Structural proteins of ribonucleic acid tumor viruses. Purification of envelope, core, and internal components

Immuno-chromatographic assay for diagnosis of feline leukemia virus infection

Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) infectious disease is one of feline infection diseases spreading broadly all over the world. For bedside diagnosis of FeLV infectious disease, an immuno-chromatographic assay was investigated. Five different monoclonal antibodies were developed against the major core protein FeLV-p27. Among them, the combination of FL6 and FL12, which had little epitopic overlap each other, showed the highest sensitivity with no cross-reaction to the other feline virus antigens when they were employed to the immuno-chromatographic assay. The system had a practical detection limit of 0.5 ng of FeLV-p27 per 0.1 ml of feline sera within 15 min. In comparison with clinical standard methods, the system gave rapidly and accurately the same diagnosis with neither false negative nor false positive. Moreover, it did not need any pretreatment of blood specimen.

Procedures for the haemagglutination and the haemagglutination inhibition tests for avian infectious bronchitis virus

Various aspects of production, storage and stability of the haemagglutination (HA) activity of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) were studied. From the results obtained, a standard procedure for the production of IBV, HA and the HA and haemagglutination inhibition (HI) tests is suggested. The main points of the suggested procedure are: (1) the virus should be concentrated but not purified; (2) the virus should be treated with phospho-lipase C type 1 (PLC), at a final concentration of one unit/ml, for two hours at 37 degrees C; (3) the virus should be stored at 4 degrees C after PLC treatment; (4) HA and HI test plates should be kept at 4 degrees C and read 45-60 min after the addition of chicken red blood cells. Using the recommended standard procedure the HA and HI tests for IBV were as reproducible as the HA and HI tests for Newcastle disease virus.

Membrane Glycoproteins of Enveloped Viruses

This chapter focuses on the recent information of the glycoprotein components of enveloped viruses and points out specific findings on viral envelopes. Although enveloped viruses of different major groups vary in size and shape, as well as in the molecular weight of their structural polypeptides, there are general similarities in the types of polypeptide components present in virions. The types of structural components found in viral membranes are summarized briefly in the chapter. All the enveloped viruses studied to date possess one or more glycoprotein species and lipid as a major structural component. The presence of carbohydrate covalently linked to proteins is demonstrated by the incorporation of a radioactive precursor, such as glucosamine or fucose, into viral polypeptides, which is resolved by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Enveloped viruses share many common features in the organization of their structural components, as indicated by several approaches, including electron microscopy, surface-labeling, and proteolytic digestion experiments, and the isolation of subviral components. The chapter summarizes the detailed structure of the glycoproteins of four virus groups: (1) influenza virus glycoproteins, (2) rhabdovirus G protein, (3) togavirus glycoprotein, and (4) paramyxovirus glycoproteins The information obtained includes the size and shape of viral glycoproteins, the number of polypeptide chains in the complete glycoprotein structure, and compositional data on the polypeptide and oligosaccharide portions of the molecules.

The envelope glycoprotein of an amphotropic murine retrovirus binds specifically to the cellular receptor/phosphate transporter of susceptible species

A rat cDNA (rRam-1), which was cloned on the basis that it enables Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells to be infected by amphotropic host range murine retroviruses, was recently found to encode a widely expressed Na(+)-phosphate symporter (M. P. Kavanaugh, D. G. Miller, W. Zhang, W. Law, S. L. Kozak, D. Kabat, and A. D. Miller, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91:7071-7075, 1994). CHO cells express the hamster homolog of Ram-1 but are resistant to amphotropic retroviruses. Although the amphotropic envelope glycoprotein gp70 bound weakly onto control CHO cells, CHO/rRam-1 cells had novel high-affinity binding sites, and the resulting strongly adsorbed gp70 was only slowly removed from cell surfaces, with a half-life of greater than 6 h. CHO/rRam-1 cells were also specifically and efficiently killed by exposure to amphotropic gp70 followed by antiserum to gp70 in the presence of complement. Infection with an appropriately pseudotyped form of amphotropic retrovirus 4070A did not perturb control CHO cells or inhibit their phosphate transport. In contrast, 4070A infection of CHO/rRam-1 cells caused major alterations including cell-cell fusions, a specific 40% down-modulation of the rRam-1 component of phosphate transport, and complete interference to super-infection by amphotropic viruses. The 4070A virus-infected CHO/rRam-1 cells retained a substantial cell surface pool of rRam-1 that functioned as a phosphate transporter but not as a viral receptor. We conclude that amphotropic gp70 binds more strongly to rRam-1 than to the homologous hamster protein and that this stable attachment is necessary for infection, interference, membrane fusion, and pathogenesis.

