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Localization of hepatitis delta virus RNA in the nucleus of human cells

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 December 2000

CELSO CUNHA
Affiliation:
Institute of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, 1699 Lisboa codex, Portugal
JOÃO MONJARDINO
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine at St. Mary's, London W2, United Kingdom
DOROTHY CHANG
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine at St. Mary's, London W2, United Kingdom
SABINE KRAUSE
Affiliation:
Department of Cell Biology, Biozentrum, University of Basel, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland
MARIA CARMO-FONSECA
Affiliation:
Institute of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, 1699 Lisboa codex, Portugal
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Abstract

Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a human pathogen that can greatly increase the severity of liver damage caused by an hepatitis B infection. HDV contains a circular, single-stranded RNA genome that encodes a unique protein, the delta antigen. Two forms of the delta antigen, δAg-S and δAg-L, are derived from a single open reading frame by RNA editing. Here we analyze the subcellular distribution of HDV RNA and its spatial relationship to known intranuclear structures. The human hepatoma cell line Huh7 was stably transfected with wild-type HDV cDNA and the viral RNAs were localized by in situ hybridization and fluorescence confocal microscopy. HDV RNA is detected throughout the nucleoplasm, with additional concentration in focal structures closely associated with nuclear speckles or clusters of interchromatin granules. Both the smaller form of the delta antigen (δAg-S), which is required for HDV genomic replication, and the larger form of the delta antigen (δAg-L), which represses replication, co-localize with delta RNA throughout the nucleoplasm and in the foci. However, the foci do not incorporate bromo-UTP and do not concentrate either RNA polymerase II or cleavage and polyadenylation factors required for viral RNA synthesis and 3′ end processing, respectively. Thus, it is unlikely that the delta foci represent major sites of viral transcription or replication. In conclusion, the data show that viral RNA–protein complexes accumulate in structures closely associated with interchromatin granules, a subnuclear domain highly enriched in small nuclear ribonucleoproteins, poly(A+) RNA, and RNA splicing protein factors. This implies a specific compartmentalization of ribonucleoproteins in the nucleus.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
1998 RNA Society

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