Infected cell protein 0 (ICP0) of herpes simplex virus 1, a multifunctional ring finger protein, enhances the expression of genes introduced into cells by infection or transfection, interacts with numerous cellular and viral proteins, and is associated with the degradation of several cellular proteins. Sequences encoded by exon 2 of ICP0 (residues 20 -241) bind the UbcH3 (cdc34) ubiquitinconjugating enzyme, and its carboxy terminus expresses a ubiquitin ligase activity demonstrable by polyubiquitylation of cdc34 in vitro. We report that: (i) The physical interaction of cdc34 and ICP0 leads to its degradation. Thus, substitution of ICP0 aspartate 199 with alanine attenuates the degradation of cdc34 and its binding to the ICP0 ring finger domain. (ii) Substitution of residue 620 reported to abolish the interaction with a ubiquitin-specific protease has no effect on the function of ubiquitin ligase. (iii) ICP0 contains an additional distinct E3 ligase activity specific for the UbcH5a-and UbcH6 E2-conjugating enzymes mapping to the ring finger domain. This is, to our knowledge, the first identification of a viral protein with at least two physically separated E3 ligase activities with different E2 specificities. The results suggest that each activity may target different proteins.I nfected cell protein 0 (ICP0) of herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) is essential for viral replication in cells infected at low multiplicity but is not essential in cells infected at high multiplicity (1-3). The 775-amino acid protein is translated from a spliced mRNA containing three exons encoding 19, 222, and 534 codons, respectively. The interaction of ICP0 with several diverse cellular proteins including the BMAL1 transactivator (4), the translation elongation factor 1␦ (5), cyclin D3 (6), and the ubiquitin (Ub)-specific protease USP7 (7-9), suggests that its phenotype as a promiscuous transactivator reflects the sum of its multiple and diverse functions. Early in infection, ICP0 localizes with the promyelocytic leukemia protein and causes the disruption of ND10 structures (10-13). A zinc-binding RING finger (amino acids 106-149) characteristic of E3 Ub ligase enzymes has been identified in the domain encoded by exon 2 (14).Analyses of ICP0 in the yeast two-hybrid system led to the discovery that ICP0 binds and stabilizes cyclin D3 (6). Mapping studies led to the identification of aspartate 199 as pivotal for both stabilization and binding of cyclin D3. Replacement of aspartate 199 with alanine (D199A) abolishes both binding and stabilization of cyclin D3 mediated by ICP0 and results in attenuated viral growth in quiescent human embryonic lung fibroblasts and reduced neuroinvasiveness (15,16). These studies also revealed that ICP0 stabilizes cyclin D1 in a manner dependent on aspartate 199, even though it does not interact with it in vitro or in the yeast two-hybrid system (15, 16). Because HSV-1 replicates well in both dividing and stationary cells, these observations were pursued at several levels. The transcription of cyclin D3 or D1 ...