Preparations enriched for "immature" murine leukemia virus particles that remain in tissue culture fluids are deficient in Pr65gag proteolyic activity

Maturation of the Gag core decreases the stability of retroviral lipid membranes

To better understand how detergents disrupt enveloped viruses, we monitored the biophysical stability of murine leukemia virus (MLV) virus-like particles (VLPs) against a panel of commonly used detergents using real-time biosensor measurements. Although exposure to many detergents, such as Triton X-100 and Empigen, results in lysis of VLP membranes, VLPs appeared resistant to complete membrane lysis by a significant number of detergents, including Tween 20, Tween 80, Lubrol, and Saponin. VLPs maintained their structural integrity after exposure to Tween 20 at concentrations up to 500-fold above its CMC. Remarkably, VLPs containing immature cores composed of unprocessed (uncleaved) Gag polyprotein were significantly more resistant to detergent lysis than VLPs with mature cores. Although the maturity of retroviral Gag is known to influence the stability of the protein core structure itself, our studies suggest that the maturity of the Gag core also influences the stability of the lipid bilayer surrounding the core.

PCR amplification of HIV-1 proteinase sequences directly from lab isolates allows determination of five conserved domains

HIV-1 replication requires limited proteolysis of gag and gag-pol encoded precursor proteins by a specific viral proteinase (PR). Sequences of 20 different HIV-1 strains were compared in order to determine regions of conservation and variability within the PR gene. Viral strains included: (a) five new ones derived from New Orleans patient isolates, (b) four established ones grown in our laboratory, (c) eight, whose sequences were published in the Los Alamos Data Base (1990), (d) one Ugandan, and (e) two Brazilian isolates. In the first two groups, HIV proviral DNA extracted from infected lymphocytes was grown in tissue culture and directly amplified by PCR using specific primers flanking the PR gene. Amplified DNA was directly sequenced using a modified di-deoxy sequencing procedure. Sequence data showed a 25% variation among the 20 different HIV strains studied at the amino acid level, including 8% nonconservative changes and 17% conservative changes. Moreover, five noncontiguous regions were able to be delineated in which the PR showed no amino acid changes. These areas included amino acids (I) 1-9 (amino terminal sequence); (II) 21-32 (sequence around the active site); (III) 47-56 (top of the flap); (IV) 78-88; and (V) 94-99 (carboxy terminal sequence). Our results are consistent with those obtained from X-ray crystallography studies as well as single site mutational analysis.

Isolation and characterization of a retrovirus from the fish genus Xiphophorus

A cell line (BsT) established from neoplastic embryonal tissues of the platyfish (Xiphophorus maculatus) released spontaneously retrovirus-like particles. The particles have a buoyant density of 1.16 g/ml, a mean diameter of 100 nm and the morphology of immature retroviruses. The particle-associated proteins p70, p65, and p28 react with an antiserum directed against the major internal feline leukemia virus structural protein p27. The particles are associated with a reverse transcriptase. The purified enzyme has a molecular weight of about 70 kDa and prefers the template primers poly(rA):oligo(dT), poly(dC):oligo(dG), and poly(rC):oligo(dG) in the presence of Mn2+. The enzyme activity is inhibited by antibodies directed against the reverse transcriptase of feline leukemia virus and simian sarcoma virus. The particles contain a ribonucleic acid of about 70 S. In an endogenous reverse transcriptase reaction nucleic acids in the range of 0.2 to 0.4 kb were synthesized. In Northern blots with these nucleic acids as probe, three transcripts of about 8.5, 4.2, and 1.5 kb were detected in BsT cells. Southern blot analysis with the same probe demonstrates related sequences in the DNA of BsT cells and the platyfish and swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri). Hybridization experiments with the LTR-gag region of the feline leukemia virus show homologous sequences in the Xiphophorus genome.

Human enteric adenovirus type 41 binding to HEp-2 cells is specific

Properties of human enteric adenovirus type 41 (Ad41) binding to its receptor on the surface of HEp-2 cells were investigated. The binding was found to be temperature-dependent, saturable, and specific. Analysis of the binding data showed a single class of 4.3 x 10(4) receptor sites per cell, an equilibrium dissociation constant of 21.0 nM, and no cooperativity among receptor sites. Trypsin-treated HEp-2 cells subsequently grown in the presence of tunicamycin or 2-deoxyglucose recovered full Ad41 binding activity, but could not if subsequently grown in the presence of cycloheximide. These data indicate that a single type of virus receptor, likely protein in nature, is present on the surface of HEp-2 cells to specifically bind Ad41.

