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Biomedical subjects

B Moss

Publications and source records attributed to B Moss.

At least 487 records · Page 27Linked to original sources

Rifamycins: modulation of specific anti-poxviral activity by small substitutions on the piperazinyliminomethyl side chain.

Rifamycin derivatives differing in the substitutent at the 4 position of the piperazinyliminomethyl side chain were tested for anti-poxviral activity. The effects of each derivative on wild-type vaccinia virus and on a mutant selected for resistance to rifampin were determined. Antiviral activity was measured in tissue culture by plaque inhibition, reduction in virus yield, and specific interruption of virus morphogenesis. Rifamycin derivatives containing H, ethyl, or propyl groups at the 4 position of the piperazinyliminomethyl side chain were much less active than rifampin, which has a methyl group at this position. Thus, minimal shortening or lengthening of the methyl piperazinyliminomethyl side chain of rifampin led to loss of specific antiviral activity. In contrast, the derivative containing an amino group at the 4 position of the piperazinyliminomethyl side chain had enhanced anti-poxviral activity.

Imines↗

Protein kinase and specific phosphate acceptor proteins associated with vaccinia virus cores.

Incubation of purified vaccinia virus with gamma-(32)P-adenosine triphosphate resulted in the incorporation of (32)P into hot trichloroacetic acid-insoluble material. Enzymatic activity was completely dependent on the addition of divalent cations and was stimulated by nonionic detergents and dithiothreitol. Chemical studies demonstrated that serine and threonine residues of 15,000 molecular weight viral polypeptides were phosphorylated. In contrast, the major structural proteins were not phosphorylated or were phosphorylated to a much lesser extent. Added histones and protamine, but not serum albumin, casein, or phosvitin were phosphorylated by the partially disrupted vaccinia virus preparations. The protein kinase was tightly associated with vaccinia virus particles since the specific enzymatic activity remained constant during the final steps of virus purification, the specific activities of many different preparations of virus were similar, and the enzymatic activity cosedimented with vaccinia virus during rate zonal sucrose gradient and potassium tartrate gradient equilibrium centrifugations. Controlled degradation of vaccinia virus, with nonionic detergents and dithiothreitol, indicated that both the protein kinase and the specific phosphate acceptor proteins were located in the virus core.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Similar effect of rifampin and other rifamycin derivatives on vaccinia virus morphogenesis.

Membrane-limited structures, resembling virus envelope precursors previously shown to form during the interruption of poxvirus assembly by rifampin, were now observed by electron microscopy in vaccinia-infected HeLa cells treated with a series of rifamycin derivatives. The active compounds N-demethyl rifampin, AF/DMI, and 3-formyl rifamycin SV lacked, respectively, a methyl group, the piperazine ring, and the hydrazone portion of rifampin. A vaccinia mutant selected only for resistance to rifampin was also resistant to the effect on morphogenesis produced by all of the rifamycin derivatives. We concluded that this antiviral effect was specific and was a property associated with the macrocyclic ring rather than the hydrazone-containing side chain of rifampin. In addition to their effects on vaccinia morphogenesis, 3-formyl rifamycin SV and AF/DMI had unusual cytotoxic effects.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Formation of a vaccinia virus structural polypeptide from a higher molecular weight precursor: inhibition by rifampicin.

A vaccinia virus core polypeptide, with a molecular weight of 76,000 and a relative deficiency in tryptophan, was shown by pulse-chase experiments to form from a precursor. The latter may be a rapidly labeled, 125,000-molecular weight, tryptophan-deficient, virus-induced polypeptide, which diminished in quantity during the chase period and was barely detectable after two to three hours. Rifampicin completely prevented the formation of the core polypeptide without inhibiting the synthesis of the precursor. A rifampicin-resistant vaccinia mutant was used to demonstrate the specificity of this effect. The sequence of events after the removal of the drug suggested that cleavage of the precursor occurs during the formation of the virus core. Rifampicin appears to act by interrupting earlier maturational events which precede the formation of the core polypeptide.

Autoradiography↗

Interruption by Rifampin of an early stage in vaccinia virus morphogenesis: accumulation of membranes which are precursors of virus envelopes.

