Secondary structures of influenza and Sendai Virus RNAs

The secondary structures of influenza and Sendai virus RNAs were investigated by thermal denaturation, circular dichroism and proflavine binding methods. In 0.1 M NaCl about 60% of the bases of both RNAs were involved in secondary structure. The melting temperatures (Tm) of both viral RNAs were linear functions of the logarithm of the sodium ion concentration in solution, but under all ionic conditions the melting temperatures of Sendai virus RNA were higher than those of influenza virus RNA. At all ionic strengths the melting range of Sendai virus RNA was less than influenza virus RNA, indicating that the helical regions in Sendai virus RNA were longer than those in influenza virus RNA. Although Sendai virus RNA had a higher thermal stability than influenza virus RNA, hyperchromicity and circular dichroism data showed that Sendai virus RNA had less G+C content (34%) within the double stranded regions than influenza virus RNA (48%). The binding isotherms of Sendai and influenza virus RNA-proflavine complexes were studied at different ionic strengths. The number of binding sites of proflavine with influenza virus RNA were significantly lower than those with Sendai virus RNA. These results demonstrate the essential difference between the secondary and tertiary structures of the RNAs under study.

[Physico-chemical properties of the RNA of Sendai virus. III. Interaction with proflavin]

The binding isotherms of the Sendai virus single- and double-stranded RNA-proflavine complexes have been studied. The existence of two regions on the binding curves, corresponding to two subtypes of the strong complex (I1 and I2) has been demonstrated. The association constants and the numbers of binding sites for both subtypes were determined as a function of ionic strength. Both of the single- and for the double-stranded RNA the association constant for I1 complex were higher than those for I2 complex under all ionic strengths conditions. For the double-stranded RNA the variation of the ionic strength is more importance in case of the I1 complex formation. The total number of binding sites increases with a decrease of ionic strength. At low ionic strength (10(-4) M NaCl) the number of binding sites for single- and double-stranded RNA is practically the same and is equal to the number of binding sites for DNA at high ionic strength (1 molecule of proflavine per 3 nucleotides pairs). The heat denaturation of the RNA-proflavine complexes under different ionic conditions has been also investigated. The melting curves for double-stranded RNA-proflavine complex had two waves at high and low ionic strengths. For the single-stranded RNA the high temperature wave occured only at the high ionic strength. The dependence of heat denaturation of single-stranded RNA on ionic strength was examined for the evaluation of RNA structure. In these experiments a significant decrease of the width of melting interval under low ionic strength conditions was observed. It may reflect the existance in the RNA molecule of long helical regions. The occurence of such structures is likely to be responsible for an increase in the number of binding sites at low ionic strength and also for the appearance of the second wave on the melting curves of the single-stranded RNA-proflavine complexes at high ionic strength.

[Investigation of myxovirus structure by spin probes. I. Thermostability of the lipid membrane of influenza and Sendai viruses]

Electron spin resonance (ESR) spectra of the spin probes C5 and C16, the iminoxyl derivatives of stearic acids, have been investigated after their incorporation into lipid membranes of influenza and Sendai viruses. At room temperature the spectra of both probes coincided indicating the similar composition and origin of lipid viral membranes. Similar to influenza virus, Sendai virus was shown to possess the external lipid bilayer. Investigation of the rigidity of the lipid phase of myxoviruses as a function temperature has shown that the structure of the lipid external layer (no less than 8 A in thickness) is due to surface glycoproteins incorporated into the viral membrane. The structural transition of the lipid phase of influenza and Sendai viruses 8 A apart from the viral surface was observed at 50 degrees C. The surface glycoproteins do not probably penetrate deep in the lipid membrane of myxoviruses and do not condition its structure at long distances (22 A) from the viral surface. The completely reversible structural transition of lipid phase at this distance was observed at temperatures 17--20 degrees C.

Physicochemical properties of Sendai virus RNA. II. Effect of ionic strength on thermostability of RNA

The dependence of the melting point (Tm) and width of the melting range (deltaTm) on the ionic strength and pH of the medium was investigated for the double-stranded RNA formed through self-hybridization during the isolation of RNA from Sendai virus. It was shown that Tm is a linear function of the logarithm of the sodium ion concentration in the range of concentrations from 10(-1) to 10(-4) M, with a slope of 11.5 degrees toward the abscissa for each order of magnitude. The width of the melting range increased slightly with a decrease in the ionic strength. A change in the pH of the solutions from 5 to 8 had almost no effect on the melting point or the width of the melting range. The degree of purification of the preparations of RNA and the presence of EDTA in the solutions affected the form of the dependence of the mp on the logarithm of the sodium ion concentration very strongly, especially in the region of low ionic strengths.