Physical and functional interactions between herpes simplex virus immediate-early proteins ICP4 and ICP27

The ordered expression of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) genes, during the course of a productive infection, requires the action of the virus immediate-early regulatory proteins. Using a protein interaction assay, we demonstrate specific in vitro protein-protein interactions between ICP4 and ICP27, two immediate-early proteins of HSV-1 that are essential for virus replication. We map multiple points of contact between these proteins. Furthermore, by coimmunoprecipitation experiments, we demonstrate the following. (i) ICP4-ICP27 complexes are present in extracts from HSV-1 infected cells. (ii) ICP27 binds preferentially to less modified forms of ICP4, a protein that is extensively modified posttranslationally. We also demonstrate, by performing electrophoretic mobility shift assays and supershifts with monoclonal antibodies to ICP4 or ICP27, that both proteins are present in a DNA-protein complex with a noncanonical ICP4 binding site present in the HSV thymidine kinase (TK) gene. ICP4, in extracts from cells infected with ICP27-deficient viruses, is impaired in its ability to form complexes with the TK site but not with the canonical site from the alpha4 gene. However, ICP4 is able to form complexes with the TK probe, in the absence of ICP27, when overproduced in mammalian cells or expressed in bacteria. These data suggest that the inability of ICP4 from infected cell extracts to bind the TK probe in the absence of ICP27 does not reflect a requirement for the physical presence of ICP27 in the complex. Rather, they imply that ICP27 is likely to modulate the DNA binding activity of ICP4 by affecting its posttranslational modification status. Therefore, we propose that ICP27, in addition to its established role as a posttranscriptional regulator of virus gene expression, may also modulate transcription either through direct or indirect interactions with HSV regulatory regions, or through its ability to modulate the DNA binding activity of ICP4.