Assembly of vaccinia virus envelopes and immature vaccinia particles was interrupted in HeLa cells treated with rifampin (rifampicin). The primary action of rifampin on vaccinia morphogenesis appeared to occur during the stage of envelope formation. When envelopes and immature particles were already present, maturation could continue, even in the presence of rifampin. It was demonstrated that the trilaminar membranes of irregular contour which accumulate in the presence of rifampin are precursors of virus envelopes. When rifampin was removed under controlled conditions, synchronous transitions were observed as the precursor membranes rapidly converted into uniformly curved envelope units with a 10- to 12-nm coat on the convex surface. These experiments provided an opportunity to examine the sequence of some early events in vaccinia morphogenesis. Initially, nascent envelopes remained in clusters around dense viroplasm. Large numbers of single immature particles appeared within 10 min. Nucleation of immature particles was the first evidence of core differentiation and began within 5 to 10 min. Development of lateral bodies and modeling of the biconcave cores was observed within 30 min, and structurally mature virions were present by 2 hr after the removal of rifampin. High resolution autoradiography showed that viral deoxyribonucleic acid, which labeled with (3)H-thymidine during rifampin treatment, was incorporated by the mature vaccinia which formed after rifampin was removed. Concentration of the viral deoxyribonucleic acid in core material evidently occurred after envelope assembly, probably coincident with nucleoid formation. Cytoplasmic crystalloid bodies accumulated during rifampin treatment; they appeared morphologically identical to vaccinia nucleoids and were heavily labeled by (3)H-thymidine.

Autoradiography↗

Vaccinia virus structural polypeptide derived from a high-molecular-weight precursor: formation and integration into virus particles.

Polypeptide 4a, a major vaccinia structural polypeptide which was previously shown to form from a high-molecular-weight precursor is made after the period of viral deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis. Pulse-chase experiments demonstrated that a period of 1 to 2 hr is required for a 50% conversion of precursor to product. The rates of incorporation of polypeptides into virus particles were examined. The kinetics of incorporation of labeled 4a and other major structural polypeptides into virus particles were similar, despite the additional time required for the formation of 4a from its precursor. Furthermore, 4a was present exclusively in a particulate form at all times examined. Both observations suggested that cleavage of the precursor occurs after, or immediately prior to, association with developing virus particles. Polypeptide P4a was previously identified as the probable precursor of 4a and is not ordinarily found in detectable amounts in virus particles. Under conditions in which breakdown of P4a was inhibited by adding rifampin or amino acid analogues after the period of viral DNA synthesis, isolated virus particles contained significant amounts of this polypeptide. Further analysis showed that P4a was localized within the virus core, which is also the site of 4a. Synchronization of virus assembly after the removal of rifampin was shown to be useful for studying the integration of polypeptides into a particulate fraction of the cytoplasm.

Acrylates↗

Synthesis of vaccinia viral proteins in cytoplasmic extracts. I. Incorporation of radioactively labeled amino acids into polypeptides.

Polypeptide synthesis has been studied in cell-free systems prepared from vaccinia virus-infected and uninfected HeLa cells. Cytoplasmic extracts containing endogenous messenger ribonucleic acid were used. Amino acid incorporation into hot trichloroacetic acid-precipitable material was linear for 15 to 20 min at 37 C. The initial rate of protein synthesis was approximately 15% of the rate in intact cells. Optimal conditions for polypeptide synthesis were similar in cell-free systems prepared from infected or uninfected cells. Requirements for an energy source and Mg(++) were demonstrated. The optimal Mg(++) concentration was 4 to 5 mm. Ribonuclease, puromycin, and cycloheximide were inhibitory. The molecular weights of the polypeptides labeled in the cell-free systems, as determined by gel filtration in 5 m guanidine hydrochloride, ranged from 16,000 to above 68,000. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated that the polypeptides labeled in cell-free extracts of uninfected and infected cells were different. The latter closely corresponded in electrophoretic mobility with the viral polypeptides made in intact, infected cells.

Amino Acids↗

Synthesis of vaccinia viral proteins in cytoplasmic extracts. II. Identification of early and late viral proteins.

The synthesis of vaccinia viral proteins has been studied in a cell-free system prepared from vaccinia virus-infected HeLa cells. The radioactively labeled proteins were identified as viral proteins by immunodiffusion, disc gel electrophoresis, and disc gel-immunoelectrophoresis. The cytoplasmic extracts, obtained from infected cells at different times during viral replication, synthesized the corresponding "early" or "late" viral proteins.

Autoradiography↗