†These authors contributed equally to this work.The final envelopment of most herpesviruses occurs at Golgi or post-Golgi compartments, such as the trans Golgi network (TGN); however, the final envelopment site of human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) is uncertain. In this study, we found novel pathways for HHV-6 assembly and release from T cells that differed, in part, from those of alphaherpesviruses. Electron microscopy showed that late in infection, HHV-6-infected cells were larger than uninfected cells and contained many newly formed multivesicular body (MVB)-like compartments that included small vesicles. These MVBs surrounded the Golgi apparatus. Mature virions were found in the MVBs and MVB fusion with plasma membrane, and the release of mature virions together with small vesicles was observed at the cell surface. Immunoelectron microscopy demonstrated that the MVBs contained CD63, an MVB/ late endosome marker, and HHV-6 envelope glycoproteins. The viral glycoproteins also localized to internal vesicles in the MVBs and to secreted vesicles (exosomes). Furthermore, we found virus budding at TGNassociated membranes, which expressed CD63, adaptor protein (AP-1) and TGN46, and CD63 incorporation into virions. Our findings suggest that mature HHV-6 virions are released together with internal vesicles through MVBs by the cellular exosomal pathway. This scenario has significant implications for understanding HHV-6's maturation pathway.

Human herpesvirus-6B (HHV-6B) is a T lymphotropic β-herpesvirus that is clearly distinct from human herpesvirus-6A (HHV-6A) according to molecular biological features. The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses recently classified HHV-6B as a separate species. The primary HHV-6B infection causes exanthem subitum and is sometimes associated with severe encephalopathy. More than 90% of the general population is infected with HHV-6B during childhood, and the virus remains throughout life as a latent infection. HHV-6B reactivation causes encephalitis in immunosuppressed patients. The cellular receptor for HHV-6A entry was identified as human CD46, but the receptor for HHV-6B has not been clear. Here we found that CD134, a member of the TNF receptor superfamily, functions as a specific entry receptor for HHV-6B. A T-cell line that is normally nonpermissive for HHV-6B infection became highly susceptible to infection when CD134 was overexpressed. CD134 was down-regulated in HHV-6B-infected T cells. Soluble CD134 interacted with the HHV-6B glycoprotein complex that serves as a viral ligand for cellular receptor, which inhibited HHV-6B but not HHV-6A infection in target cells. The identification of CD134 as an HHV-6B specific entry receptor provides important insight into understanding HHV-6B entry and its pathogenesis.H uman herpesvirus-6B (HHV-6B) is a T lymphotropic β-herpesvirus (1) and is clearly distinct from human herpesvirus-6A (HHV-6A) according to their genetic and antigenic differences and their cell tropism (2-5). Recently the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses classified HHV-6B as a separate species.The primary HHV-6B infection causes exanthem subitum (6) and is sometimes associated with severe encephalopathy, whereas the diseases caused by HHV-6A are still unknown. More than 90% of the general population is infected with HHV-6B during childhood, and the virus remains throughout life as a latent infection (7). HHV-6B reactivation causes encephalitis in immunosuppressed patients. HHV-6B reactivation is also associated with drug-induced hypersensitivity syndrome, and recent studies have suggested that it could be related to the severity of this disease (8, 9).HHV-6A can infect a broader variety of human cells than HHV-6B (10), although the homology between HHV-6A and -6B is almost 90% over their entire genome (11-13). Human CD46 has been shown to be a cellular receptor of , and its viral ligand is a glycoprotein (g) complex made up of viral glycoprotein H (gH)/glycoprotein L (gL)/glycoprotein Q1 (gQ1)/ glycoprotein Q2 (gQ2) (15). However, the HHV-6A gH/gL/gQ1/ gQ2 complex binds to its human cellular receptor, CD46, whereas the corresponding complex of HHV-6B does not bind to it (10, 15). Moreover, anti-CD46 antibody does not block HHV-6B infection into the cells, whereas it does HHV-6A infection, indicating that the cellular receptor exists specific for HHV-6B infection. Because HHV-6B remains as a lifelong latent infection in more than 90% of the population and causes severe disease, it is...

Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) is a T cell-tropic betaherpesvirus. HHV-6 can be classified into two variants, HHV-6A and HHV-6B, based on differences in their genetic, antigenic, and growth characteristics and cell tropisms. The function of HHV-6B should be analyzed more in its life cycle, as more than 90% of people have the antibodies for HHV-6B but not HHV-6A. It has been shown that the cellular receptor for HHV-6A is human CD46 and that the viral ligand for CD46 is the envelope glycoprotein complex gH/gL/gQ1/gQ2; however, the receptor-ligand pair used by HHV-6B is still unknown. In this study, to identify the glycoprotein(s) important for HHV-6B entry, we generated monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) that inhibit infection by HHV-6B. Most of these MAbs were found to recognize gQ1, indicating that HHV-6B gQ1 is critical for virus entry. Interestingly, the recognition of gQ1 by the neutralizing MAb was enhanced by coexpression with gQ2. Moreover, gQ1 deletion or point mutants that are not recognized by the MAb could nonetheless associate with gQ2, indicating that although the MAb recognized the conformational epitope of gQ1 exposed by the gQ2 interaction, this epitope was not related to the gQ2 binding domain. Our study shows that HHV-6B gQ1 is likely a ligand for the HHV-6B receptor, and the recognition site for this MAb will be a promising target for antiviral agents.Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) was first isolated from patients with lymphocytic disorders in1986 (36) and was subsequently shown to be the causative agent of exanthem subitum (ES) (48). Currently, HHV-6 can be classified into two variants, HHV-6A and HHV-6B, based on differences in genetic, antigenic, and growth characteristics and cell tropisms (1,5,7,8). HHV-6B causes infant ES, and more than 90% of people have antibodies (Abs) against HHV-6B (31, 38), while the pathogenesis of HHV-6A is still unknown. Recently, it was shown that a reactivation of HHV-6B causes encephalitis in immunocompromised hosts (13,45,46) and possibly enhances the severity of drug-induced sensitivity syndrome (14).Human CD46, a regulator of the complement activation receptor expressed on all nuclear cells, is a receptor for HHV-6 (37), and its viral ligand is the envelope glycoprotein complex gH/gL/gQ1/gQ2 (3, 28). Although this complex can bind CD46 (28), those of some clinical isolates, including laboratory strains of HHV-6B, do not bind it (24, 26). The gQ gene is unique because it is conserved only among HHV-6A, HHV-6B, and 15,19). Recently, we successfully reconstituted a virus from the HHV-6 genome (43) and found that HHV-6 gQ1 is essential for virus growth and probably for entry.As monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against gH and gB inhibit virus-induced cell fusion and infection, gH and gB are thought to be fusogenic candidates (39). In addition, as it is common to herpesviruses generally, gH homologues expressed on viral envelopes form a complex with gL homologues (18,20,21).In addition to gH/gL/gQ1/gQ2, another gH/gL complex, gH/ gL/gO, is present in the viral envelopes of both ...

Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) glycoprotein Q1 (gQ1), a unique gene in HHV-6, forms a complex with glycoproteinH (gH) and gL, which is the viral ligand for its cellular receptor, CD46. However, whether gQ1 is essential for virus growth is unknown, because a system is lacking for making gene knockouts for HHV-6. Recently, bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) and E. coli mutagenesis techniques have been applied to herpesvirus investigation. Here we successfully inserted the HHV-6A genome into a BAC, and obtained reconstituted infectious virus from the HHV-6A-containing BAC DNA. Using this system, we generated a gQ1 mutant virus genome, which failed to yield reconstituted infectious virus, whereas its revertant virus could be produced, indicating that the HHV-6 gQ1 gene is essential for virus growth. Therefore, we successfully applied BAC and E. coli mutagenesis techniques to the study of HHV-6, and discovered that HHV-6 gQ1 is an essential gene for virus growth.