Large-scale purification of gp70 from Moloney murine leukemia virus

The external envelope glycoprotein, gp70, of the Moloney murine leukemia virus was extracted from NIH 3T3 cells utilizing the detergent n-octyl-beta-D-glycopyranoside. The extracted gp70 was sequentially purified utilizing lectin-affinity, anion-exchange, and molecular-exclusion chromatography techniques. Approximately 10 mg of gp70 was purified by this method and shown to be 95% homogeneous, as assessed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The presence of purified gp70 from Moloney murine leukemia virus was confirmed by amino acid analysis, amino-terminal sequencing, and immunoreactivity with a monoclonal antibody raised against gp70. The procedure is rapid, utilizes commercially available media, and can be used to purify large amounts of retroviral envelope glycoprotein from virus.

Cell surface receptors for ecotropic murine retroviruses: mobile membrane proteins that mediate binding and slow endocytosis of the viral envelope glycoprotein

The gp70 envelope glycoproteins of ecotropic murine leukemia viruses bind to receptors that occur only on mouse and rat cells and on interspecies hybrid cells that contain mouse chromosome 5. A substantial fraction of the gp70 that was bound specifically by these criteria remained undegraded and accessible to extracellular labeling reagents for many hours. Accordingly, cells with ecotropic receptors could be labeled specifically. As seen by immunofluorescence microscopy, the gp70-receptor complexes were uniformly dispersed on mouse fibroblast plasma membranes. These complexes were mobile, and they aggregated into patches when crosslinked by antibodies at 37 degrees, but not when membrane lipid fluidity was frozen at 0 degrees. Ecotropic receptors still bound gp70 specifically after cells were fixed with 3.7% formaldehyde, but these receptors could not be patched, indicating that they were nondiffusible. Viable cells slowly endocytosed gp70-receptor complexes at 37 degrees (approximate half-life 5-7 hr) and the gp70 was then proteolytically degraded in lysosomes. In the presence of 20 microM chloroquine, a lysosomal inhibitor, undegraded gp70 was seen to slowly accumulate in these intracellular organelles. These results suggest that ecotropic receptors mediate a slow internalization of attached ligand. Long-lived binding of gp70 onto surfaces of uninfected cells may explain important features of viral-induced leukemia, the host immune response, and immunosuppression.

Purification and characterization of simian foamy virus type I structural core polypeptides

The present study concerns the purification and partial characterization of simian foamy virus type 1 (SFV 1) structural core polypeptides. The obtention of SFV 1 cores separated from envelope components after viral disrupture was verified by electron microscopy (EM), density gradient, and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). Multistep purification by column chromatography, verified by PAGE, enabled us to separate the structural core polypeptides from the 80,000 molecular weight reverse transcriptase. Two species of structural core polypeptides were identified with apparent molecular weights of 51 and 15 kd. By affinity chromatography on a double-stranded DNA-cellulose column, the main internal protein, p51, was shown to be composed of a major 30 kd protein and a minor 19 kd polypeptide, which binds to double stranded DNA. The p15 internal protein was shown to have a ribonucleotide binding nature.

