Characterization of cholesterol-free insect cells infectible by baculoviruses: effects of cholesterol on VSV fusion and infectivity and on cytotoxicity induced by influenza M2 protein

Spin label EPR suggests the presence of cholesterol rich domains in cultured insect cell membranes

Different spin labels were incorporated to the membranes of cultured insect UFL-AG-286 cells in order to characterize their physical properties by Electron Paramagnetic Resonance spectroscopy (EPR). The spectrum of the spin label 12-SASL incorporated to cell membranes was similar as those obtained in membrane model systems composed of eggPC/cholesterol. However, the spectrum of the spin label CSL, chemically related to cholesterol, was drastically different in the two systems. Interestingly, when cell cholesterol content was reduced using methyl beta cyclodextrin, an EPR spectrum similar to those of model membranes was obtained. The analysis of these experiments suggests the existence of cholesterol rich regions in UFL-AG-286 cell membranes.

Alphavirus entry into host cells

Viruses have evolved to exploit the vast complexity of cellular processes for their success within the host cell. The entry mechanisms of enveloped viruses (viruses with a surrounding outer lipid bilayer membrane) are usually classified as being either endocytotic or fusogenic. Different mechanisms have been proposed for Alphavirus entry and genome delivery. Indirect observations led to a general belief that enveloped viruses can infect cells either by protein-assisted fusion with the plasma membrane in a pH-independent manner or by endocytosis and fusion with the endocytic vacuole in a low-pH environment. The mechanism of Alphavirus penetration has been recently revisited using direct observation of the processes by electron microscopy under conditions of different temperatures and time progression. Under conditions nonpermissive for endocytosis or any vesicular transport, events occur which allow the entry of the virus genome into the cells. When drug inhibitors of cellular functions are used to prevent entry, only ionophores are found to significantly inhibit RNA delivery. Arboviruses are agents of significant human and animal disease; therefore, strategies to control infections are needed and include development of compounds which will block critical steps in the early infection events. It appears that current evidence points to an entry mechanism, in which alphaviruses infect cells by direct penetration of cell plasma membranes through a pore structure formed by virus and, possibly, host proteins.

Function of membrane rafts in viral lifecycles and host cellular response

Membrane rafts are small (10–200 nm) sterol- and sphingolipid-enriched domains that compartmentalize cellular processes. Membrane rafts play an important role in viral infection cycles and viral virulence. Viruses are divided into four main classes, enveloped DNA virus, enveloped RNA virus, nonenveloped DNA virus, and nonenveloped RNA virus. General virus infection cycle is also classified into two sections, the early stage (entry process) and the late stage (assembly, budding, and release processes of virus particles). In the viral cycle, membrane rafts act as a scaffold of many cellular signal transductions, which are associated with symptoms caused by viral infections. In this paper, we describe the functions of membrane rafts in viral lifecycles and host cellular response according to each virus classification, each stage of the virus lifecycle, and each virus-induced signal transduction.

Internalization and fusion mechanism of vesicular stomatitis virus and related rhabdoviruses

Members of the Rhabdoviridae infect a wide variety of animals and plants, and are the causative agents of many important diseases. Rhabdoviruses enter host cells following internalization into endosomes, with the glycoprotein (G protein) mediating both receptor binding to host cells and fusion with the cellular membrane. The recently solved crystal structure of vesicular stomatitis virus G has allowed considerable insight into the mechanism of rhabdovirus entry, in particular the low pH-dependent conformational changes that lead to fusion activation. Rhabdovirus entry shows several distinct features compared with other enveloped viruses; first, the entry process appears to consist of two distinct fusion events, initial fusion into vesicles within endosomes followed by back-fusion into the cytosol; second, the conformational changes in the G protein that lead to fusion activation are reversible; and third, the G protein is structurally distinct from other viral fusion proteins and is not proteolytically cleaved. The internalization and fusion mechanisms of rhabdoviruses are discussed in this article, with a focus on viral systems where the G protein has been studied extensively: vesicular stomatitis virus and rabies virus, as well as viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus.

