Characterization of regulatory functions of the HSV-1 immediate-early protein ICP22

Previous work has shown that the 68-kDa immediate-early protein of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), also known as ICP22, is involved in the control of viral gene expression, although the precise mechanism remains to be elucidated. In order to study the function(s) of this protein, we constructed expression vectors containing the coding sequence of the ICP22 gene placed under the control of the SV40 or HCMV promoter. After cell transfection, ICP22 synthesis was studied by immunoblotting, using a specific antiserum. In transient expression experiments in COS cells in which the ICP22 vector was under the control of the SV40 promoter, we found that ICP22 was able to inhibit chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) expression under the control of either the alpha 22 (IE4) promoter or other immediate-early promoters, such as alpha 4 (IE3), alpha 0 (IE1), and alpha 27 (IE2). CAT expression under the control of the alpha 4 (IE3) promoter was inhibited in these cells by expression of ICP22 under the control of the HCMV promoter; it was also inhibited in RAT-1 cells by ICP22 expressed under the control of the SV40 or HCMV promoter. In contrast, CAT expression directed by the SV40 or HCMV promoters was only weakly or not inhibited by the ICP22 vectors. We also constructed an expression vector for UL13, a gene whose product is implicated in the phosphorylation of ICP22. Although CAT expression under the control of the alpha 4 (IE3) promoter was also negatively regulated by the UL13 gene product, the effects of the ICP22 (directed by the SV40 or HCMV promoter) and UL13 vectors were not synergistic; furthermore, at a particular molar ratio of the two vectors, inhibition of CAT activity was partially reversed. The results in the present work suggest that ICP22 can negatively regulate the expression of immediate-early viral genes and that its phosphorylation by UL13 protein kinase might be involved in the modulation of its function.