Under certain growth conditions unicellular organisms behave as highly organized multicellular structures. For example, the fruiting bodies of myxobacteria and of the slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum form structures composed of non-dividing motile cells. Although non-motile, yeasts can create organized structures, colonies in which cells communicate and act in a coordinated fashion. Colony morphologies are characteristic for different species and strains. Here we describe that, in addition to short-range intracolony cell-cell communication, yeasts exhibit long-distance signals between neighbouring colonies. The volatile alkaline compound ammonia, transmitted by yeast colonies in pulses, has been identified as a substance mediating the intercolony signal. The first alkaline pulse produced by neighbouring colonies is non-directed and is followed by acidification of the medium. The second pulse seems to be enhanced and is oriented towards the neighbour colony. Ammonia signalling results in growth inhibition of the facing parts of both colonies. This phenomenon is observed in different yeast genera. The presence of amino acids in the medium is required for ammonia production. Colonies derived from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae shr3 mutant, defective in localization of amino-acid permeases, do not produce detectable amounts of ammonia and do not exhibit asymmetric growth inhibition.

Electron and confocal microscopy were used to observe the entry and the movement of polyomavirus virions and artificial virus-like particles (VP1 pseudocapsids) in mouse fibroblasts and epithelial cells. No visible differences in adsorption and internalization of virions and VP1 pseudocapsids ("empty" or containing DNA) were observed. Viral particles entered cells internalized in smooth monopinocytic vesicles, often in the proximity of larger, caveola-like invaginations. Both "empty" vesicles derived from caveolae and vesicles containing viral particles were stained with the anti-caveolin-1 antibody, and the two types of vesicles often fused in the cytoplasm. Colocalization of VP1 with caveolin-1 was observed during viral particle movement from the plasma membrane throughout the cytoplasm to the perinuclear area. Empty vesicles and vesicles with viral particles moved predominantly along microfilaments. Particle movement was accompanied by transient disorganization of actin stress fibers. Microfilaments decorated by the VP1 immunofluorescent signal could be seen as concentric curves, apparently along membrane structures that probably represent endoplasmic reticulum. Colocalization of VP1 with tubulin was mostly observed in areas close to the cell nuclei and on mitotic tubulin structures. By 3 h postinfection, a strong signal of the VP1 (but no viral particles) had accumulated in the proximity of nuclei, around the outer nuclear membrane. However, the vast majority of VP1 pseudocapsids did not enter the nuclei.Structural proteins of nonenveloped viruses are selected by evolution for the efficient delivery of genetic information via plasma membranes into cells for its expression. Hence, studying the properties of viral coat structures and detailed understanding of early steps of viral infection (entry, movements toward the cell nuclei, and uncoating) could help to solve an important aspect of gene therapy: the development of efficient systems for the transfer of exogenous genetic information into target cells.Polyomaviruses, a member of the Papovaviridae family, have a wide range of hosts and different pathogenic responses in infected organisms. Despite this variation, the structures of the virions and genomic organizations of these viruses are very similar. Genomic circular double-stranded DNA (5.3 kbp) of the mouse polyomavirus encodes three early antigens (large, middle, and small T antigen) and three late structural proteins, VP1, VP2, and VP3. The late proteins, together with viral DNA and cellular histones (except H1), are assembled into virions in the cell nuclei. Neither VP2 nor VP3 is required for assembly of the capsid-like structure, and their functions in the viral replicative cycle are still unclear. The multifunctional VP1 can self-assemble into capsid-like particles (VP1 pseudocapsids) and is responsible for interaction with the sialic acid of an as-yet-unknown receptor (15, 37). Moreover, it has a nonspecific DNA binding activity (23), suggesting a role in nucleocore assembly. The problem is that li...