Cholesterol-binding viral proteins in virus entry and morphogenesis

Up to now less than a handful of viral cholesterol-binding proteins have been characterized, in HIV, influenza virus and Semliki Forest virus. These are proteins with roles in virus entry or morphogenesis. In the case of the HIV fusion protein gp41 cholesterol binding is attributed to a cholesterol recognition consensus (CRAC) motif in a flexible domain of the ectodomain preceding the trans-membrane segment. This specific CRAC sequence mediates gp41 binding to a cholesterol affinity column. Mutations in this motif arrest virus fusion at the hemifusion stage and modify the ability of the isolated CRAC peptide to induce segregation of cholesterol in artificial membranes.Influenza A virus M2 protein co-purifies with cholesterol. Its proton translocation activity, responsible for virus uncoating, is not cholesterol-dependent, and the transmembrane channel appears too short for integral raft insertion. Cholesterol binding may be mediated by CRAC motifs in the flexible post-TM domain, which harbours three determinants of binding to membrane rafts. Mutation of the CRAC motif of the WSN strain attenuates virulence for mice. Its affinity to the raft-non-raft interface is predicted to target M2 protein to the periphery of lipid raft microdomains, the sites of virus assembly. Its influence on the morphology of budding virus implicates M2 as factor in virus fission at the raft boundary. Moreover, M2 is an essential factor in sorting the segmented genome into virus particles, indicating that M2 also has a role in priming the outgrowth of virus buds.SFV E1 protein is the first viral type-II fusion protein demonstrated to directly bind cholesterol when the fusion peptide loop locks into the target membrane. Cholesterol binding is modulated by another, proximal loop, which is also important during virus budding and as a host range determinant, as shown by mutational studies.

Contributions of the avian influenza virus HA, NA, and M2 surface proteins to the induction of neutralizing antibodies and protective immunity

Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) subtype H5N1 causes severe disease and mortality in poultry. Increased transmission of H5N1 HPAIV from birds to humans is a serious threat to public health. We evaluated the individual contributions of each of the three HPAIV surface proteins, namely, the hemagglutinin (HA), the neuraminidase (NA), and the M2 proteins, to the induction of HPAIV-neutralizing serum antibodies and protective immunity in chickens. Using reverse genetics, three recombinant Newcastle disease viruses (rNDVs) were engineered, each expressing the HA, NA, or M2 protein of H5N1 HPAIV. Chickens were immunized with NDVs expressing a single antigen (HA, NA, and M2), two antigens (HA+NA, HA+M2, and NA+M2), or three antigens (HA+NA+M2). Immunization with HA or NA induced high titers of HPAIV-neutralizing serum antibodies, with the response to HA being greater, thus identifying HA and NA as independent neutralization antigens. M2 did not induce a detectable neutralizing serum antibody response, and inclusion of M2 with HA or NA reduced the magnitude of the response. Immunization with HA alone or in combination with NA induced complete protection against HPAIV challenge. Immunization with NA alone or in combination with M2 did not prevent death following challenge, but extended the time period before death. Immunization with M2 alone had no effect on morbidity or mortality. Thus, there was no indication that M2 is immunogenic or protective. Furthermore, inclusion of NA in addition to HA in a vaccine preparation for chickens may not enhance the high level of protection provided by HA.

