Non-redundant and Redundant Roles of Cytomegalovirus gH/gL Complexes in Host Organ Entry and Intra-tissue Spread

Abstract Herpesviruses form different gH/gL virion envelope glycoprotein complexes that serve as entry complexes for mediating viral cell-type tropism in vitro; their roles in vivo, however, remained speculative and can be addressed experimentally only in animal models. For murine cytomegalovirus two alternative gH/gL complexes, gH/gL/gO and gH/gL/MCK-2, have been identified. A limitation of studies on viral tropism in vivo has been the difficulty in distinguishing between infection initiation by viral entry into first-hit target cells and subsequent cell-to-cell spread within tissues. As a new strategy to dissect these two events, we used a gO-transcomplemented ΔgO mutant for providing the gH/gL/gO complex selectively for the initial entry step, while progeny virions lack gO in subsequent rounds of infection. Whereas gH/gL/gO proved to be critical for establishing infection by efficient entry into diverse cell types, including liver macrophages, endothelial cells, and hepatocytes, it was dispensable for intra-tissue spread. Notably, the salivary glands, the source of virus for host-to-host transmission, represent an exception in that entry into virus-producing cells did not strictly depend on either the gH/gL/gO or the gH/gL/MCK-2 complex. Only if both complexes were absent in gO and MCK-2 double-knockout virus, in vivo infection was abolished at all sites. Author Summary The role of viral glycoprotein entry complexes in viral tropism in vivo is a question central to understanding virus pathogenesis and transmission for any virus. Studies were limited by the difficulty in distinguishing between viral entry into first-hit target cells and subsequent cell-to-cell spread within tissues. Employing the murine cytomegalovirus entry complex gH/gL/gO as a paradigm for a generally applicable strategy to dissect these two events experimentally, we used a gO-transcomplemented ΔgO mutant for providing the complex exclusively for the initial cell entry step. In immunocompromised mice as a model for recipients of hematopoietic cell transplantation, our studies revealed an irreplaceable role for gH/gL/gO in initiating infection in host organs relevant to pathogenesis, whereas subsequent spread within tissues and infection of the salivary glands, the site relevant to virus host-to-host transmission, are double-secured by the entry complexes gH/gL/gO and gH/gL/MCK-2. As an important consequence, interventional strategies targeting only gO might be efficient in preventing organ manifestations after a primary viremia, whereas both gH/gL complexes need to be targeted for preventing intra-tissue spread of virus reactivated from latency within tissues as well as for preventing the salivary gland route of host-to-host transmission