Identification of the Capsid Binding Site in the Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Nuclear Egress Complex and Its Role in Viral Primary Envelopment and Replication

During nuclear egress of nascent progeny herpesvirus nucleocapsids, the nucleocapsids acquire a primary envelope by budding through the inner nuclear membrane of infected cells into the perinuclear space between the inner and outer nuclear membranes. Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) U(L)34 and U(L)31 proteins form a nuclear egress complex (NEC) and play critical roles in this budding process, designated primary envelopment. To clarify the role of NEC binding to progeny nucleocapsids in HSV-1 primary envelopment, we established an assay system for HSV-1 NEC binding to nucleocapsids and capsid proteins in vitro. Using this assay system, we showed that HSV-1 NEC bound to nucleocapsids and to capsid protein U(L)25 but not to the other capsid proteins tested (i.e., VP5, VP23, and U(L)17) and that HSV-1 NEC binding of nucleocapsids was mediated by the interaction of NEC with U(L)25. U(L)31 residues arginine-281 (R281) and aspartic acid-282 (D282) were required for efficient NEC binding to nucleocapsids and U(L)25. We also showed that alanine substitution of U(L)31 R281 and D282 reduced HSV-1 replication, caused aberrant accumulation of capsids in the nucleus, and induced an accumulation of empty vesicles that were similar in size and morphology to primary envelopes in the perinuclear space. These results suggested that NEC binding via U(L)31 R281 and D282 to nucleocapsids, and probably to U(L)25 in the nucleocapsids, has an important role in HSV-1 replication by promoting the incorporation of nucleocapsids into vesicles during primary envelopment. IMPORTANCE Binding of HSV-1 NEC to nucleocapsids has been thought to promote nucleocapsid budding at the inner nuclear membrane and subsequent incorporation of nucleocapsids into vesicles during nuclear egress of nucleocapsids. However, data to directly support this hypothesis have not been reported thus far. In this study, we have present data showing that two amino acids in the membrane-distal face of the HSV-1 NEC, which contains the putative capsid binding site based on the solved NEC structure, were in fact required for efficient NEC binding to nucleocapsids and for efficient incorporation of nucleocapsids into vesicles during primary envelopment. This is the first report showing direct linkage between NEC binding to nucleocapsids and an increase in nucleocapsid incorporation into vesicles during herpesvirus primary envelopment.