Characterization of ribonucleotide reductase induction in BHK-21/C13 Syrian hamster cell line upon infection by herpes simplex virus (HSV).

Ribonucleotide reductase is an essential enzyme in mammalian DNA replication. In quiescent BHK-21/C13 cells exhibiting a low level of ribonucleotide reductase activity, infection with herpes simplex virus (HSV) resulted in the early induction of an altered ribonucleotide reductase. The extent of the induction was dependent upon the m.o.i. and could be diminished or prevented by u.v. treatment of the viral stock, or by inhibitors of mRNA synthesis or protein synthesis. The induction followed the same course of synthesis as viral thymidine kinase and DNA polymerase, and could thus be classified with them as a beta polypeptide. These results suggested that the new activity was produced as a consequence of the virus genome expression. Comparisons of the properties of ribonucleotide reductase extracted from exponentially growing BHK-21/C13 cells showed that the HSV-induced enzyme differed from the cellular isozyme by its insensitivity to inhibition by dTTP, dATP or araATP and its resistance to high salt concentrations. On the other hand, the virus-induced enzyme and the cellular isozyme exhibited a similar sensitivity to hydroxyurea. Therefore, the reported inhibition of HSV DNA replication by hydroxyurea could be the result of inhibition of both HSV-induced and cellular reductase activities.