A Temperature-sensitive Mutant of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Defective in the Synthesis of the Major Capsid Polypeptide

Abstract

Summary The virus-induced polypeptides synthesized in human embryonic lung cells infected with ts4, a DNA negative temperature-sensitive mutant of herpes simplex virus type I, were examined at the permissive (34 °C) and non-permissive (39 °C) temperatures using SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Cells infected with ts4 at 34 °C synthesized virus-specific polypeptides in the same proportion as did wild-type-infected cells at 34 and 39 °C. Cells infected with ts4 at 39 °C exhibited multiple polypeptide defects, the most prominent of which was the inhibition of the synthesis of the major virus capsid polypeptide, VP154. The expression of the temperature-sensitive defect relating to VP154 only occurred prior to 4 h after infection, as shown by shift-up studies. The expression of the temperature-sensitive defect at 39 °C relating to VP154 could be reversed by shifting down infected cells to 34 °C, even after 12 h at the non-permissive temperature. This reversal occurred in the presence of cytosine arabinoside but not in the presence of actinomycin D.