Differential cholesterol binding by class II fusion proteins determines membrane fusion properties

The class II fusion proteins of the alphaviruses and flaviviruses mediate virus infection by driving the fusion of the virus membrane with that of the cell. These fusion proteins are triggered by low pH, and their structures are strikingly similar in both the prefusion dimer and the postfusion homotrimer conformations. Here we have compared cholesterol interactions during membrane fusion by these two groups of viruses. Using cholesterol-depleted insect cells, we showed that fusion and infection by the alphaviruses Semliki Forest virus (SFV) and Sindbis virus were strongly promoted by cholesterol, with similar sterol dependence in laboratory and field isolates and in viruses passaged in tissue culture. The E1 fusion protein from SFV bound cholesterol, as detected by labeling with photocholesterol and by cholesterol extraction studies. In contrast, fusion and infection by numerous strains of the flavivirus dengue virus (DV) and by yellow fever virus 17D were cholesterol independent, and the DV fusion protein did not show significant cholesterol binding. SFV E1 is the first virus fusion protein demonstrated to directly bind cholesterol. Taken together, our results reveal important functional differences conferred by the cholesterol-binding properties of class II fusion proteins.

Up to new tricks - a review of cross-species transmission of influenza A viruses

Influenza is a highly contagious disease that has burdened both humans and animals since ancient times. In humans, the most dramatic consequences of influenza are associated with periodically occurring pandemics. Pandemics require the emergence of an antigenically novel virus to which the majority of the population lacks protective immunity. Historically, influenza A viruses from animals have contributed to the generation of human pandemic viruses and they may do so again in the future. It is, therefore, critical to understand the epidemiological and molecular mechanisms that allow influenza A viruses to cross species barriers. This review summarizes the current knowledge of influenza ecology, and the viral factors that are thought to determine influenza A virus species specificity.

The p14 fusion-associated small transmembrane (FAST) protein effects membrane fusion from a subset of membrane microdomains

The reovirus fusion-associated small transmembrane (FAST) proteins are a unique family of viral membrane fusion proteins. These nonstructural viral proteins induce efficient cell-cell rather than virus-cell membrane fusion. We analyzed the lipid environment in which the reptilian reovirus p14 FAST protein resides to determine the influence of the cell membrane on the fusion activity of the FAST proteins. Topographical mapping of the surface of fusogenic p14-containing liposomes by atomic force microscopy under aqueous conditions revealed that p14 resides almost exclusively in thickened membrane microdomains. In transfected cells, p14 was found in both Lubrol WX- and Triton X-100-resistant membrane complexes. Cholesterol depletion of donor cell membranes led to preferential disruption of p14 association with Lubrol WX (but not Triton X-100)-resistant membranes and decreased cell-cell fusion activity, both of which were reversed upon subsequent cholesterol repletion. Furthermore, co-patching analysis by fluorescence microscopy indicated that p14 did not co-localize with classical lipid-anchored raft markers. These data suggest that the p14 FAST protein associates with heterogeneous membrane microdomains, a distinct subset of which is defined by cholesterol-dependent Lubrol WX resistance and which may be more relevant to the membrane fusion process.

Mutations in the endodomain of Sindbis virus glycoprotein E2 define sequences critical for virus assembly

Envelopment of Sindbis virus at the plasma membrane is a multistep process in which an initial step is the association of the E2 protein via a cytoplasmic endodomain with the preassembled nucleocapsid. Sindbis virus is vectored in nature by blood-sucking insects and grows efficiently in a number of avian and mammalian vertebrate hosts. The assembly of Sindbis virus, therefore, must occur in two very different host cell environments. Mammalian cells contain cholesterol which insect membranes lack. This difference in membrane composition may be critical in determining what requirements are placed on the E2 tail for virus assembly. To examine the interaction between the E2 tail and the nucleocapsid in Sindbis virus, we have produced substitutions and deletions in a region of the E2 tail (E2 amino acids 408 to 415) that is initially integrated into the endoplasmic reticulum. This sequence was identified as being critical for nucleocapsid binding in an in vitro peptide protection assay. The effects of these mutations on virus assembly and function were determined in both vertebrate and invertebrate cells. Amino acid substitutions (at positions E2: 408, 410, 411, and 413) reduced infectious virus production in a position-dependent fashion but were not efficient in disrupting assembly in mammalian cells. Deletions in the E2 endodomain (delta406-407, delta409-411, and delta414-417) resulted in the failure to assemble virions in mammalian cells. Electron microscopy of BHK cells transfected with these mutants revealed assembly of nucleocapsids that failed to attach to membranes. However, introduction of these deletion mutants into insect cells resulted in the assembly of virus-like particles but no assayable infectivity. These data help define protein interactions critical for virus assembly and suggest a fundamental difference between Sindbis virus assembly in mammalian and insect cells.