Incorporation of chimeric gag protein into retroviral particles

The product of the Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) gag gene, Pr76gag, is a polyprotein precursor which is cleaved by the viral protease to yield the major structural proteins of the virion during particle assembly in avian host cells. We have recently shown that myristylated forms of the RSV Gag protein can induce particle formation with very high efficiency when expressed in mammalian cells (J. W. Wills, R. C. Craven, and J. A. Achacoso, J. Virol. 63:4331-4343, 1989). We made use of this mammalian system to examine the abilities of foreign antigens to be incorporated into particles when fused directly to the myristylated Gag protein. Our initial experiments showed that removal of various portions of the viral protease located at the carboxy terminus of the RSV Gag protein did not disrupt particle formation. We therefore chose this region for coupling of iso-1-cytochrome c from Saccharomyces cerevisiae to Gag. This was accomplished by constructing an in-frame fusion of the CYC1 and gag coding sequences at a common restriction endonuclease site. Expression of the chimeric gene resulted in synthesis of the Gag-cytochrome fusion protein and its release into the cell culture medium. The chimeric particles were readily purified by simple centrifugation, and transmission electron microscopy of cells that produced them revealed a morphology similar to that of immature type C retrovirions.

Studies of the mechanisms of action of the antiretroviral agents hypericin and pseudohypericin

Administration of the aromatic polycyclic dione compounds hypericin or pseudohypericin to experimental animals provides protection from disease induced by retroviruses that give rise to acute, as well as slowly progressive, diseases. For example, survival from Friend virus-induced leukemia is significantly prolonged by both compounds, with hypericin showing the greater potency. Viremia induced by LP-BM5 murine immunodeficiency virus is markedly suppressed after infrequent dosage of either substance. These compounds affect the retroviral infection and replication cycle at least at two different points: (i) Assembly or processing of intact virions from infected cells was shown to be affected by hypericin. Electron microscopy of hypericin-treated, virus-producing cells revealed the production of particles containing immature or abnormally assembled cores, suggesting the compounds may interfere with processing of gag-encoded precursor polyproteins. The released virions contain no detectable activity of reverse transcriptase. (ii) Hypericin and pseudohypericin also directly inactivate mature and properly assembled retroviruses as determined by assays for reverse transcriptase and infectivity. Accumulating data from our laboratories suggest that these compounds inhibit retroviruses by unconventional mechanisms and that the potential therapeutic value of hypericin and pseudohypericin should be explored in diseases such as AIDS.

Syngeneic monoclonal antibodies directed against Rauscher virus-induced myeloid leukemic cells: isolation and characterization

Hybridomas producing syngeneic monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) were prepared by fusion of spleen cells of BALB/c mice, which were immunized with sublethal doses of RMB-I cells. This cell line originates from a Rauscher virus (R-MuLV)-induced myeloid leukemia and forms tumors when re-inoculated into mice. MAbs were characterized as regards their reactivity against virally and non-virally induced cell lines. Two selected MAbs, IC5F5 and 4D2B4, were analyzed further. Their binding to subcellular structures was determined, and so were the properties of the antigens to which they are directed. MAb IC5F5 is of the IgG2A and 4D2B4 of the IgG2b subclass. Both bind to R-MuLV-infected or -transformed cell lines and are not mutually competitive. The antibodies do not react with other murine and human myeloid leukemic cells. As shown by immuno-electron microscopy, these MAbs have affinity to the cell membrane of non-virus producing RMB-I cells. When lysates of purified virus were analyzed, the MAbs were found to be directed to the gag precursor protein Pr65, and one of them (IC5F5) also to be directed to the core protein p12. In RMB-I cells, binding occurs to a 50-kDa glycoprotein and 2 proteins of 26 and 29 kDa. Since RMB-I cells do not produce virus, but express aberrant viral proteins, these MAbs are tumor-specific and useful for immunotherapy.

