The viral envelope is a major determinant for the induction of lymphoid and myeloid tumours by avian leukosis virus subgroups A and J, respectively

Na+/H+ exchanger type 1 is a receptor for pathogenic subgroup J avian leukosis virus

Subgroup J avian leukosis virus (ALV-J) is a recently identified avian oncogenic retrovirus responsible for severe economic losses worldwide. In contrast with the other ALV subgroups, ALV-J predominantly induces myeloid leukosis in meat-type chickens. Despite significant homology with the other ALV subgroups across most of the genome, the envelope protein of ALV-J (EnvJ) shares low homology with the others. Pathogenicity and myeloid leukosis induction map to the env gene of ALV-J. A chimeric protein composed of the surface domain of EnvJ fused to the constant region of a rabbit IgG and mass spectrometry were used to identify the chicken Na(+)/H(+) exchanger type 1 (chNHE1) as a binding protein for ALV-J. Flow cytometry analysis and coprecipitation experiments demonstrated a specific interaction between EnvJ and chNHE1. When introduced into nonpermissive human 293T cells and quail QT6 cells, chNHE1 conferred susceptibility to EnvJ-mediated infection. Furthermore, 293T cells expressing chNHE1 fused with 293T cells expressing EnvJ in a low-pH-dependent manner. Together, these data identify chNHE1 as a cellular receptor for the highly pathogenic ALV-J.

Genome sequence analysis of the avian retrovirus causing so-called fowl glioma and the promoter activity of the long terminal repeat

So-called fowl glioma is a retroviral infectious disease caused by avian leukosis virus subgroup A (ALV-A). We determined the complete nucleotide sequence of the virus genome. The full-length sequence was consistent with a genetic organization typical of a replication-competent type C retrovirus lacking viral oncogenes. The coding sequences were well conserved with those of replication-competent viruses, but the 3' noncoding regions including LTR were most related to those of replication-defective sarcoma viruses. The U3 region of the LTR had a few deletions and several point mutations compared to that of other ALVs. The promoter activities of the LTRs of glioma-inducing ALV and ALV-A standard strain, RAV-1, were equivalent in chick embryo fibroblasts (CEF), while that of glioma-inducing ALV was significantly lower than that of RAV-1 in human astrocytic cells. These subtle differences of the promoter activity of the LTR may be related to the induction of glial neoplasm.