The influenza virus ion channel and maturation cofactor M2 is a cholesterol-binding protein

The influenza-virus M2 protein has proton channel activity required for virus uncoating and maturation of hemagglutinin (HA) through low-pH compartments. The proton channel is cytotoxic in heterologous expression systems and can be blocked with rimantadine. In an independent, rimantadine-resistant function, M2, interacting with the M1 protein, controls the shape of virus particles. These bud from cholesterol-rich membrane rafts where viral glycoproteins and matrix (M1)/RNP complexes assemble. We demonstrate that M2 preparations from influenza virus-infected cells and from a baculovirus expression system contain 0.5-0.9 molecules of cholesterol per monomer. Sequence analyses of the membrane-proximal M2 endodomain reveal interfacial hydrophobicity, a cholesterol-binding motif first identified in peripheral benzodiazepine receptor and human immunodeficiency virus gp41, and an overlapping phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate-binding motif. M2 induced rimantadine-reversible cytotoxicity in intrinsically cholesterol-free E. coli, and purified E. coli-expressed M2 functionally reconstituted into cholesterol-free liposomes supported rimantadine-sensitive proton translocation. Therefore, cholesterol was nonessential for M2 ion-channel function and cytotoxicity and for the effect of rimantadine. Only about 5-8% of both M2 preparations, regardless of cholesterol content, associated with detergent-resistant membranes. Cholesterol affinity and palmitoylation, in combination with a short transmembrane segment suggest M2 is a peripheral raft protein. Preference for the raft/non-raft interface may determine colocalization with HA during apical transport, the low level of M2 incorporated into the viral envelope and its undisclosed role in virus budding for which a model is presented. M2 may promote clustering and merger of rafts and the pinching-off (fission) of virus particles.

Deletions in the transmembrane domain of a sindbis virus glycoprotein alter virus infectivity, stability, and host range

The alphaviruses are composed of two icosahedral protein shells, one nested within the other. A membrane bilayer derived from the host cell is sandwiched between the protein shells. The protein shells are attached to one another by protein domains which extend one of the proteins of the outer shell through the membrane bilayer to attach to the inner shell. We have examined the interaction of the membrane-spanning domain of one of the membrane glycoproteins with the membrane bilayer and with other virus proteins in an attempt to understand the role this domain plays in virus assembly and function. Through incremental deletions, we have reduced the length of a virus membrane protein transmembrane domain from its normal 26 amino acids to 8 amino acids. We examined the effect of these deletions on the assembly and function of virus particles. We found that progressive truncations in the transmembrane domain profoundly affected production of infectious virus in a cyclic fashion. We also found that membrane composition effects protein-protein and protein-membrane interactions during virus assembly.

Protein-Lipid Interplay in Fusion and Fission of Biological Membranes

Disparate biological processes involve fusion of two membranes into one and fission of one membrane into two. To formulate the possible job description for the proteins that mediate remodeling of biological membranes, we analyze the energy price of disruption and bending of membrane lipid bilayers at the different stages of bilayer fusion. The phenomenology and the pathways of the well-characterized reactions of biological remodeling, such as fusion mediated by influenza hemagglutinin, are compared with those studied for protein-free bilayers. We briefly consider some proteins involved in fusion and fission, and the dependence of remodeling on the lipid composition of the membranes. The specific hypothetical mechanisms by which the proteins can lower the energy price of the bilayer rearrangement are discussed in light of the experimental data and the requirements imposed by the elastic properties of the bilayer.

