Role of polyadenylated RNA sequences (POLADS) in vaccinia virus infection: correlation between accumulation of POLADS and extent of shut-off in infected cells.

The selective inhibition of host-cell protein synthesis was studied in cells infected with vaccinia virus (VV) under aberrant conditions of transcription. Previous studies in our laboratory have correlated this selective inhibition with a class of short polyadenylated virus-directed RNAs (POLADS) which are synthesized in VV-infected cells during the early phase of transcription. Moreover, it was shown that infection of HeLa cells with UV-irradiated VV or infection in the presence of actinomycin D (ACD) amplifies the synthesis of POLADS compared to the amount produced in cells infected under normal conditions. To further study the role of POLADS in shut-off, we utilized a temperature sensitive mutant of VV which induces only marginal host shut-off at the restrictive temperature. POLADS were isolated from cells infected with either unirradiated or UV-irradiated VV ts mutant at the permissive and restrictive temperatures and their inhibitory activity on translation in vitro was assayed. The study yields further evidence associating excess of POLADS with greater inhibitory potential and supports the speculation that the increased production of POLADS is correlated with the inhibition of translation of both host-cell and viral polypeptides, albeit to different degrees. The results also demonstrate that a lack of POLADS accumulation is related to a corresponding reduction of shut-off.