Properties of Adenoviral DNA Bound to the Nuclear Matrix

The association of adenoviral DNA with the high salt (2 M NaCl) resistant nuclear fraction, termed the nuclear matrix, has been investigated in HeLa cells at different times after infection with adenovirus type 5. When nuclear matrices were prepared in the absence of exogenously added nucleases, Ad5 DNA was quantitively associated with the matrix throughout the infection period (0-24 h). Moreover, early in infection (0-10 h) Ad5 DNA was severalfold enriched in DNase I digested nuclear matrices (8-15% of total nuclear DNA) compared to the high salt soluble chromatin fraction (85-90% of total nuclear DNA). At later times after infection, progressively more Ad5 DNA appeared in the chromatin fraction until, at 24 h, the nuclear matrix was strikingly depleted in Ad5 DNA. A large proportion of the Ad5 DNA in nuclear matrices prepared early in infection, e.g., 4 h, was full length in size. At later times (12-24 h) most of the viral DNA was fragmented to a size equivalent to total matrix DNA (100-1000 base pairs). The apparent switch of the matrix-associated viral DNA from a relatively DNase I resistant to sensitive state was initiated approximately at the time when viral DNA replication began (12 h). Since no discrete portion of the Ad5 genome was significantly enriched at the sites of attachment to the nuclear matrix throughout the infection period, the switch in DNase I sensitivity is not mediated by a change in DNA sequence attachment to the matrix. Appropriate 1-min pulse-label experiments with [3H] thymidine revealed an enrichment of newly replicated Ad5 DNA on the nuclear matrix and suggested that the matrix is an important site for adenoviral DNA replication.