphoma, and a subset of multicentric Castleman's disease (16, 18). The KSHV genome and its encoded gene products have been identified in vivo in human B cells, macrophages, endothelial cells, epithelial cells, and keratinocytes (26). Sequencing of the KSHV genome revealed the presence of 80 complete open reading frames (ORFs) encoded within it, with several of them having significant homology to human cellular genes captured during virus evolution (23). The sequence of ORF 4 was strikingly similar to the human complement control proteins belonging to the regulators of complement activation (RCA) family (16, 23). The members of this family are characterized by the presence of conserved elemental units termed the complement control protein domain (CCP) or short consensus repeat (SCR). Each SCR is composed of
60 amino acids with four invariant cysteines linked by two disulfide bonds, an invariant tryptophan, and highly conserved prolines, glycines, and other hydrophobic residues, which together fold into a bead-like structure. Multiple SCRs are separated by linkers of 2 to 7 residues, giving the proteins a "beads-on-a-string"-like appearance. The RCA proteins regulate complement by two different mechanisms: (i) by accelerating the irreversible dissociation of the C3-convertases and (ii) by serving as cofactors for the serine protease factor I-mediated cleavage of C3b and C4b (the subunits of C3-convertases) (9, 21, 25).
The KSHV ORF 4 (1,650 bp) encodes a protein that contains four extracellular SCRs followed by a dicysteine motif, a serine/threonine (S/T)-rich region, and a transmembrane region. The molecule contains three potential N-linked and several O-linked carbohydrate sites (Fig. 1). Analysis of posttranscriptional processing of ORF 4 suggested that, in addition to the unspliced mRNA, two spliced transcripts are produced. Both of them contain the transmembrane region; however, they lack either the S/T region or the dicysteine motif and the S/T region (31). In our previous study, we have expressed the soluble form of this protein (SCRs 1-4 without other regions) using the Pichia expression system and assigned a function to this protein (19). The purified KSHV ORF 4 protein (molecular mass, 56,000 Da) inhibited human complement-mediated lysis of erythrocytes, blocked cell surface deposition of C3b, and served as a cofactor for factor I-mediated inactivation of C3b and C4b. Based on its function, the protein was named as kaposica (the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus inhibitor of complement activation) (19). In a parallel study, another group has shown that apart from factor I cofactor activity (CFA), this protein also possesses considerable decay-accelerating activity (DAA) for the classical C3-convertase (C4b,2a), but poor DAA for the alternative pathway C3-convertase (C3b,Bb) (30).
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FIG. 1. SDS-PAGE and sequence analysis of the purified kaposica mutants. (Left) Schematic representation of the structure of kaposica. It contains four N-terminal SCRs followed by a dicysteine motif, a serine/threonine (S/T) region, and a transmembrane (TM) region. The predicted N-linked and O-linked carbohydrate sites are indicated with balloons and O-CHO, respectively. The predicted O-linked carbohydrate sites within SCRs 1-4 are not marked. The putative heparin-binding sites with a characteristic motif of K/RXK/R (28) are indicated with arrows. Our data shows that the heparin-binding site is located in SCR 1. Kaposica mutants were cloned in P. pastoris and purified as described. The purified mutants were run on an 11% SDS-PAGE gel under reducing conditions and stained with Coomassie blue. Lane 1, molecular mass (MW) markers; lane 2, kaposica; lane 3, SCR 1-3; lane 4, SCR 2-4; lane 5, SCR 1-2; lane 6, SCR 2-3; and lane 7, SCR 3-4. For amplification of the respective deletion mutants, the following sequence-specific primers were used: SCR 1-3, AS-9 (5' GGAATTCAAGTGTTCCCAAAAAACCTTAATTGG 3') and AS-15 (5' GCTCTAGATTAGCCTGCGAGTTCACAGGTTGG 3'); SCR 2-4, AS-17 (5' GGAATTCTGTCCAAACCCAGGTGAAATAC 3') and AS-10 (5' GCTCTAGATTACAAAACACACTTAGGAAGTGG 3'); SCR 1-2, AS-9 and AS-16 (5' GCTCTAGATTACTTTTCTTTTTCACAAAAAGGAGG 3'); and SCR 2-3, AS-17 and AS-15, and SCR 3-4, AS-18 (5'GGAATTCTGTCACAGACCGAAAATCGAAAATG 3') and AS-10. The primers incorporated restriction sites EcoRI and XbaI (italicized) in the forward and the reverse orientations, respectively, and a stop codon (indicated in bold) in the reverse orientation primers. (Right) Amino acid sequences of kaposica mutants were determined by mass spectrometry. Bold amino acid residues indicate the residues that are added at the N terminus due to cloning. The underlined sequences on the figure indicate the sequences determined by mass spectrometry. The apparent molecular masses were determined by running the mutants on SDS-PAGE.