Virus entry, assembly, budding, and membrane rafts

As intracellular parasites, viruses rely heavily on the use of numerous cellular machineries for completion of their replication cycle. The recent discovery of the heterogeneous distribution of the various lipids within cell membranes has led to the proposal that sphingolipids and cholesterol tend to segregate in microdomains called membrane rafts. The involvement of membrane rafts in biosynthetic traffic, signal transduction, and endocytosis has suggested that viruses may also take advantage of rafts for completion of some steps of their replication cycle, such as entry into their cell host, assembly, and budding. In this review, we have attempted to delineate all the reliable data sustaining this hypothesis and to build some models of how rafts are used as platforms for assembly of some viruses. Indeed, if in many cases a formal proof of raft involvement in a virus replication cycle is still lacking, one can reasonably suggest that, owing to their ability to specifically attract some proteins, lipid microdomains provide a particular milieu suitable for increasing the efficiency of many protein-protein interactions which are crucial for virus infection and growth.

Sterol effects and sites of sterol accumulation in Caenorhabditis elegans: developmental requirement for 4alpha-methyl sterols

Caenorhabditis elegans requires sterol, usually supplied as cholesterol, but this is enzymatically modified, and different sterols can substitute. Sterol deprivation decreased brood size and adult growth in the first generation, and completely, reversibly, arrested growth as larvae in the second. After one generation of sterol deprivation, 10 ng/ml cholesterol allowed delayed laying of a few eggs, but full growth required 300 ng/ml. C. elegans synthesizes two unusual 4alpha-methyl sterols (4MSs), but each 4MS supported only limited growth as the sole sterol. However, addition of only 10 ng of cholesterol to 1,000 ng of 4MS restored full growth and egg-laying, suggesting that both a 4MS and an unmethylated sterol are required for development. Filipin stained sterols in only a few specific cells: the excretory gland cell, two amphid socket cells, two phasmid socket cells and, in males, spicule socket cells. Sterols were also present in the pharynx and in the intestine of feeding animals in a proximal-to-distal gradient. This non-random sterol distribution, the low concentration requirements, and the effects of 4MSs argues that sterols are unlikely to be used for bulk structural modification of cell membranes, but may be required as hormone precursors and/or developmental effectors.

Asymmetric requirement for cholesterol in receptor-bearing but not envelope-bearing membranes for fusion mediated by ecotropic murine leukemia virus

We show that fusion mediated by ecotropic murine leukemia virus envelope is dependent on cholesterol in receptor-bearing membranes. The effect is >10 times larger in insect cells than mammalian cells, probably because the former can be more extensively depleted of cholesterol. The fact that cholesterol is apparently not needed in envelope-bearing membranes suggests that it plays a role in an asymmetric step in membrane fusion and argues against a class of models in which cholesterol is important in symmetric fusion intermediates. The insect cell system has promise for clarifying the role of membrane rafts in other aspects of cell physiology.

Exposure to low pH is not required for penetration of mosquito cells by Sindbis virus

It is widely held that the penetration of cells by alphaviruses is dependent on exposure to the acid environment of an endosome. The alphavirus Sindbis virus replicates in both vertebrate and invertebrate cell cultures. We have found that exposure to an acid environment may not be required for infection of cells of the insect host. In this work, we investigated the effects of two agents (NH(4)Cl and chloroquine), which raise the pH of intracellular compartments (lysosomotropic weak bases) on the infection and replication of Sindbis virus in cells of the insect host Aedes albopictus. The results show that both of these agents increase the pH of endosomes, as indicated by protection against diphtheria toxin intoxication. NH(4)Cl blocked the production of infectious virus and blocked virus RNA synthesis when added prior to infection. Chloroquine, in contrast to its effect on vertebrate cells, had no inhibitory effect on infectious virus production in mosquito cells even when added prior to infection. Treatment with NH(4)Cl did not prevent the penetration of virus RNA into the cell cytoplasm or translation of the RNA to produce a precursor to virus nonstructural proteins. These data suggest that while these two drugs raise the pH of endosomes, they do not block insect cell penetration. These data support previous results published by our laboratory suggesting that exposure to an acid environment within the cell may not be an obligatory step in the process of infection of cells by alphaviruses.

