Alphaherpesvirus upregulates NDRG1 expression to facilitate the nuclear import of viral UL31 and UL34 proteins

Abstract Proteins UL31 and UL34 encoded by alphaherpesvirus are critical for viral primary envelopment and nuclear egress. We report here that pseudorabies virus (PRV), a useful model for research on herpesvirus pathogenesis, uses N‐myc downstream regulated 1 (NDRG1) to assist the nuclear import of UL31 and UL34. PRV promoted NDRG1 expression through DNA damage‐induced P53 activation, which was beneficial to viral proliferation. PRV induced the nuclear translocation of NDRG1, and its deficiency resulted in the cytosolic retention of UL31 and UL34. Therefore, NDRG1 assisted the nuclear import of UL31 and UL34. Furthermore, in the absence of the nuclear localization signal (NLS), UL31 could still translocate to the nucleus, and NDRG1 lacked an NLS, thus suggesting the existence of other mediators for the nuclear import of UL31 and UL34. We demonstrated that heat shock cognate protein 70 (HSC70) was the key factor in this process. UL31 and UL34 interacted with the N‐terminal domain of NDRG1 and the C‐terminal domain of NDRG1 bound to HSC70. Replenishment of HSC70 ΔNLS in HSC70‐knockdown cells, or interference in importin α expression, abolished the nuclear translocation of UL31, UL34, and NDRG1. These results indicated that NDRG1 employs HSC70 to facilitate viral proliferation in the nuclear import of PRV UL31 and UL34.