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(Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) at the EcoRI and XbaI sites downstream of the AOX1 methanol-inducible promoter. After sequencing the clones for their authenticity, each of the mutants was integrated into the Pichia genome as per the manufacturer's instruction (Pichia expression kit, version F; Invitrogen). The mutant proteins were expressed and concentrated from the culture supernatants by ultrafiltration followed by ammonium sulfate precipitation (80%) and purified as given below. Kaposica mutants 1-2 and 1-3 were allowed to bind to heparin-agarose column (Sigma, St. Louis, Mo.) in 10 mM sodium phosphate buffer pH 7.4 and eluted using 500 mM NaCl in the above buffer. Mutants 2-3, 3-4, and 2-4, however, failed to bind to the heparin-agarose column and thus were purified using DEAE Sephacel (Sigma) in 10 mM sodium phosphate (pH 7.4). The proteins were eluted using a linear salt gradient from 0 to 250 mM. Based on the pI of the mutant proteins, they were subjected to further purification either on a Mono S or a Mono Q column (Pharmacia, Uppsala, Sweden). Kaposica 1-2 was purified using a Mono S column in 5 mM sodium acetate buffer (pH 4.0), and the protein was eluted by a linear salt gradient of 0 to 1 M. The other mutants (kaposica 1-3, 2-4, 2-3, and 3-4) were purified on a Mono Q column in 20 mM Tris (pH 8.0) and eluted using a linear salt gradient of 0 to 500 mM. The purified proteins ran as single bands on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) (Fig. 1). To confirm the identity of the mutants, they were subjected to sequencing by mass spectrometry as previously described (11) at the Biomolecular Research Facility, University of Virginia, Charlottesville. The amino acid sequences of the expressed mutants were consistent with the predicted sequences confirming the identity of mutants (Fig. 1). The purified mutants were also verified for proper folding using size exclusion chromatography (Superose 12; Pharmacia). All the mutants ran as a monodisperse population (data not shown). These data along with preservation of various functions in mutants, which require different SCRs (described below), suggest that mutants have maintained proper conformation. The molecular masses of kaposica and the mutants 1-3, 2-4, 1-2, 2-3, and 3-4 on size exclusion chromatography were 120,000 Da, 71,000 Da, 56,000 Da, 46,000 Da, 42,000 Da, and 23,000 Da, suggesting that kaposica as well as its mutants except SCR 3-4, exist as dimers. The physiologic importance of dimerization in kaposica is not clear at present.
Previously, we have shown that like vaccinia virus complement control protein (VCP), kaposica also binds to heparin (19). From our purification data, it is clear that only SCR 1-3 and SCR 1-2 mutants retained the heparin-binding activity. Since the SCR 2-4 mutant did not bind to heparin, we conclude that the heparin-binding site is located in SCR 1 of kaposica. We have also verified these data by performing binding of purified kaposica mutants to heparin-agarose (data not shown). It is well known that interaction of human complement regulator factor H with heparin is important for regulation of the alternative pathway (17). Whether the heparin-binding site present on SCR 1 of kaposica plays any role in complement regulation is not known at present.
It is now clear that kaposica inactivates C3-convertases by acting as a cofactor in factor I-mediated inactivation of C3b and C4b, as well as by accelerating decay of the classical pathway (C4b,2a) and, to a limited extent, the alternative pathway (C3b,Bb) C3-convertases into their subunits (19, 30). The data presented in Fig. 2 and 3 show that SCRs 2-3 is the minimum region of kaposica required for factor I cofactor activity for C3b and C4b. Further, these data indicate that the presence of SCRs 1 and 4 are essential for providing optimal cofactor activity against C3b (Fig. 2). Previous data on mapping of the functional domains of human RCA proteins (factor H, membrane cofactor protein, complement receptor 1 and C4b-binding protein) suggested that a minimum of three SCRs are necessary for factor I cofactor activities for C3b and/or C4b (4, 8, 9). Hence kaposica is the first example where factor I cofactor activity is conferred by only two SCRs.
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FIG. 2. Analysis of factor I cofactor activity of kaposica and its mutants for complement protein C3b. Cofactor activity was determined by incubating C3b (2.5 µg) with kaposica (2 µg) or mutants (2 µg) and factor I (150 ng) in 15 µl of 10 mM sodium phosphate, pH 7.4, containing 145 mM NaCl at 37°C for the indicated time period. Cleavage products were visualized by running the samples on 10% SDS-PAGE gels and staining with Coomassie blue. During C3b cleavage, the '-chain is cleaved into N-terminal 68-kDa and C-terminal 43-kDa fragments; appearance of these fragments indicates the generation of iC3b (inactive C3b).