Adaptation of an insect cell line of Spodoptera frugiperda to grow at 37 degrees C: characterization of an endodiploid clone

Sf21 and Sf9 cell lines established from the lepidoptera Spodoptera frugiperda do not display major induction of heat shock proteins when exposed to a temperature of 37 degrees C. After some months of adaptation at 37 degrees C we obtained two new cell lines, Sf21-HT and Sf9-HT, which have now been established for several years in our laboratory. The Sf9-HT line displays a slightly shorter doubling time at 37 degrees C than the wild type at 28 degrees C, but cell lethality gives rise to an earlier growth arrest. The composition of total lipid extract from heat-adapted cells reveals a higher sphingomyelin to phosphatidylcholine ratio and a higher percentage of saturated fatty acids, which are expected for the lower membrane fluidity, required for thermotolerance. The cell volume of Sf9-HT is doubled, and by flow cytometry we showed that the DNA content is twice that in the parental cell line. Karyotypic examination of metaphasic cells achieved under epifluorescence microscopy revealed a doubled chromosome number in Sf9-HT.

Biochemical consequences of a mutation that controls the cholesterol dependence of Semliki Forest virus fusion

The enveloped alphavirus Semliki Forest virus (SFV) infects cells via a low-pH-triggered membrane fusion reaction that requires cholesterol and sphingolipid in the target membrane. Cholesterol-depleted insect cells are highly resistant to alphavirus infection and were used to select srf-3, an SFV mutant that is approximately 100-fold less cholesterol dependent for infection due to a single amino acid change in the E1 spike subunit, proline 226 to serine. Sensitive lipid-mixing assays here demonstrated that the in vitro fusion of srf-3 and wild-type (wt) virus with cholesterol-containing liposomes had comparable kinetics, activation energies, and sphingolipid dependence. In contrast, srf-3 fusion with sterol-free liposomes was significantly more efficient than that of wt virus. Thus, the srf-3 mutation does not affect its general fusion properties with purified lipid bilayers but causes a marked and specific reduction in cholesterol dependence. Upon exposure to low pH, the E1 spike subunit undergoes distinct conformational changes, resulting in the exposure of an acid conformation-specific epitope and formation of an E1 homotrimer. These conformational changes were strongly cholesterol and sphingolipid dependent for wt SFV and strikingly less cholesterol dependent for srf-3. Our results thus demonstrate the functional importance of fusogenic E1 conformational changes in the control of SFV cholesterol dependence.

Growth and stability of a cholesterol-independent Semliki Forest virus mutant in mosquitoes

Semliki Forest virus (SFV) is an enveloped alphavirus that is transmitted in the wild by mosquito vectors. In tissue culture cells, SFV requires cholesterol in the cell membrane both for virus membrane fusion and for the efficient exit of progeny virus from the cell. A previously isolated SFV mutant, srf-3, is strikingly less cholesterol-dependent for virus fusion, exit, and growth due to a single amino acid change in the E1 spike protein subunit, proline 226 to serine. Here we show that when mosquitoes were infected by intrathoracic injection at a range of virus multiplicities, the growth of srf-3 was significantly more rapid than that of wild-type virus, particularly at low multiplicity infection. The differential cholesterol requirements for wild-type and srf-3 infection were maintained during virus passage through mosquitoes. The presence or absence of cholesterol in the srf-3 virus membrane did not affect its infection properties in mosquitoes. Thus the srf-3 mutation causes a growth advantage in the tissues of the mosquito host.

