Varicella-Zoster virus (VZV) is a herpesvirus that becomes latent in sensory neurons after primary infection (chickenpox) and subsequently may reactivate to cause zoster. The mechanism by which this virus maintains latency, and the factors involved, are poorly understood. Here we demonstrate, by immunohistochemical analysis of ganglia obtained at autopsy from seropositive patients without clinical symptoms of VZV infection that viral regulatory proteins are present in latently infected neurons. These proteins, which localize to the nucleus of cells during lytic infection, predominantly are detected in the cytoplasm of latently infected neurons. The restriction of regulatory proteins from the nucleus of latently infected neurons might interrupt the cascade of virus gene expression that leads to a productive infection. Our findings raise the possibility that VZV has developed a novel mechanism for maintenance of latency that contrasts with the transcriptional repression that is associated with latency of herpes simplex virus, the prototypic alpha herpesvirus.

The polyamines are abundant blogenlc cations implicated in many biological processes. Despite a plethora of evidence on polyamine-induced DNA conforma-tional changes, no thorough study of their effects on the activities of sequence-specific DNA binding proteins has been performed. We describe the In vitro effects of polyamines on the activities of purified, representative DNA-binding proteins, and on complex protein mixtures. Polyamines at physiological concentrations enhance the binding of several proteins to DNA (e.g. USF, TFE3, Ig/EBP, NF-IL6, YY1 and ICP-4, a herpes simplex virus gene regulator), but Inhibit others (e.g. Oct-1). The degree of enhancement correlates with catlonic charge; divalent putrescine is ineffective whereas tetravalent spermine is more potent than trlvalent spermldine. Polyamine effects on USF and ICP-4 result from increased rate of complex formation rather than a decreased rate of dissociation. DNAse I footprint analysis Indicated that polyamines do not alter DNA-proteln contacts. Polyamines also facilitate formation of complexes involving binding of more than one protein on a DNA fragment.

This review considers the role of antizyme, of amino acids and of protein synthesis in the regulation of polyamine biosynthesis. The ornithine decarboxylase of eukaryotic ceils and of Escherichia coli coli can be non-competitively inhibited by proteins, termed antizymes, which are induced by di-and poly- amines. Some antizymes have been purified to homogeneity and have been shown to be structurally unique to the cell of origin. Yet, the E. coli antizyme and the rat liver antizyme cross react and inhibit each other's biosynthetic decarboxylases. These results indicate that aspects of the control of polyamine biosynthesis have been highly conserved throughout evolution. Evidence for the physiological role of the antizyme in mammalian cells rests upon its identification in normal uninduced cells, upon the inverse relationship that exists between antizyme and ornithine decarboxylase as well as upon the existence of the complex of ornithine decarboxylase and antizyme in vivo. Furthermore, the antizyme has been shown to be highly specific; its Keq for ornithine decarboxylase is 1.4 × 1011 M-1. In addition, mammalian ceils contain an anti-antizyme, a protein that specifically binds to the antizyme of an ornithine decarboxylase-antizyme complex and liberates free ornithine decarboxylase from the complex. In B. coli, in which polyamine biosynthesis is mediated both by ornithine decarboxylase and by arginine decarboxylase, three proteins (one acidic and two basic) have been purified, each of which inhibits both these enzymes. They do not inhibit the biodegradative ornithine and arginine decarboxylases nor lysine decarboxylase. The two basic inhibitors have been shown to correspond to the ribosomal proteins S20/L26 and L34, respectively. The relationship of the acidic antizyme to other known B. coli proteins remains to be determined.

The ornithine decarboxylase antizyme gene of Escherichia coli was identified by immunological screening of an E. coli genomic library. A 6.4-kilobase fragment containing the antizyme gene was subcloned and sequenced. The open reading frame encoding the antizyme was identified on the basis of its ability to direct the synthesis of immunoreactive antizyme. Antizyme shares significant homology with bacterial transcriptional activators of the two-component regulatory system family; these systems consist of a "sensor" kinase and a transcriptional regulator. The open reading frame next to antizyme is homologous to sensor kinases. Antizyme overproduction inhibits the activities of both ornithine and arginine decarboxylases without affecting their protein levels. Extracts from E. coli bearing an antizyme gene-containing plasmid exhibit increased antizyme activity. These data strongly suggest that (i) the cloned gene encodes the ornithine decarboxylase antizyme and (ii) antizyme is a bifunctional protein serving as both an inhibitor of polyamine biosynthesis as well as a transcriptional regulator of an as yet unknown set of genes.

Background: In bacteria, the biosynthesis of polyamines is modulated at the level of transcription as well as post-translationally. Antizyme (Az) has long been identified as a non-competitive protein inhibitor of polyamine biosynthesis in E. coli. Az was also revealed to be the product of the atoC gene. AtoC is the response regulator of the AtoS-AtoC two-component system and it functions as the positive transcriptional regulator of the atoDAEB operon genes, encoding enzymes involved in short chain fatty acid metabolism. The antizyme is referred to as AtoC/Az, to indicate its dual function as both a transcriptional and post-translational regulator. Results: The roles of polyamines on the transcription of atoS and atoC genes as well as that of atoDAEB(ato) operon were studied. Polyamine-mediated induction was tested both in atoSC positive and negative E. coli backgrounds by using β-galactosidase reporter constructs carrying the appropriate promoters patoDAEB, patoS, patoC. In addition, a selection of synthetic polyamine analogues have been synthesized and tested for their effectiveness in inducing the expression of atoC/Az, the product of which plays a pivotal role in the feedback inhibition of putrescine biosynthesis and the transcriptional regulation of the ato operon. The effects of these compounds were also determined on the ato operon expression. The polyamine analogues were also tested for their effect on the activity of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), the key enzyme of polyamine biosynthesis and on the growth of polyamine-deficient E. coli. Conclusion: Polyamines, which have been reported to induce the protein levels of AtoC/Az in E. coli, act at the transcriptional level, since they cause activation of the atoC transcription. In addition, a series of polyamine analogues were studied on the transcription of atoC gene and ODC activity.