PT and HK inhibit picornavirus multiplication and increase cell viability of infected cells.
We have previously discovered that the drug PDTC substantially interferes with the multiplication of several picornaviruses (
9,
22). These antiviral effects of PDTC are dependent on metal ions, in particular zinc ions. To further substantiate the hypothesis that zinc ions play a major role in virus inhibition, two structurally different metal ion binding compounds, PT (
4,
12,
17,
35) and HK (
2,
23,
32), were analyzed regarding their effects on HRV production (Fig.
1). HeLa cells were infected with HRV serotype 2 with an MOI of 20 in the presence or absence of PT or HK. At 24 h p.i., supernatants were collected, and virus titers were determined. The presence of 5 μM and 10 μM PT decreased viral titers by around 3 orders of magnitude (Fig.
1A). Likewise, HK significantly diminished viral multiplication in a dose-dependent manner (Fig.
1B). Similar results were obtained using a different HRV serotype (HRV14) or an alveolar carcinoma cell line (A549) (data not shown).
To quantify cell viability a colorimetric viability assay was performed. HeLa cells infected with HRV2 showed a significant loss of viability 24 h p.i. (Fig.
1C and D). In contrast, PT (Fig.
1C) and HK (Fig.
1D) retained viability to normal levels at concentrations between 5 μM and 20 μM PT and 62 μM and 125 μM HK, respectively. Based on additional experiments, 50% inhibitory concentrations of 3 μM for PT and 42 μM for HK were determined. Importantly, no cytotoxicity of PT and HK was found in mock-infected HeLa cells (Fig.
1C and D, gray bars) and A549 cells (data not shown) under these conditions. The absence of cytotoxicity is in contrast to reports about proapoptotic activities of PT and HK in other cell lines such as HL-60 cells (
15,
19,
20).
It is of great interest to investigate whether PT and HK act specifically for HRV or whether these drugs target a common step in the picornavirus life cycle. Thus, the role of PT and HK during infection with coxsackievirus strain B3 (CVB3) and the mengovirus strain EMCV (which will hereafter be referred to as mengovirus) was examined (Fig.
1E). In a single-round infection experiment with CVB3 or mengovirus, viral titers of around 10
8 TCID
50/ml were obtained. In the presence of PT or HK, the titers were significantly reduced by around 3 and 2 orders of magnitude, respectively. These data are in agreement with the antiviral activities of PDTC against these viruses that were reported previously (
22).
PT and HK abolish eIF4GI cleavage and affect viral polyprotein processing.
Different steps of the HRV infection in the presence of PT or HK were studied to analyze whether PT and HK act mechanistically similar to PDTC. Early events in the viral life cycle, such as virus entry and uncoating, were not affected by PT and HK (data not shown). A hallmark of rhinovirus infection is the cleavage of the eukaryotic translation initiation factors eIF4GI and eIF4GII by the viral 2A
pro (
7,
11), leading to the shutoff of host-cell protein synthesis (
8). To test whether PT and HK affect eIF4GI cleavage, protein extracts of HRV2-infected cells were analyzed by Western blotting (Fig.
2A). In the absence of PT or HK, around 50% cleavage of eIF4GI was obtained at 4 h p.i. At 6 h and 8 h p.i., eIF4GI was nearly completely processed into its typical cleavage products. In the presence of PT or HK, no significant amounts of eIF4GI cleavage products were found within 24 h of infection. This is in agreement with data obtained with PDTC (
9).
As PDTC shows a clear inhibition of viral polyprotein processing (
21), P1 processing was also examined in the presence of PT or HK (Fig.
2B) by a pulse-chase labeling experiment, followed by immunoprecipitation with a VP2-specific antibody, 8F5, which pulls down VP2, VP2-containing precursors, and viral proteins bound to VP2 (
30). Labeling of viral proteins started at 6 h p.i. for 60 min, and subsequently, cell lysates were prepared every hour. In untreated cells, the processing of the P1 precursor protein was clearly visible between 7 h and 9 h p.i. as a reduction of the amount of the corresponding polyprotein band. At the same time, smaller bands comprising VP2 and VP3 appeared. In the presence of either PT or HK, the processing of the P1 protein was blocked, and no mature VP2 or VP3 products could be detected. Moreover, various intermediate processing products were obtained in the presence of PT or HK, giving an identical picture to the processing defects observed using PDTC (
21).
