Molecular anatomy of the subcellular localization and nuclear import mechanism of herpes simplex virus 1 UL6

As an indispensable structure protein, the herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) UL6 has been described to exert numerous roles in viral proliferation. However, its exact subcellular localization and subcellular transport mechanism is not well known. In the present study, by utilizing confocal fluorescent microscopy, UL6 was shown to mainly locate in the nucleus in enhanced yellow fluorescent protein or Flag tag fused expression plasmid-transfected cells or HSV-1-infected cells, whereas its predicted nuclear localization signal was nonfunctional. In addition, by exploiting dominant negative mutant and inhibitor of different nuclear import receptors, as well as co-immunoprecipitation and RNA interference assays, UL6 was established to interact with importin α1, importin α7 and transportin-1 to mediate its nuclear translocation under the help of Ran-mediated GTP hydrolysis. Accordingly, these results will advance the knowledge of UL6-mediated biological significances in HSV-1 infection cycle.