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A biophysical study of intranuclear herpes simplex virus type 1 DNA during lytic infection

  • Author / Creator
    Lacasse, Jonathan J
  • Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (HSV-1) establishes latent infections in neurons in vivo and lytic infections in epithelial cells and fibroblasts. During latent infections, HSV-1 transcription is restricted and the genomes are not replicated. Latent HSV-1 genomes are chromatinized, such that digestion with micrococcal nuclease (MCN) releases DNA fragments with sizes characteristic of nucleosomal DNA. During lytic infections, in contrast, all HSV-1 genes are expressed, the genomes are replicated, and their digestion produces primarily heterogeneously sized fragments. However, as evaluated by ChIP assays, HSV-1 DNA interacts with histones during lytic infections, although in most cases only a small percentage of HSV-1 DNA co-immunoprecipitates with histones (or is cleaved to nucleosome sizes following MCN digestion). Therefore, although current models propose that chromatin regulates HSV-1 transcription, it remains unclear how the association of histones with only a small percentage of HSV-1 DNA can globally regulate viral transcription. Moreover, the physical properties of the complexes containing histones and HSV-1 DNA are unknown. My objective was therefore to evaluate the biophysical properties of the HSV-1 DNA-containing complexes during lytic infection. Differing from pervious studies, however, I used classical chromatin purification techniques. I show that most HSV-1 DNA is in unstable nucleoprotein complexes and, consequently, more accessible to MCN than DNA in cellular chromatin. This HSV-1 DNA is protected from MCN redigestion only after crosslinking, similar to unstable cellular nucleosomes. HSV-1 DNA is in such complexes throughout lytic infection. Using unrelated small-molecule inhibitors, I further show that inhibition of HSV-1 transcription is associated with a decrease in MCN accessibility of HSV-1 DNA. Roscovitine, a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, prevents activation but not elongation of IE, E, and L HSV-1 transcription. Consistent with a functional association between accessibility and transcription, roscovitine only decreases the accessibility of DNA templates of which it also inhibits transcription, independent of specific promoter sequences. In summary, I show that most HSV-1 DNA is in unstable nucleosome-like complexes during lytic infection and that accessibility to HSV-1 DNA likely plays a key role in regulating HSV-1 transcription.

  • Subjects / Keywords
  • Graduation date
    Fall 2010
  • Type of Item
    Thesis
  • Degree
    Doctor of Philosophy
  • DOI
    https://doi.org/10.7939/R3SC7F
  • License
    This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.