The fate of the surface protein gp70 during entry of retrovirus into mouse fibroblasts

The kinetics of the viral surface protein gp70 and the viral core proteins p30 and p15C were followed during retrovirus entry into mouse fibroblasts. All three proteins were internalized, but whereas essentially all the gp70 was degraded, approximately one-third of the core proteins remained stable in the cells. These diverging routes of the different proteins are in agreement with the proposed route, that retrovirus enters the cells by endocytosis followed by a membrane fusion between the virus membrane and the vesicle membrane.

Cell surface receptors for murine leukemia viruses: two assays and their implications

Two assays were developed for identifying individual cells which bear murine leukemia virus receptors: an erythrocyte rosette assay for ecotropic receptors, and an efficient immune cytotoxic assay for cells with ecotropic or amphotropic receptors. Both assays indicate that ecotropic MuLV adsorbed to its cell surface receptor only slowly becomes internalized. Furthermore, attempts to isolate murine fibroblast variants lacking these ecotropic MuLV receptors were unsuccessful, suggesting either that mutations in the receptor gene are rare (less than 10(-7) per generation) or that the receptor is required for cell viability. These assays are rapid and can be used to identify receptor-bearing cells in mixed populations, a prerequisite for molecular genetic studies.

A leukemia virus-related protein in the murine pancreas

A protein that has been detected in the granules of islet cells in the murine pancreas is similar but not identical to the endogenous murine leukemia virus envelope protein gp70. The pancreatic protein was detected by several immunological methods using both polyclonal and monoclonal anti-murine gp70. On purification by affinity chromatography, it was shown to be different from murine gp70 in its subcellular location and its molecular size and the size of its precursor and by the effect of various reagents on its immunological activity as determined by the ELISA assay.

Genetic control of immune responses to Moloney sarcomas in rats: role of non-RT-1 background genes

Bone marrow chimeras, athymic nude rats and a congeneic strain were utilized to verify and further examine non-RT-1 linked background genes that influence immune responses of BN and LEW rats to Moloney sarcomas. In transplants that did not involve RT-1 incompatibility, infusion of high-responder bone marrow into a lethally irradiated low-responder recipient, or low-responder bone marrow into a high-responder recipient, would restore a high antibody response to the gp70 antigen of MuLV. Such transplants did not restore a high response to the p30 antigen. Athymic nude rats did not exhibit a significant response to either p30 or gp70 while euthymic littermates exhibited a significant response to both antigens. Growth of Moloney sarcomas as well as antibody and cellular responses to antigens expressed by such tumors were measured in LEW-IN rats which carry the RT-1 of BN and the background of LEW. For each of these parameters, LEW-IN resembled LEW more closely than BN.

Rapid screening of monoclonal antibodies: new 'microstick' radioimmunoassay

A new system for assaying monoclonal antibodies consisting of an 8 x 12 array of sticks which fits into a 96-well microtiter plate is described. Tests using virus specific monoclonal antibodies and virus proteins demonstrated sensitivity equivalent to the conventional microtiter plate assay. Antibody production, antigen specific antibody, and immunoglobulin isotypes could be measured under sterile conditions directly in the original fusion mixture wells and with much greater rapidity than with the microtiter plate assay.

Reverse transcriptase from simian foamy virus serotype 1: purification and characterization

Chromatography on heparin-Sepharose, known for its affinity for nucleotide-binding polypeptides, was used to purify the viral RNA-dependent DNA polymerase (reverse transcriptase) from the core polypeptides of simian foamy virus type 1. This procedure allowed the recovery of highly purified enzyme with a high specific activity. The average molecular weight of this monomeric enzyme is 81,000 and is thus comparable to that found for other known primate retroviruses. Reverse transcriptase activity of simian foamy virus type 1 requires a ribonucleotide template as a primer or otherwise a DNA with 3'-OH ends. Other optimal conditions of activity are reviewed. Heat inactivation studies led to the concept of an enzyme with two loci, one specific for the substrate and the other for the template-primer.

