Protein kinase CK2 phosphorylation regulates the interaction of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus regulatory protein ORF57 with its multifunctional partner hnRNP K.

ORF57 protein of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus has a counterpart in all herpesvirus of mammals and birds and regulates gene expression at transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. ORF57 was capable of self-interaction and bound a rapidly migrating form of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K (hnRNP K), a multifunctional cellular protein involved in gene expression. In virus infected cell extracts, ORF57 was present in a complex with hnRNP K that had protein kinase CK2 activity, and was phosphorylated by CK2. Different regions of ORF57 bound both catalytic alpha/alpha' and regulatory beta subunits of CK2. CK2 modification enhanced the ORF57-hnRNP K interaction, and may regulate the presence and activities of components in the complex. We suggest that ORF57 and hnRNP K interaction may modulate ORF57-mediated regulation of viral gene expression. Herpesviral ORF57 (Rhadinovirus) and ICP27 (Simplexvirus) proteins both interact with hnRNP K and CK2 implying that adaptation of the ancestral hnRNP K and CK2 to associate with viral regulatory ancestor protein likely pre-dates divergence of these Herpesviridae genera that occurred 200 million years ago.