QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online 27 May 2008
doi: 10.1242/jcs.031450

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplementary Material All Versions of this Article: jcs.031450v1 121/12/2087    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Yamauchi, Y. Articles by Nishiyama, Y. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Yamauchi, Y. Articles by Nishiyama, Y.

Herpes simplex virus induces extensive modification and dynamic relocalisation of the nuclear mitotic apparatus (NuMA) protein in interphase cells

Department of Virology, Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya University, Tsurumai-cho 65, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550, Japan

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: ynishiya{at}med.nagoya-u.ac.jp)

Accepted 8 April 2008

The nuclear mitotic apparatus (NuMA) protein is a component of the nuclear matrix in interphase cells and an essential protein for the formation of mitotic spindle poles. We used herpes simplex virus (HSV), an enveloped DNA virus that replicates in the nucleus, to study the intra-nuclear dynamics of NuMA in infected cells. This study shows that NuMA is extensively modified following HSV infection, including phosphorylation of an unidentified site(s), and that it depends to an extent on viral DNA synthesis. Although NuMA is insoluble in uninfected interphase cells, HSV infection induced solubilisation and dynamic relocalisation of NuMA, whereupon the protein became excluded from viral replication compartments – sites of virus transcription and replication. Live cell, confocal imaging showed that NuMA localisation dramatically changed from the early stages (diffusely nuclear, excluding nucleoli) to late stages of infection (central diminuition, but remaining near the inner nuclear peripheries). In addition, NuMA knockdown using siRNA suggested that NuMA is important for efficient viral growth. In summary, we suggest that NuMA is required for efficient HSV infection, and identify further areas of research that address how the virus challenges host cell barriers.

Key words: Nuclear mitotic apparatus protein, Herpes simplex virus, Nuclear matrix, Live cell imaging