Biochemical characterization of simian foamy virus type i

Simian syncitium-forming ("foamy") virus type I (SFV1) was characterized biochemically. RNA was extracted from purified virus either with 0.1 per cent SDS or by the standard phenol-chloroform method. By both techniques a main component of 65-70S was found. Denaturation of the 65-70S RNA by heat resulted in a shift of the sedimentation coefficient mainly to a 30-35S component. Electrophoresis on a composite polyacrylamide gel demonstrated the existence of three minor RNA's: 8S, 5S and 4S respectively. PAGE-SDS analysis of disrupted purified virions enabled the separate migration of five viral proteins and the identification of two main proteins: a 30 kd polypeptide and a 70 kd polypeptide.

Immunological properties of a type C retrovirus isolated from cultured human T-lymphoma cells and comparison to other mammalian retroviruses

HTLV strain CR (HTLVCR) is a retrovirus which was isolated from a human T-cell lymphoma cell line. A protein of molecular weight 24,000 p24, was purified from this virus. Several results indicate that this p24 is an internal core protein of HTLVCR. (i) The p24 copurified with viral cores. (ii) It was labeled with 125I after disruption of the virus, but not when undisrupted virus was iodinated. (iii) The amount of p24 was directly proportional to the amount of HTLVCR. (iv) In chromatographic properties, the HTLVCR p24 behaved similarly to the major structural protein (24,000- to 30,000-molecular-weight protein) of other retroviruses. A rabbit antiserum raised against disrupted HTLVCR precipitated the labeled p24, and the precipitation was competed for by unlabeled HTLVCR and by cytoplasmic proteins from cells producing HTLVCR, but not by proteins from normal human cells, including normal growing human T-cells, and several cultured human cutaneous T-cell lymphoma lines. Proteins from several mammalian type B, type C, and type D viruses also failed to compete in this precipitation. Moreover, HTLVCR did not react in homologous and interspecies assays for p30 antigens of several mammalian type C and type D viruses. These observations agree with immunological comparisons between reverse transcriptase of HTLVCR and other retroviruses and nucleic acid sequence homology studies which indicate that the various HTLVCR isolates represent new retroviruses found in some human T-cell neoplasias.

ELISA for the detection and quantification of C-type viral glycoprotein (gp70) using antibodies that recognize the protein moieties of the glycoproteins

The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique was applied to the detection and quantification of simian sarcoma-associated virus (SiSV)-glycoprotein gp70 in virus preparations and cells and compared to the RIA competition technique. By detecting 0.1 ng of retroviral glycoprotein, its sensitivity is comparable to that of the RIA technique. It was further shown that the antibodies used recognize the protein and not the sugar components of the glycoprotein.

Goat visna virus: isolation of a retrovirus related to visna virus of sheep

Choroid plexus (GCP-3) cell cultures were prepared from an adult goat with symptoms of visna. The GCP-3 cell layer had partly fused into large multinucleated giant cells and electronmicrographs showed virus particles morphologically indistinguishable from sheep visna virus (SVV). A virus, designated goat visna virus (GVV), was subsequently purified from the GCP-3 cultures. The virus particles have a density of 1.15 g/ml and a high molecular weight RNA similar in size to that of SVV. A virion-associated DNA polymerase was identified which is stimulated to the same extent as the SVV polymerase by different synthetic RNA and DNA template-primer combinations and which shows the same Mg2+ and Mn2+ stimulation optima. Polypeptide analysis by SDS-PAGE revealed that the virion proteins of GVV and SVV had similar molecular weights. By immunodiffusion tests it was demonstrated that the major internal proteins of GVV and SVV are related. Consequently, we conclude that GVV should be classified as a retrovirus and that it is closely related to visna virus of sheep.

Detection and quantification of type C viral proteins in tissues and sera with an enzyme immunoassay

The detection and quantification of retroviral proteins in cells, tumors, and sera by an enzyme immunoassay technique (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA]) is described. The ELISA technique has been applied to three viral systems: murine leukemia virus, baboon endogenous virus, and simian sarcoma virus. By detecting 0.1 nf of retroviral antigen, the sensitivity of the ELISA is comparable to that of the competition radioimmunoassay technique.

