Ubiquitination is a posttranslational modification that has various effects on target proteins such as the regulation of protein-protein interactions, the intracellular localization of the modified protein, and protein turnover. Consequently, cellular enzymes that regulate ubiquitination play crucial roles in countless cellular pathways. The USP7 deubiquitinase reverses protein ubiquitination, and several groups have reported important proviral, as well as antiviral, roles of USP7 in virus infections (
45–50,
69). Interestingly, we previously showed that USP7 colocalizes with DBP (
43). Moreover, we demonstrated that USP7 interacts with and stabilizes the multifunctional adenoviral E1B-55K protein and that USP7 had a beneficial impact on both virus replication and cell transformation. Notably, translocation of USP7 into viral RCs and reduced virus replication levels in USP7-depleted cells were independent of the USP7-E1B-55K interaction (
43), prompting us to decipher the role of DBP in these processes and to investigate if DBP is a substrate for USP7. Thus, we set out to further explore the impact of USP7 on adenoviral replication and the USP7-DBP colocalization using a panel of DBP mutants with distinct UBM amino acid exchange mutations. We show that DBP interacts with USP7 to regulate viral RC formation and, thus, viral replication. This interaction is facilitated by DBP binding to the USP7 TRAF-like domain through a conserved motif in the N-terminal part of DBP (amino acids 73 to 76 in UBM2) (
Fig. 1), a motif that has also been shown to enable USP7 binding of cellular binding partners (
65). This is not surprising, as the USP7 TRAF-like domain seems to bind the majority of proteins that interact with USP7 (
70–72). However, described motifs in the N-terminal part of DBP only include nuclear localization sequences, as well as phosphorylation- and SUMO-conjugating motifs so far (
30,
73), and all other functional DBP domains are within the highly conserved C terminus (
42). This work therefore provides important new insights into features of the N- and C-terminal DBP domains. Of all five UBM mutants tested, two exhibited a remarkable phenotype (
Fig. 2 and
6), UBM2 (S76A) and UBM5 (S354A). We show that DBP expression and stability and viral DNA replication in UBM2 H5
pm4250 infections are widely comparable to WT H5
pg4100 despite the affected recruitment of USP7 into RCs at the 24-hpi time point (
Fig. 4). On the other hand, UBM5 binding to USP7 is not altered, but DBP levels decrease with UBM5 H5
pm4251 (
Fig. 2). The fact that UBM5 is highly ubiquitinated indicates that UBM5 proteasomal degradation is accelerated, which likely leads to the observed replication defect (
Fig. 3) (
74). DBP was found to target PML in infected cells, and interestingly, posttranslational modifications also seem to play a key role in this process, as they regulate DBP and PML interactions at viral RCs (
30,
75). Combined, these findings further underline the complexity of posttranslational modifications and their impact on the virus life cycle.
We demonstrate that USP7 and DBP colocalize in viral RCs. Virus-mediated USP7 relocalization has also been described for other viruses and could be a conserved mechanism to promote optimal viral replication conditions (
48,
50,
76). Mutational abrogation of the USP7-DBP interaction reveals that it is not essential for USP7 relocalization into viral RCs and is thus dispensable for adenoviral DNA replication (
Fig. 4 and
5). Notably, the opposite was observed in MCPyV infection, where USP7 binding to LT and subsequent relocalization to viral RCs negatively regulates viral replication (
50).
Unexpectedly, the C-terminal amino acid exchange S354A in UBM5 strongly influences viral late gene expression and completely abrogates viral progeny production (
Fig. 5 and
6). Steady-state levels of cellular proteins were not affected in our infections compared to the WT infection, but whether HAdV-C5 RC formation is necessary to degrade Daxx (
Fig. 6A) remains to be thoroughly investigated. As a side note, it is worth mentioning that viral E1A steady-state levels maintained at high concentration even at late time points postinfection. It has previously been shown that the degradation of E1A is a prerequisite for the transition to the late stage of infection and a proper HAdV replication cycle (
77).
Together, our data clearly show that the UBM5 mutation leads to an increased ubiquitination of the protein, and UBM5 H5pm4251-infected cells lack DBP-positive RCs, which are a prerequisite for viral DNA replication and, thus, the transition from the early to the late phase of a productive HAdV infection. Experiments that examine whether the introduced mutations change DBP in a way that it loses its capacity to induce liquid-liquid phase separation and thereby contributes to RC formation are underway. Consequently, though, progeny production is completely abrogated in UBM5 H5pm4251-infected cells as a result of a defective DNA replication. This is particularly interesting because it may be an asset for adenoviral vector development.
Adenoviral vectors that can carry a variety of transgenes are successfully used as vaccines. They lack the HAdV E1 region (that is, all E1A and E1B genes) and are therefore replication deficient and require producer cells for virus propagation. To facilitate efficient virus replication in vaccine production settings, the E1 region is stably integrated into the chromosome of these HAdV vector vaccine producer cells (
18,
78). This is considered safe but leaves a residual risk of reintroduction of the E1 region into the viral genome by homologous recombination (
18,
78,
79) as well as “leaky” virus replication (
80,
81). Our UBM5 mutation could act as an additional safety net and further increase vector vaccine safety by ensuring replication deficiency through abrogated RC formation of E2-containing adenoviral vectors harboring the UBM5 mutation. Accordingly, UBM5-modified adenoviruses, propagated in E1- and DBP WT-expressing cell lines, will likely be highly suitable for therapeutic approaches.
In summary, our data provide further evidence on the importance of DBP/E2A for HAdV replication and characterize distinct USP7 binding sites that are crucial for the virus to hijack cellular resources to regulate viral RC formation and produce virus progeny.