The cholesterol requirement for sindbis virus entry and exit and characterization of a spike protein region involved in cholesterol dependence

Semliki Forest virus (SFV) and Sindbis virus (SIN) are enveloped alphaviruses that enter cells via low-pH-triggered fusion in the endocytic pathway and exit by budding from the plasma membrane. Previous studies with cholesterol-depleted insect cells have shown that SFV requires cholesterol in the cell membrane for both virus fusion and efficient exit of progeny virus. An SFV mutant, srf-3, shows efficient fusion and exit in the absence of cholesterol due to a single point mutation in the E1 spike subunit, proline 226 to serine. We have here characterized the role of cholesterol in the entry and exit of SIN, an alphavirus quite distantly related to SFV. Growth, primary infection, fusion, and exit of SIN were all dramatically inhibited in cholesterol-depleted cells compared to control cells. Based on sequence differences within the E1 226 region between SFV, srf-3, and SIN, we constructed six SIN mutants with alterations within this region and characterized their cholesterol dependence. A SIN mutant, SGM, that had the srf-3 amino acid sequence from E1 position 224 to 235 showed increases of approximately 100-fold in infection and approximately 250-fold in fusion with cholesterol-depleted cells compared with infection and fusion of wild-type SIN. Pulse-chase analysis demonstrated that SGM exit from cholesterol-depleted cells was markedly more efficient than that of wild-type SIN. Thus, similar to SFV, SIN was cholesterol dependent for both virus entry and exit, and the cholesterol dependence of both steps could be modulated by sequences within the E1 226 region.

Expression of heterologous proteins in stable insect cell culture

Stable transformed insect cell lines have been used for producing many highly processed heterologous proteins. Current research has focused on development of new expression and selection systems, and enhancement of vector stability. Defining the variation of modification and processing capabilities between cell lines will further enhance complex protein production from insect cells.

The transmembrane domain in viral fusion: essential role for a conserved glycine residue in vesicular stomatitis virus G protein

The transmembrane (TM) domains of viral fusion proteins are required for fusion, but their precise role is unknown. G protein, the fusion protein of vesicular stomatitis virus, was previously shown to lose syncytia-forming ability if six residues (GLIIGL) were deleted from its TM domain. The 20-residue TM domain of wild-type (TM20) G protein was thus changed into a TM domain of 14 residues (TM14). To assess possible sequence specificity for this loss of function, the two Gly residues in TM20 were replaced with either Ala or Leu. Both mutations resulted in complete loss of fusion activity, as measured by fusion-dependent reporter gene transfer. Single substitutions decreased activity by about half. TM14 was weakly active (15%) but reintroduction of a Gly residue into TM14 by a single Ile --> Gly substitution increased activity to 80%. All mutants retained normal hemifusion activity, i.e., lipid mixing between the outer leaflets of the reacting membranes. Thus, at least one TM Gly residue is required for a late step in fusion mediated by G protein. Gly residues were significantly (2.6-fold; P = 0.004) more abundant in the TM domains of viral fusion proteins than in those of nonfusion proteins and were distributed differently within the TM domain. Thus, Gly residues in the TM domain of other viral fusion proteins may also prove to be important for fusion activity.

A single point mutation controls the cholesterol dependence of Semliki Forest virus entry and exit

Membrane fusion and budding are key steps in the life cycle of all enveloped viruses. Semliki Forest virus (SFV) is an enveloped alphavirus that requires cellular membrane cholesterol for both membrane fusion and efficient exit of progeny virus from infected cells. We selected an SFV mutant, srf-3, that was strikingly independent of cholesterol for growth. This phenotype was conferred by a single amino acid change in the E1 spike protein subunit, proline 226 to serine, that increased the cholesterol independence of both srf-3 fusion and exit. The srf-3 mutant emphasizes the relationship between the role of cholesterol in membrane fusion and virus exit, and most significantly, identifies a novel spike protein region involved in the virus cholesterol requirement.