Mutants of murine leukemia viruses and retroviral replication

The analysis of retroviral mutants has played a critical role in the development of our understanding of the complex viral life cycle. The most fundamental result of that analysis has been the definition of the replication functions encoded by the viruses. From a biochemical examination of a particular step in the life cycle it is difficult to determine, for example, whether that step is catalyzed by a viral or a host enzyme; but the isolation of a viral mutant defective in that step can firmly establish that a viral function is involved. In this way many facts about the viruses have been established. We know that reverse transcriptase is encoded by the virus; that RNAase H and DNA polymerase activities reside on the same gene product; that processing of many precursor proteins is mediated by a viral proteinase; and that establishment of the integrated provirus requires a viral protein. The list of functions mediated by viral enzymes has largely been defined by the mutants isolated and studied in various laboratories. The second significant result of the studies of viral mutants has been the assignation of the replication functions to particular viral genes, and then more specifically to particular domains of these genes. Mutants and viral variants have been essential in the determination, for example, that the gag protein is the critical gene product for the assembly of a virion particle; that the env protein is the determinant of species specificity of infection; or that the LTR is a major determinant of tissue tropism and leukemogenicity. The subdivisions of functions within a given gene have similarly hinged on mutants. Genetic mapping was needed to establish that P30 is the most important region for assembly; that the proteinase and integrase functions reside, respectively, in the 5' and 3' portions of the pol gene; and that the glycosylated gag protein is dispensable for replication. A third important area of knowledge has depended heavily on viral mutants: the determination of host functions and proteins that interact with viral proteins. Variant viruses with altered or restricted host ranges serve to define differences between pairs of different host cells, and the mapping of the viral mutations serves to define the viral protein important in that interaction with the host. These studies are only in their infancy, but it is clear that substantial efforts will be made to further analyze these host functions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Inhibition of cleavage of Moloney murine leukemia virus gag and env coded precursor polyproteins by cerulenin

Cerulenin, an inhibitor of de novo fatty acid (and cholesterol) biosynthesis, has been shown to significantly decrease (greater than 75%) the amount of Moloney murine leukemia virus (MMuLV) released into the culture medium of chronically infected mouse fibroblasts (I. Katoh, Y. Yoshinaka, and R.B. Luftig, 1986, Virus Res., in press). In order to clarify the mechanism by which this decrease in virus production occurs, we analyzed the kinetics of gag and env coded protein synthesis in M-MuLV infected, cerulenin-treated cells by immunoprecipitation with monospecific antisera to p30, p12, p10, gp70, and p15(E). We found that in pulse (15 min-2 hr)-chase (0-4 hr) experiments the cleavage of not only Pr65gag to p30 and other gag coded proteins but Pr80env to gp70 and Pr15(E) as well, was greatly reduced by cerulenin treatment. Further, since the total amount of label in the Pr65gag and Pr80env bands remained about the same or was slightly decreased in 2-hr pulsed, cerulenin-treated cells, this suggests that cerulenin decreases virus production, in part, by inhibiting the cleavage of both precursor gag and env coded polyproteins during virus assembly and budding at the cell membrane. We also observed that at longer chase periods (4 hr), the effect of cerulenin could be partially overriden in that minor amounts of cleaved gag and env coded polyproteins were produced and assembled into virion particles. However, these particles contained abnormally large amounts of the uncleaved precursor Pr65gag, suggesting that maturation was incomplete. The above results suggest two independent, but not exclusive, possible mechanisms of cerulenin action to block M-MuLV production, viz. cerulenin decreases the pool of fatty acids, thereby inhibiting fatty acid acylation of Pr65gag, as well as Pr80env, and thus preventing the interaction between gag (the p15 antigenic determinant on Pr65gag) and env [the p15(E) antigenic determinant of Pr15(E)] coded gene products at the cell membrane needed for efficient virus assembly (M. Satake and R. B. Luftig, 1983, Virology 124, 259-273), and cerulenin inhibits one or more proteolytic enzymes responsible for the cleavage of Pr65gag and Pr80env.

Coordination of cleavage of gag and env gene products of murine leukemia virus: implications regarding the mechanism of processing

Mouse 3T6 cells infected with Murine Leukemia Virus (MuLV) were cloned to yield several sublines producing viruses distinct from one another with respect to the ratio of uncleaved to cleaved gag gene-coded polyprotein, Pr65gag. The virus produced by the cloned sublines also differed in the ratio of the env gene-coded protein, p15E, to its product, p12E. The two ratios, Pr65gag/p30 and p15E/p12E, were found to be highly correlated among the cloned cell lines. Velocity gradient separation of the virions produced by individual sublines, followed by polypeptide analysis, demonstrated that the particles were inhomogeneous with respect to extent of cleavage both of PR65gag and of p15E. The two cleavages were again highly correlated. These data indicate that the gag and env gene product cleavages are not independent events but are tightly coupled.

Murine leukemia virus maturation: protease region required for conversion from "immature" to "mature" core form and for virus infectivity

Murine leukemia virus (MuLV) genome encodes a protease (Y. Yoshinaka, I. Katoh, T.D. Copeland, and S. Oroszlan (1985), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 82, 1618-1622), which has been shown to cause maturation, specified as morphological conversion from "immature" to "mature" form of virus cores. To examine whether "immature" particles have infectivity or not, we constructed mutant DNAs with deletions in the protease region. The NIH/3T3 cells transfected with mutant DNAs produced "immature" particles, having immature morphology and containing Pr65gag, a polyprotein precursor of core proteins. The specific infectivity of the extracellularly released and purified particles was shown to be greatly reduced based on reverse transcriptase activity and protein content as compared with the "mature" particles obtained from wild-type DNA-transfected cells. The mutant genomes encoded functionally normal surface glycoprotein, gp70. These results strongly suggest that maturation of MuLV from "immature" to "mature" form of virus particles is indispensable to virus infectivity. The importance of processing of gag and pol, as well as transmembrane protein precursors by the viral protease is discussed.

