Major Virion Tegument Protein VP22 Targets Nuclear Matrix and Chromatin upon Entry into Cells during Productive Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Infection

• Published in: Microorganisms (Basel) Vol. 12; no. 3; p. 521
• Main Authors: Chi, Isabella, Blaho, John A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.03.2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Chromatin; Cycloheximide; Development and progression; Herpes simplex; Herpes viruses; HSV-1; Infections; Nuclear matrix; Phosphatase; phosphorylation; Physiological aspects; Protein synthesis; Proteins; Tegument; Viral proteins; virion VP22; Virions; VP22 protein; United States; United States > US; HSV-1; virion VP22; nuclear matrix; chromatin; phosphorylation
• ISSN: 2076-2607; 2076-2607
• DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms12030521

HSV-1 major tegument protein VP22 is present in multiple subcellular locations in the late stages of productive viral infection. We initially performed a detailed time course experiment and observed that VP22 was detected in nuclear and nuclear matrix fractions as early as 4 hpi. The goal was to determine the fate of virion-derived incoming VP22, and we report the following: (i) VP22 was detected in nuclear matrix fractions 1 hpi. (ii) In the presence of cycloheximide (CHX), VP22 was present in the nuclear matrix 1-6 hpi, demonstrating the stability of the protein. (iii) The nuclear matrix targeting of VP22 occurred in infected Vero, HEp-2, and human mammary epithelial (HME) cells and following synchronized infection. Based on these results, we conclude that (iv) VP22 targets the nuclear matrix and chromatin upon entry into cells during productive HSV-1 infection.