Z Yao, W Jackson, B Forghani, C Grose

The unique short region of the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) genome contains two open reading frames which encode glycoproteins designated gpI and gpIV (herpes simplex virus homologs gE and gI, respectively). Like its herpesviral counterpart gE, the VZV gpI gene product functions as a cell surface receptor (V. Litwin, W. Jackson, and C. Grose, J. Virol. 66:3643-3651, 1992). To evaluate the biosynthesis of the two VZV glycoproteins and further explore their relationship to one another, the two glycoprotein genes were individually cloned into a pTM1 vector under control of the T7 promoter. Transfection of the cloned gpI or gpIV construct into HeLa cells previously infected with vaccinia recombinant virus expressing bacteriophage T7 polymerase resulted in a much higher level expression of each VZV glycoprotein than previously achieved. Synthesis of both gpI and gpIV included intermediary partially glycosylated forms and mature N- and O-linked final product. Transfections in the presence of 32Pi demonstrated that the mature forms of both gpI and gpIV were phosphorylated, while similar experiments with [35S]sulfate showed that only the mature gpI was sulfated. When gpI and gpIV were coexpressed in the same cell, the two glycoproteins were complexed to each other, as both proteins could be immunoprecipitated by antibodies against either gpI or gpIV. Coprecipitation did not occur as a result of a shared epitope, because gpI expressed alone was not precipitated by antibody to gpIV, and gpIV expressed alone was not precipitated by antibody to gpI. Pulse-chase analysis demonstrated that the gpI-gpIV association occurred early in processing; furthermore, this complex formation interfered with posttranslational modifications and thereby reduced the M(r)s of the mature forms of both gpI and gpIV. Similarly, the molecular masses of the cotransfected gene products corresponded with those of the infected cell glycoproteins, a result which suggested that authentic gpI and gpIV were ordinarily found within a complex. Thus, the adjacent open reading frames 67 and 68 code for two glycoproteins which in turn form a distinctive sulfated and phosphorylated cell surface complex with receptor properties.