Truncated gag-related proteins are produced by large deletion mutants of Rous sarcoma virus and form virus particles

Large deletion (LD) mutants of Prague strain Rous sarcoma virus subgroup B (PrB), derived by serial undiluted passage through chicken (C/E) cells, contain two deletions relative to wild-type virus. One of these joins gag sequences in the p12 coding region to env sequences in region encoding gp37; the other deletion spans the src region. Analysis of the viral proteins of QT6 cell clones containing only LD proviruses by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed a major truncated gag-related phosphoprotein of 60,000 to 66,000 daltons (P63LD). P63LD was stable, but could be cleaved in vitro to the predicted products by p15gag. A second gag-related LD protein of about 68,000 to 74,000 molecular weight (P70LD) was also found which often reacted with an anti-gp37 serum. P70LD was unstable and may represent a short-lived gag-gp37 fusion protein. Finally, immunoprecipitation indicated that particles containing P63LD were shed from QT6-LD clones. Thin section preparations of these clones viewed in an electron microscope showed enveloped budding particles of "immature" morphology. Thus, the synthesis and release of particles from infected cells does not require cleavage of the gag precursor, nor does it require the presence of p15 or (most of) p12.

Isolation and characterization of a Mo-MuSV-transformed TB cell line that produces noninfectious MuSV particles with uncleaved gag protein which is processed in the presence of Mo-MuLV

A cell line, TBSV7, that produces noninfectious murine sarcoma virus (MuSV) in the absence of helper MuLV was isolated from TB cells infected with the supernatant of MuSV349 cells. These noninfectious MuSV particles with "immature" C-type virus morphology contain a 2.2 X 10(6)-Da genomic RNA and an uncleaved 62,000-Da gag precursor protein (Pr62). Neither viral envelope proteins (gp70, p15E, p12E) nor reverse transcriptase were detected in these virus particles. Pr62 was found to be phosphorylated in vivo and it could be phosphorylated in vitro with [gamma-32P]ATP, indicating that protein kinase was packaged in these noninfectious virions. In vitro processing of Pr62 to smaller molecular weight proteins could be achieved by the addition of Mo-MuLV and Nonidet P-40. The initial cleavage products were proteins with molecular weights of 38K (Pr38) and 27K (Pr27). Under optimum conditions Pr38 was cleaved to p30 and a protein band migrating with MuLV-p10, while Pr27 was cleaved to a 17,000-Da protein that migrated slower than MuLV-p15 and a protein band migrating with MuLV-p12. Pulse-chase experiments performed on TBSV7 cells superinfected with Mo-MuLV indicated that intracellular processing of Pr62 was much slower than that of Pr65. Cleavage protein products of Pr62 similar in size to the in vitro protein products were also detected in TBSV7 cells superinfected with MuLV.

Cytoskeleton-associated Pr65gag and retrovirus assembly

Our studies have shown a rapid and specific association of Rauscher murine leukemia virus (R-MuLV) precursor polyprotein Pr65gag with cytoskeletal elements in infected mouse fibroblasts. The Pr65gag associated with Nonidet P-40 (NP-40)-insoluble cytoskeletal structures appears to be subphosphorylated in comparison to NP-40-soluble Pr65gag. The association of Pr65gag with skeletal elements can be disrupted by extraction of the cytoskeleton with sodium deoxycholate, an ionic detergent, or with buffers of high ionic strength. Both the skeleton-associated Pr65gag and its NP-40-soluble counterpart can be labeled with [3H]palmitate, indicating their probable association with lipids presumably in the plasma membrane. Pr65gag molecules bound to skeletal elements in the infected cell appear to be more stable to proteolytic processing than NP-40-soluble Pr65gag. While the association of Pr65gag with cytoskeleton elements in the cell is neither increased nor decreased by blocking virus assembly and release with interferon, Pr65gag appears to accumulate in the cytoskeleton-enriched fraction of cells chronically infected with a temperature sensitive mutant of R-MuLV (ts 17) when such cells are grown at the nonpermissive temperature. Based on these and other results, we have proposed a model for the active role of cytoskeleton associated Pr65gag in retrovirus assembly.