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FIG. 3. Analysis of factor I cofactor activity of kaposica and its mutants for complement protein C4b. Cofactor activity was determined by incubating C4b (3.2 µg) with kaposica (2 µg) or mutants (2 µg) and factor I (150 ng) in 15 µl of 10 mM sodium phosphate, pH 7.4, containing 145 mM NaCl at 37°C for the indicated time period. Cleavage products were visualized by running the samples on 10% SDS-PAGE and staining with Coomassie blue. During C4b cleavage, the '-chain is cleaved into N-terminal 27-kDa, C-terminal 16-kDa (not visualized on the gel), and central C4d fragments; these cleavages result in inactivation of C4b and generation of C4c and C4d.
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FIG. 4. Classical pathway decay-accelerating activity of kaposica and its mutants. The classical pathway (CP) C3-convertase C4b,2a was formed on antibody-coated sheep erythrocytes, using purified C1, C4, and C2 (Calbiochem) (15, 22). The cells coated with C4b,2a were incubated with increasing concentrations of kaposica or its mutants at 22°C for 5 min, and the remaining C3-convertase activity was assayed by incubating the cells with guinea pig sera diluted 1:100 in dextrose gelatin Veronal buffer, pH 7.4, containing 40 mM EDTA. The data were normalized by setting 100% C3-convertase activity to be equal to the average activity in the absence of inhibitor (kaposica or its mutants).
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FIG. 5. Alternative pathway decay-accelerating activity of kaposica and its mutants. The alternative pathway (AP) C3-convertase C3b,Bb was formed on rabbit erythrocytes, using purified C3, factor B, and factor D in the presence of NiCl2 (15, 22). The cells coated with C3b,Bb were incubated with increasing concentrations of kaposica or its mutants at 37°C for 10 min, and the remaining C3-convertase activity was assayed by incubating the cells with human sera diluted 1:5 in gelatin Veronal buffer, pH 7.4, containing 20 mM EDTA. Factor H was used as a positive control. The data were normalized by setting 100% C3-convertase activity to be equal to the average activity in the absence of inhibitor (kaposica or its mutants).
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FIG. 6. Analysis of binding of kaposica and its mutants to immobilized C3b and C4b. C3b and C4b were oriented in their physiological orientation on a streptavidin chip (Sensor Chip SA; Biacore AB) by labeling their free -SH groups with biotin (2). Various concentrations of kaposica or the mutant proteins in PBS-T (10 mM sodium phosphate and 145 mM NaCl, pH 7.4, containing 0.05% Tween 20) were injected over a streptavidin chip, wherein Fc-1 served as a control flow cell and Fc-2 was immobilized with C3b (2,300 relative units [RU]) or C4b (1,130 RU). (Top panels) Sensogram overlays for binding of kaposica to immobilized C3b and C4b. (Middle panels) Binding of kaposica and the mutant proteins to C3b and C4b. Sensograms for binding to C3b were generated by injecting 2.0 µM kaposica or its mutants (20 µM each). Factor H (200 nM) and soluble complement receptor 1 (sCR1; 50 nM) were included as controls. Sensograms for binding to C4b were generated by injecting 125 nM kaposica, 500 nM SCR 1-3, 10 µM SCR 1-2, or 20 µM of SCR 2-4, 2-3, and 3-4 mutants. sCR1 was injected at 125 nM concentration. (Bottom panels) Sensogram overlays for binding of SCR 1-3 and SCR 1-2 mutants to immobilized C3b and C4b. Solid lines in the top and bottom panels represent the global fitting of the data to a 1:1 Langmuir binding model (A+B AB; BIAevaluation 4.1). The concentration of analytes injected is indicated to the right of each sensogram overlay.
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TABLE 1. Kinetic and affinity data for the interactions of kaposica with C3b and C4b and SCR 1-3 and SCR 1-2 mutants with C4bd
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HV-68), a murine gammaherpesvirus, also encodes a four-SCR-containing protein similar to kaposica and regulates complement at the C3-convertase level. In an elegant in vivo study, it has been shown that
HV-68 RCA-C3 interactions are important for acute as well as persistent viral infection (10). Given the fact that kaposica inactivates complement by acting on the C3-convertases and the in vivo data on
HV-68 (10), it is likely that kaposica may play a similar role during KSHV infections. Further delineation of the control points in kaposica and targeting them may provide an alternative way to control KSHV infections.
This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust Overseas Senior Research Fellowship in Biomedical Science in India to A.S. The authors also acknowledge financial assistance to A.K.S. by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India.
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