To specifically monitor the activity of 3CD
pro, which is responsible for the processing of the P1 region and which autocleaves itself into 3C
pro and 3D
pol, the polyprotein-processing pattern of coxsackievirus infection in the presence of PDTC, PT, and HK was investigated (Fig.
3). CVB3-infected HeLa cells incubated with PDTC, HK, or PT were starved half an hour prior to 1 h of labeling at 5.5 h p.i. Subsequently, immunoprecipitation experiments using polyclonal antibodies raised against CVB3 3C
pro and 3D
pol were performed and analyzed as described above. PDTC, PT, and HK abolished coxsackievirus polyprotein processing into the mature viral proteins 3D and 3C in a similar manner indicating a common antiviral mechanism of all three compounds. The presence of 10 μM of the strong metal ion chelator TPEN restored viral polyprotein processing, suggesting that the observed inhibition is based on the availability of metal ions.
These data indicate that polyprotein processing of picornaviruses is a sensitive step for treatment with zinc ionophores. We have evidence that viruses such as respiratory syncytial virus (belonging to the family of Paramyxoviridae) which do not depend on polyprotein processing during their life cycle are not inhibited by PDTC treatment (data not shown). An unspecific adverse effect of PDTC on general cellular functions that lead to virus inhibition is therefore unlikely.
EDTA abolishes the antipicornavirus effects of PT and HK.
We and others have shown that treatment with PDTC or PT leads to a rapid elevation of the concentration of free cytoplasmic Zn
2+ ions (
6,
22,
16-
18). The importance of metal ions was further substantiated by experiments using EDTA as a general extracellular metal ion chelator (Fig.
4). In the presence of 10 μM EDTA, the antiviral properties of PT and HK against HRV2 (Fig.
4A), CVB3 (Fig.
4B), and mengovirus (Fig.
4C) are lost, indicating the involvement of metal ions. By using Zn
2+-, Ca
2+-, or Mg
2+-saturated EDTA (
25), we demonstrate that only Zn-EDTA retains the antiviral property of PT or HK. This indicates that the availability of Zn
2+ ions is a prerequisite for the antiviral activity of these compounds. None of the EDTA-metal ion complexes alone had any antiviral effect at the concentrations tested.
PDTC, PT, and HK treatments cause a rapid and efficient influx of 65Zn2+ into cells.
It is unclear whether PDTC, PT, and HK mobilize zinc ions localized in intracellular storage vesicles or allow extracellular ions to enter the cytoplasm. To directly monitor import of extracellular zinc ions into HeLa cells, we employed radioactive
65Zn
2+ to determine the effects of PT, HK, and PDTC on zinc import (Fig.
5A). HeLa cells were incubated for different time periods with 5 μM
65Zn
2+ and PDTC, PT, or HK and then harvested by filtration on GF/C glass fiber filters. The amount of intracellular
65Zn
2+ was measured by γ-counting of the filter membranes. In the presence of
65Zn
2+ alone, no significant increase in radioactivity of the collected cells was measured, whereas the presence of either PT or HK facilitated a threefold increase of intracellular
65Zn
2+ within a few minutes. PDTC elevated the intracellular
65Zn
2+ level sixfold. These results demonstrate that all three substances facilitate import of extracellular zinc ions via a rapid uptake mechanism.
As shown in Fig.
5B, this zinc uptake is dose dependent. The presence of more than 15 μM PDTC, 2.5 μM PT, or 62 μM HK caused significant
65Zn
2+ uptake after 15 min. It is noteworthy that this concentration range was found to be antiviral (Fig.
1) (
9), suggesting that the influx of zinc ions is essential for mediating the common antiviral property of these compounds.
Intracellular localization of zinc ions imported via PT, HK, and PDTC.
To directly visualize the ability of PDTC, PT, and HK to increase the intracellular pool of labile Zn
2+, specific zinc indicators were used (Fig.
6). FluoZin-3 is a Zn
2+-sensitive and -specific fluorescent probe that has no specific cellular localization (
14). In cells loaded with FluoZin-3, intracellular fluorescence was minimal (Fig.