Polyoma virus VP1 pseudocapsids, generated from a recombinant baculovirus, have been successfully used to transfer exogenous DNA stably into rodent (rat-2) cells. To evaluate the efficiency and biological usefulness of this route for introducing heterologous DNA into cells, the gene for a transforming deletion mutant of the middle T antigen of polyoma virus, dl8 MT, was used initially. Whereas the amount of DNA packaged together with pseudocapsids was found to be variable (2-30%), even at low efficiency its transfer as biologically functional information was high. The dl8 MT gene was stably transferred and integrated in low copy numbers into the host chromosome. Transformed cell lines (derived from single foci) were shown to produce high levels of the corresponding mutant protein, which was active in an in vitro protein kinase assay. In comparisons with the calcium phosphate DNA coprecipitation procedure (or lipofectin route), the VP1 pseudocapsid approach was shown to have many advantages in terms of maintenance of DNA fidelity and increased efficiency of gene expression. This system was also assessed for its ability to transfer into and express the chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) gene in a human liver cell line. Here again, the assay for functional CAT expression showed the pseudocapsid transfer procedure to compare favorably with lipofectin transfer. In another transient assay, a low-level endogenously expressed gene, p43, was complexed with pseudocapsids and transferred into human embryo lung fibroblasts, thereby increasing the expression levels. The ease of production of VP1 pseudocapsids, coupled with their efficient transfer of biologically useful information, should make this route of gene delivery an attractive proposition for further exploration with regard to gene therapy.

Mouse polyomavirus (PyV) virions enter cells by internalization into smooth monopinocytic vesicles, which fuse under the cell membrane with larger endosomes. Caveolin-1 was detected on monopinocytic vesicles carrying PyV particles in mouse fibroblasts and epithelial cells (33). Here, we show that PyV can be efficiently internalized by Jurkat cells, which do not express caveolin-1 and lack caveolae, and that overexpression of a caveolin-1 dominant-negative mutant in mouse epithelial cells does not prevent their productive infection. Strong colocalization of VP1 with early endosome antigen 1 (EEA1) and of EEA1 with caveolin-1 in mouse fibroblasts and epithelial cells suggests that the monopinocytic vesicles carrying the virus (and vesicles containing caveolin-1) fuse with EEA1-positive early endosomes. In contrast to SV40, PyV infection is dependent on the acidic pH of endosomes. Bafilomycin A1 abolished PyV infection, and an increase in endosomal pH by NH 4 Cl markedly reduced its efficiency when drugs were applied during virion transport towards the cell nucleus. The block of acidification resulted in the retention of a fraction of virions in early endosomes. To monitor further trafficking of PyV, we used fluorescent resonance energy transfer (FRET) to determine mutual localization of PyV VP1 with transferrin and Rab11 GTPase at a 2-to 10-nm resolution. Positive FRET between PyV VP1 and transferrin cargo and between PyV VP1 and Rab11 suggests that during later times postinfection (1.5 to 3 h), the virus meets up with transferrin in the Rab11-positive recycling endosome. These results point to a convergence of the virus and the cargo internalized by different pathways in common transitional compartments.Adsorption of mouse polyomavirus (PyV) on the host cell surface is mediated by the interaction of its major structural protein, VP1, with sialic acid. Recently, anionic glycosphingolipids GD1a and GT1b, which are heavily glycosylated gangliosides carrying sialic acid residues, were identified as specific receptors for PyV (37). Integrin ␣4␤1 (also sialyated) has been implicated as a possible coreceptor in mouse cells (9). For simian virus 40 (SV40), another member of the Polyomaviridae, the major histocompatibility complex class I molecule was described as a receptor (8). However, it was later shown that the major histocompatibility complex class I molecule is not endocytosed together with the virus (2). Tsai et al. (37) previously demonstrated that ganglioside GM1 can serve as a functional receptor for SV40. This virus enters cells via caveola invaginations that fuse with larger peripheral organelles (called caveosomes) enriched by caveolin-1. In the steps that followed, SV40 was detected in tubular, caveolin-free membrane vesicles that move along microtubules and deliver virions to the smooth endoplasmic reticulum (ER) (29). The import of SV40 into the ER was found to be brefeldin A sensitive and thus mediated by the ER-Golgi-intermediate compartment represented by COPIcoated vesicles (25, 32). The endocytic pat...

The polyomavirus minor late capsid antigen, VP2, is myristylated on its N-terminal glycine, this modification being required for efficient infection of mouse cells. To study further the functions of this antigen, as well as those of the other minor late antigen, VP3, recombinant baculoviruses carrying genes for VP1, VP2, and VP3 have been constructed and the corresponding proteins have been synthesized in insect cells. A monoclonal antibody recognizing VP1, a-PyVP1-A, and two monoclonal antibodies against the common region of VP2 and VP3, at-PyVP2/3-A and at-PyVP2/3-B, have been generated. Reactions of antibodies with antigens were characterized by indirect immunofluorescence, immunoprecipitation, and immunoblot analysis. Immunofluorescent staining of mouse cells infected with polyomavirus showed all antigens to be localized in nuclei. When