Quantification of mouse mammary tumor virus structural proteins in hormone-induced mammary tumors of low mammary tumor mouse strains

The expression of the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) in hormone-induced mammary tumors was investigated by means of a radioimmunoassay for two major MMTV proteins, gp52 and p27. MMTV proteins were isolated on lectin affinity- and ion-exchange chromatography columns. The purified viral proteins were electrophoretically homogeneous and retained immunoreactivity after labelling with 125iodine. Standard competition assays showed that group-specific antigenic determinants were reacting. Mammary tumors were induced in three strains of mice with a low natural incidence of mammary tumors, C57BL, O20 and C3Hf, by a combined hormone treatment, consisting of hypophyseal isografts and administration of progesterone and estrone. Mammary tumors and mammary glands of hormone-treated animals were extracted and used for competition radioimmunoassays. In general, the tumorigenic hormone treatment resulted in enhanced amounts of MMTV proteins in the mammary glands, compared to the amounts found in lactating mammary glands of untreated animals. The levels of MMTV proteins in the mammary tumors were lower than in the mammary glands.

Identification of a mouse gene required for binding of Rauscher MuLV envelope gp70

Mouse chromosome segregating somatic cell hybrids were established between a mouse thymic leukemai cell line (GRSL) and Chinese hamster E36 cells. The GRSL cells specifically bound purified Rauscher leukemia virus gp70 while the E36 cells exhibited no binding. The hybrids selectively bound Ruascher gp70 depending on the presence of a mouse cellular gene for the ecotropic murine luekemia gp70 receptor. A syntenic relationship was observed between the DIP-3 chromosome marker (on chromosome 5) and the gp70 receptor in primary clones and subclones of these hybrids; this was confirmed by chromosome analysis. The involvement of H-2 in the binding of Rauscher MuLV gp70 could be ruled out, because discordancies of the receptor presence and H-2 absence as well as of the receptor absence and H-2 presence type could be observed. Our results indicate that the Rec-1 (replication ecotropic MuLV) gene of Gazdar et al. (4) may well be the receptor gene for the ecotropic murine leukemia virus.

Structural studies on Rauscher murine leukemia virus: isolation and characterization of viral envelopes

A preparative method for isolating pure viral envelopes from a type-C RNA tumor virus, Rauscher murine leukemia virus, is described. Fractionation of virions of Rauscher murine leukemia virus was studied after disruption of the virions with the detergents sodium dodecyl sulfate of Nonidet P-40 in combination with ether. Fractionation was performed through flotation in a discontinuous sucrose gradient and, as appeared from electron microscopic examination, a pure viral envelope fraction was obtained in this way. By use of sensitive competition radioimmunoassays or sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis after immunoprecipitation with polyvalent and monospecific antisera directed against Rauscher murine leukemia virus proteins, the amount of the gag and env gene-encoded structural polypeptides in the virions and the isolated envelope fraction was compared. The predominant viral structural polypeptides in the purified envelope fraction were the env gene-encoded polypeptides gp70, p15(E), and p12(E), whereas, except for p15, there was only a relatively small amount of the gag gene-encoded structural polypeptides in this fraction.

Impaired processing of precursor polypeptides of temperature-sensitive mutants of Rauscher murine leukemia virus

The synthesis and processing of virus-specific precursor polypeptides in NIH/3T3 cells infected at the permissive temperature (31 degrees C) with temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants of Rauscher murine leukemia virus was studied in pulse-chase experiments at the permissive and nonpermissive (39 degrees C) temperatures. The newly synthesized virus-specific polypeptides were analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis after immunoprecipitation with polyvalent and monospecific antisera against Rauscher murine leukemia virus proteins. In cells infected with ts mutants defective in early replication steps (the early mutants ts17 and ts29), and ts mutants defective in postintegration steps (the late mutants ts25 and ts26), the processing of the primary gag gene product was impaired at the nonpermissive temperature. gag-pr75 of all four mutants was converted into gag-pr65; however, gag-pr65 accumulated at the nonpermissive temperature, and the main internal virion polypeptide p30 was not formed. Therefore, the proteolytic cleavage is blocked beyond gag-pr65. Concomitantly, the formation of the env gene-related polypeptide p12(E) of all four mutants was blocked at the restrictive temperature. In contrast, cells infected with the late mutant ts28, which produced noninfectious virions at 39 degrees C, showed a normal turnover of the gag and env precursor polypeptides.

