Hypoxia and HIF-1 Trigger Marek's Disease Virus Reactivation in Lymphoma-Derived Latently Infected T Lymphocytes

Latent-to-lytic switch of herpesviruses (also known as reactivation) is responsible for pathology recurrences and/or viral shedding. Studying physiological triggers of reactivation is therefore important for health to limit lesions and viral transmission. Latency is a hallmark of herpesviruses, allowing them to persist in their host without virion production. Acute exposure to hypoxia (below 3% O-2) was identified as a trigger of latent-to-lytic switch (reactivation) for human oncogenic gammaherpesviruses (Kaposi's sarcoma-associated virus [KSHV] and Epstein-Barr virus [EBV]). Therefore, we hypothesized that hypoxia could also induce reactivation of Marek's disease virus (MDV), which shares biological properties with EBV and KSHV (notably oncogenic properties), in lymphocytes. Acute exposure to hypoxia (1% O-2) of two MDV-latently infected cell lines derived from MD tumors (3867K and MSB-1) induced MDV reactivation. A bioinformatic analysis of the RB-1B MDV genome revealed 214 putative hypoxia response element consensus sequences on 119 open reading frames. Reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) analysis showed five MDV genes strongly upregulated early after hypoxia. In 3867K cells under normoxia, pharmacological agents mimicking hypoxia (MLN4924 and CoCl2) increased MDV reactivation, but to a lower level than real hypoxia. Overexpression of wild-type or stabilized human hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1 alpha) in MSB-1 cells in normoxia also promoted MDV reactivation. Under such conditions, the lytic cycle was detected in cells with a sustainable HIF-1 alpha expression but also in HIF-1 alpha-negative cells, indicating that MDV reactivation is mediated by HIF-1 in a direct and/or indirect manner. Lastly, we demonstrated by a reporter assay that HIF-1 alpha overexpression induced the transactivation of two viral promoters, shown to be upregulated in hypoxia. These results suggest that hypoxia may play a crucial role in the late lytic replication phase observed in vivo in MDV-infected chickens exhibiting tumors, since a hypoxic microenvironment is a hallmark of most solid tumors. IMPORTANCE Latent-to-lytic switch of herpesviruses (also known as reactivation) is responsible for pathology recurrences and/or viral shedding. Studying physiological triggers of reactivation is therefore important for health to limit lesions and viral transmission. Marek's disease virus (MDV) is a potent oncogenic alphaherpesvirus establishing latency in T lymphocytes and causing lethal T lymphomas in chickens. In vivo, a second lytic phase is observed during the tumoral stage. Hypoxia being a hallmark of tumors, we wondered whether hypoxia induces MDV reactivation in latently infected T lymphocytes, like previously shown for EBV and KSHV in B lymphocytes. In this study, we demonstrated that acute hypoxia (1% O-2) triggers MDV reactivation in two MDV transformed T-cell lines. We provide some molecular basis of this reactivation by showing that hypoxia inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) overexpression induces MDV reactivation to an extent similar to that of hypoxia after 24 h. Hypoxia is therefore a reactivation stimulus shared by mammalian and avian oncogenic herpesviruses of different genera.

Automated summary

The latent-to-lytic switch of herpesviruses is important for pathology recurrences and viral shedding. This study demonstrates that acute hypoxia can induce reactivation of Marek's disease virus and explores the molecular basis of this process.