6A, top panel) due to a very low level of free zinc ions (
24). After induction with 10 μM PT, 125 μM PDTC, or 125 μM HK, a rapid and significant increase in fluorescence was found reflecting an elevation of the intracellular labile “chelatable” zinc level. Noteworthy, these experiments were carried out in normal growth medium and apparently the Zn
2+ concentration present in the medium is sufficient to lead to ionophore-mediated zinc ion transport.
The observed punctate pattern of FluoZin-3 fluorescence is in agreement with recent data from rainbow trout cells incubated with high levels of extracellular zinc (
24). In a large variety of mammalian cell types, vesicular storage sites for zinc which have been designated “zincosomes” can be detected (
1). Zincosomes play a role in detoxifying excess zinc and are suggested to colocalize with endosomal compartments and lysosomes (
13).
The uptake of zinc ions is reversible. When the zinc ionophores PDTC, PT, and HK were removed, the fluorescence declined close to background within 1 h (Fig.
6A, bottom panel).
To specifically monitor the free mitochondrial zinc pool, RhodZin-3 was used (
28). HeLa cells loaded with RhodZin-3 exhibited a very weak fluorescence, indicating low levels of labile Zn
2+ inside the mitochondrial compartment (Fig.
6B). In contrast, upon 20 min of treatment with PDTC, PT, or HK, the signal of RhodZin-3 fluorescence was strongly enhanced. This mitochondrial localized signal was found to be constant over at least 80 min of PT incubation (data not shown). The role of a labile Zn
2+ fraction in mitochondria during viral infection is currently unclear and has to be the subject of further studies.
Concluding remarks.
Conclusively, all three antiviral substances are potent zinc ionophores increasing the intracellular pool of labile zinc. This strong elevation is constant as long as the zinc ionophores are present but is reversible after removal of PDTC, PT, or HK.
The reversibility of the elevation of free-zinc concentrations is in agreement with data that we had obtained when virus multiplication was monitored in a setup when PT, HK, and PDTC were present for short intervals only. In contrast to the significant viral titer reduction evoked by permanently present PDTC, PT, or HK, a short (1 h) pulse of zinc ionophore treatment between 2 h and 5 h p.i. was not sufficient to significantly reduce viral titers (data not shown). These data indicate that a prolonged presence of ionophores during viral replication is needed to exert antiviral effects. In previous data, we have shown that a clear reduction of virus titer was obtained when PDTC treatment started up to 4 h after infection, continuing to 24 h (
9).
In conclusion, we have identified a set of three antiviral compounds against HRV, coxsackievirus, and mengovirus infections, which differ in their chemical structures but appear to use import of zinc ions as a common trigger for exerting their antiviral effect. It was reported that PDTC reduces coxsackievirus B3 replication through inhibition of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway (
29). We tested the proteasome inhibitor MG-132 at nontoxic concentrations for antiviral properties against HRV2 and HRV14. However, functional MG-132 concentrations that cause a massive accumulation of ubiquitinylated proteins within 8 h of incubation were not antiviral (data not shown). Thus, proteasomal inhibition is not likely to be the major cause of the antiviral activity of PDTC, PT, or HK.
Importantly, PDTC, PT, and HK lead to efficient import of zinc ions that are naturally present in the cell culture medium. Uptake of Zn
2+ into cells interferes with the viral life cycle. Already in 1974, Butterworth and colleagues have shown that adding high concentrations of zinc ions to cells impairs picornavirus polyprotein processing (
3); however, the mechanistic basis still remains incompletely understood. On the one hand, viral proteases might be affected in their functions directly; on the other hand, zinc ions could contribute to folding problems of the viral polyprotein that lead to inseparable precursors. Folding inhibition was recently suggested as a target for antiviral strategies (
10).
Several attempts have been employed to create mutants resistant against PDTC during human rhinovirus or influenza virus infections. However, no resistant viruses were obtained, hinting at a cellular mechanism of action which is expected to be similar for HK and PT. On account of these findings, PDTC, PT, and HK may provide an interesting basis for the development of new classes of antipicornaviral therapeutics.