Properties of a P70 proteolytic factor of murine leukemia viruses

Murine leukemia viruses, such as Rauscher leukemia virus (RLV), contain a proteolytic factor which becomes activated after detergent treatment of the virus. This factor specifically cleaves P70, the gag precursor polyprotein which is enriched for in preparations of immature virus core subparticles. The factor has been partially purified on Sephadex G-75 columns. It has a molecular weight of 10,000-12,000 daltons but does not coincide in elution position with the major peaks of the viral polypeptides p10 or p12. Under optimal conditions, that is 2% NP-40 (v/v), 10 mM DTT, (pH 7.2) and incubation for 16 hr at 22 degrees C, cleavage of labeled P70 occurs and increasing amounts of the four gag polypeptides p30, p15, p12 and p10 are obtained. The P70 cleavage activity is blocked by TLCK, TAME, CBZ-lysine and other lysyl-containing protease inhibitors. Further, the CBZ-lysine inhibition is reversible, while an inhibition by phenyl-methylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF) is irreversible. These inhibition studies suggest that a similarity exists between the P70 proteolytic factor and some serine proteases, such as trypsin. The cleavage pattern of P70-rich immature cores treated with trypsin or chymotrypsin is different from that obtained with the P70 proteolytic factor. Thus murine leukemia virions apparently contain a unique, highly specific protease which is present in small amounts and cleaves P70.

Common precursor for Rauscher leukemia virus gp69/71, p15(E), and p12(E)

Rauscher murine leukemia virus glycoprotein gp69/71 and non-glycosylated p15(E) are synthesized by way of a 90,000-dalton precursor glycoprotein, termed Pr2a+b. Peptide mapping experiments showed that Pr2a+b contains all the tyrosine-containing tryptic peptides of gp69/71. Two additional tyrosine-containing tryptic peptides in Pr2a+b that are not detected in gp69/71 are found in p15(E). Thus, gp69/71 and p15(E) peptide sequences account for all the tyrosine tryptic peptides of Pr2a+b. The gene order of the two proteins was determined by pulse-labeling infected cells in the presence and absence of pactamycin at concentrations of the inhibitor that prevent initiation of translation, but not elongation. The gene order was found to be: (2)HN-gp69/71-p15(E)-COOH. A newly identified major viral protein, termed p12(E), migrates in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels in the "p12" region. It is related to p15(E) as determined by tryptic mapping experiments. p15(E) and p12(E) are not phosphorylated, and both can be separated from phosphoprotein p12 by guanidine hydrochloride-agarose chromatography. p12(E) and p15(E) elute in the void volume fraction, whereas phosphoprotein p12 elutes between p15 and p10. The two p12 proteins can also be separated from each other by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis involving isoelectric focusing in the first dimension and sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis in the second dimension.

The major polypeptides of the murine-mammary-tumor virus isolated by plant-lectin affinity chromatography

Solubilized polypeptides of the murine mammary tumor virus (MuMT virus) were chromatographed on a column of immobilised concanavalin A. The unbound viral material was rechromatographed on phosphocellulose, resulting in the isolation of the major proteins with a molecular weight of 28000 (p28) and 12000 (p12) respectively. The adsorbed glycopolypeptides after elution with methyl alpha-D-mannopyranoside were subjected to gel filtration. The major glycoprotein with a molecular weight of 52000 (gp52) was obtained in an almost pure form. However, a considerable part of gp52 elutes together with a glycoprotein with a molecular weight of 36000 (gp36), suggesting that in addition to the free form of gp52 a complex exists of gp52 plus gp36.