The UL8 subunit of the helicase/primase complex of herpes simplex virus promotes DNA annealing and has a high affinity for replication forks [Molecular Biophysics]

During lytic infection, herpes simplex virus (HSV) DNA is replicated by a mechanism involving DNA recombination. For instance, replication of the HSV-1 genome produces X- and Y-branched structures, reminiscent of recombination intermediates. HSV-1's replication machinery includes a trimeric helicase/primase is composed of helicase (UL5) and primase (UL52) subunits and a third subunit, UL8. UL8 has been reported to stimulate the helicase and primase activities of the complex in the presence of ICP8, an HSV-1 protein that functions as an annealase, a protein that binds complementary single-stranded (ss)DNA and facilitates its annealing to duplex DNA. UL8 also influences the intracellular localization of the UL5/UL52 subunits, but UL8`s catalytic activities are not known. In this study, we used a combination of biochemical techniques and transmission electron microscopy. First, we report that UL8 alone forms protein filaments in solution. Moreover, we also found that, UL8 binds to ssDNAs >50 nt long and promotes the annealing of complementary ssDNA to generate highly branched duplex DNA structures. Finally, UL8 has a very high affinity for replication fork structures containing a gap in the lagging strand as short as 15 nt, suggesting that UL8 may aid in directing or loading the trimeric complex onto a replication fork. The properties of UL8 uncovered here suggest that UL8 may be involved in the generation of the X- and Y-branched structures that are the hallmarks of HSV replication.

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