NRF-1: a trans-activator of nuclear-encoded respiratory genes in animal cells. in the promoter region of key metabolic genes with essential functions involved with respiration (50, 51), heme biosynthesis (52, 53), mitochondrial gene transcription (54, 55), and DNA replication and cell cycle progression (56, 57). Since expression of US27 in transfected cells increased CXCR4 mRNA levels (18), we wondered whether the underlying mechanism might involve stimulating NRF-1 binding to the ARE in the CXCR4 promoter. Here, we report that US27 is a constitutively active receptor that drives transcription of ARE-regulated genes through NRF-1, leading to increased CXCR4 expression during HCMV infection. RESULTS Generation of viral recombinants. In order to investigate how US27 influences CXCR4 expression during infection, we generated a panel of viral mutants utilizing the bacterial recombineering system Anticancer agent 3 (58). We constructed each recombinant in the wild-type (WT) background of the bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC)-derived clinical isolate TB40/E-(40). We have previously described the mutants in which the entire US27 ORF was deleted (US27) (19) or all four viral GPCRs were deleted (TB40/E-(US27resulted in titers comparable to those of the WT virus over the course of lytic infection in fibroblasts. This is in agreement with previous findings showing that US28 (26, 59), UL33 (60), and UL78 (36, 40) are dispensable for lytic replication in fibroblasts. Open in a separate window FIG 1 Growth kinetics of wild-type and mutant viruses. Fibroblasts were infected at a multiplicity of 0.01 TCID50/cell with the indicated viruses, samples of medium were collected at the indicated time points, and viral progeny were assayed by infecting fibroblasts and quantifying IE1-positive cells 24 h later by immunofluorescence. Each sample was measured in triplicate, and error bars represent the standard error. *, 0.05 by paired Student’s test versus US27- and all-infected cells. US27 promotes increased CXCR4 expression during HCMV infection. We and others have observed that transfection of US27 results in increased CXCR4 mRNA and protein levels in multiple cell types (18, 61, 62). Here, we examined the impact of US27 on CXCR4 expression in Anticancer agent 3 the context of HCMV infection. Fibroblasts were mock infected or infected with WT, US27, all, or US27virus (MOI = 0.2). At 120 h postinfection (hpi), expression of UL123 (encoding immediate early 1 Anticancer agent 3 [IE1]) in cells infected with all four recombinant viruses was confirmed by standard PCR (Fig. 2A), demonstrating that infection had occurred. In contrast to UL123, US27 was expressed only in WT- and US27(WT) or the indicated recombinants, and CXCR4 expression was evaluated. (A) Cells were infected at an MOI of 0.2, and at 120 hpi RNA was harvested and expression was assessed by RT-PCR with gene-specific primers. PCR products were visualized via agarose gel electrophoresis. Anticancer agent 3 (B) RT-qPCR was performed on the same cDNA with normalization to the -actin level, and the results are expressed as the fold change relative to the levels of expression in mock-infected cells. (C) Cells were infected at an MOI of 3, RNA was purified at 3 hpi, and RT-PCR was performed, as described above. P represents plasmid DNA (p3XFLAG-US27) used as a positive control. (D) RT-qPCR was performed with normalization to the -actin level, and the results are expressed as the fold change relative to the level of expression in mock-infected cells. Error bars represent the standard error among 3 replicates. *, 0.01 by paired Student’s test versus mock-, US27-, and all-infected cells; ns, not significant. Since US27 is present in the virus particle (15, 37), we next asked whether US27 could influence CXCR4 levels upon virus fusion and entry. Pramlintide Acetate To address this, fibroblasts were mock infected or infected with WT, US27, US27virus (Fig. 2D). Taken together, these data indicate that US27 upregulates CXCR4 gene expression during infection of fibroblasts. To confirm the presence of US27 early following infection, we performed immunofluorescence microscopy in infected fibroblasts at 3 hpi. Newborn human foreskin fibroblast-1 (NuFF) cells were cultured on glass coverslips, infected with the indicated virus for 3 h (MOI = 3), and then fixed and stained with anti-US27 or anti-US28 antibody followed by Alexa Fluor 514-conjugated secondary antibody. Multiple green fluorescent punctae representing the US27 protein were present in WT- and US27synthesis, we treated cells with cycloheximide overnight to block protein synthesis prior to virus infection. Both US27 and pp65, an abundant tegument protein, were detected in infected cells treated with cycloheximide (Fig. 3B). Coupled with our findings detailed in Fig. 2, these results demonstrate that US27 from the virus particle is sufficient to promote an increase in CXCR4 mRNA levels during HCMV infection. Open in a separate window FIG 3.