Discovery of a second form of tripartite complex containing gH-gL of human herpesvirus 6 and observations on CD46

J Virol. 2004 May;78(9):4609-16. doi: 10.1128/jvi.78.9.4609-4616.2004.

Abstract

The human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) glycoprotein H (gH)-glycoprotein L (gL) complex associates with glycoprotein Q (gQ) (Y. Mori, P. Akkapaiboon, X. Yang, and K. Yamanishi, J. Virol. 77:2452-2458, 2003), and the gH-gL-gQ complex interacts with human CD46 (Y. Mori, X. Yang, P. Akkapaiboon, T. Okuno, and K. Yamanishi, J. Virol. 77:4992-4999, 2003). Here, we show that the HHV-6 U47 gene, which is a positional homolog of the human cytomegalovirus glycoprotein O (gO) gene, encodes a third component of the HHV-6 gH-gL-containing envelope complex. A monoclonal antibody (MAb) against the amino terminus of HHV-6 gO reacted in immunoblots with protein species migrating at 120 to 130 kDa and 74 to 80 kDa in lysates of HHV-6-infected cells and with a 74- to 80-kDa protein species in purified virions. The 80-kDa form of gO was coimmunoprecipitated with an anti-gH MAb, but an anti-gQ MAb, which coimmunoprecipitated gH, did not coprecipitate gO. Furthermore, the gH-gL-gO complex did not bind to human CD46, indicating that the complex was not a ligand for CD46. These findings suggested that the viral envelope contains at least two kinds of tripartite complexes, gH-gL-gQ and gH-gL-gO, and that the gH-gL-gO complex may play a role different from that of gH-gL-gQ during viral infection. This is the first report of two kinds of gH-gL complexes on the viral envelope in a member of the herpesvirus family.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Antigens, CD / metabolism*
  • Cell Line
  • Herpesvirus 6, Human / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Ligands
  • Membrane Cofactor Protein
  • Membrane Glycoproteins / metabolism*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Sequence Alignment
  • T-Lymphocytes / virology
  • Viral Envelope Proteins / chemistry
  • Viral Envelope Proteins / genetics
  • Viral Envelope Proteins / metabolism*

Substances

  • Antigens, CD
  • CD46 protein, human
  • Ligands
  • Membrane Cofactor Protein
  • Membrane Glycoproteins
  • Viral Envelope Proteins
  • glycoprotein L, Human herpesvirus 1
  • glycoprotein O, cytomegalovirus
  • glycoprotein H, herpesvirus 6