Nuclear accumulation of IE62, the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) major transcriptional regulatory protein, is inhibited by phosphorylation mediated by the VZV open reading frame 66 protein kinase.

IE62, the major transcriptional activator protein encoded by varicella-zoster virus (VZV), locates to the nucleus when expressed in transfected cells. We show here that cytoplasmic forms of IE62 accumulate in transfected and VZV-infected cells as the result of the protein kinase activity associated with VZV open reading frame 66 (ORF66). Expression of the ORF66 protein kinase but not the VZV ORF47 protein kinase impaired the ability of coexpressed IE62 to transactivate promoter-reporter constructs. IE62 that was coexpressed with the ORF66 protein accumulated predominantly in the cytoplasm, whereas the normal nuclear localization of other proteins was not affected by the ORF66 protein. In cells infected with VZV, IE62 accumulated in the cytoplasm at late times of infection, whereas in cells infected with a VZV recombinant unable to express ORF66 protein (ROka66S), IE62 was completely nuclear. Point mutations introduced into the predicted serine/threonine catalytic domain and ATP binding domain of ORF66 abrogated its ability to influence IE62 nuclear localization, indicating that the protein kinase activity was required. The region of IE62 that was targeted by ORF66 was mapped to amino acids 602 to 733. IE62 peptides containing this region were specifically phosphorylated in cells coexpressing the ORF66 protein kinase and in cells infected with wild-type VZV but were not phosphorylated in cells infected with ROka66S. We conclude that the ORF66 protein kinase phosphorylates IE62 to induce its cytoplasmic accumulation, most likely by inhibiting IE62 nuclear import.