[Mechanisms of hepatitis C viral polyprotein processing].
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The coding regions of segment A of two recent Korean very virulent (vv) infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) isolates (KK1 and KSH) and one atypical IBDV isolate (K310) were amplified by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, sequenced, and compared with published sequences for IBDV. The overall amino acid sequence similarity of the KK1 and KSH strains compared with foreign vvIBDV strains was between 97.43% and 98.02%. The KK1 and KSH strains, like vvIBDV strains, share unique amino acid residues at positions 222(A), 256(I), 294(I), and 299(S). The sequence of K310 strain was markedly different from other IBDV strains. The K310 strain had 12, 2, and 1 unique amino acid substitutions in the VP2 hypervariable region, VP4, and VP3 gene, respectively, and 3 of 12 substitutions in a VP2 hypervariable region were found in two hydrophilic regions known to be involved in antigenic determination. Also, the K310 strain had 222(S) and 254(S), which were found in variant IBDV strains. The SWSASGS heptapeptide is conserved in all Korean IBDV isolates. By phylogenetic analysis, KK1 and KSH were categorized in one group with foreign vvIBDV isolates, but K310 isolate was categorized in a separate group that was differentiated from the other IBDV strains compared. The K310 strain seemed to be evolved from a separate lineage of IBDV strain.
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Glucocorticoids coincidentally regulate the localization of mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) glycoproteins and maturation of viral phosphoproteins in viral infected rat hepatoma cells. To test for a functional interaction between MMTV transmembrane glycoproteins and cytoplasmic phosphoproteins, the bacterial cytolysin streptolysin-O was utilized to selectively permeabilize the plasma membrane and reconstitute exocytic trafficking. Streptolysin-O-permeabilized M1.54 cells pretreated with glucocorticoids retained the capability for proteolytic processing, cell surface delivery, and externalization of MMTV glycoproteins as determined by immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence microscopy. The efficient maturation of MMTV phosphoproteins indicated that these viral proteins are properly transported near or to the plasma membrane in permeabilized cells. These maturation events in semi-intact cells were dependent on the addition of cell cytosol and were specifically inhibited by the membrane impermeant GTP analog guanosine 5'3-O-(thio)triphosphate, an agent known to impede vesicular transport of membrane proteins, but which has not previously been shown to alter cytoplasmic protein maturation or transport. The addition of anti-MMTV antibodies directed against the cytoplasmic domain of the glycoprotein precursor to transport competent semi-intact M1.54 cells resulted in the dramatic inhibition of both MMTV glycoprotein and phosphoprotein maturation. These results were not obtained using either preimmune sera or antiserum specific for the luminal portion of the glycoprotein precursor. Our findings suggest that the functional interaction of cytosolic MMTV phosphoproteins with the cytoplasmic domain of the viral membrane glycoprotein is required for the efficient transport and processing of each class of proteins in glucocorticoid-treated cells and provides the first evidence for the involvement of vesicular transport in the delivery and maturation of cytoplasmic viral proteins at the plasma membrane or the pericellular region.
Transposons of gypsy group are assigned to LTR-containing retrotransposons present in the genomes of invertebrates, fungi, and plants. In this work, a theoretical analysis of the potential products of ORFs of these retrotranposons was conducted. Alignments were obtained and trees of similarity were constructed for domains of the POL region. On the basis of the obtained data, two hypothetically monophyletic subgroups of transposons were distinguished within the framework of the gypsy group, settling the genomes of taxonomically related organisms (the subgroup of "true" gypsy of insects and the subgroup of gypsy-like transposons of plants and fungi). A number of peculiarities of the topology of these trees hypothetically indicate cases of genetic conversion and recombination of domains accompanying the evolution of this group. The amino acid substitution fixation rate was evaluated on the basis of comparison of sequences of the protein products of ORFs. Estimates of the time of divergence of subgroups of gypsy-group transposons are significantly less than estimates of the times of divergence of their host species. One explanation for this discrepancy might be the hypothesis of settlement by transposons of the genomes of isolated host species.
To elucidate the possible involvement of hepatitis C virus protein in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. viral proteins produced from the largest open reading frame of the viral genome were analyzed. The function of each protein in virus replication was also examined. Virus proteins are produced by proteolytic cleavage by cellular and virus encoded proteinases. One of the viral proteins is a phosphoprotein, and the degree of phosphorylation is regulated by another viral protein. This regulation of phosphorylation may play an important role in modulating the proliferation of virus-infected cells.
DA strain and other members of the TO subgroup of Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) produce a chronic demyelinating disease in which the virus persists but has a restricted expression. We previously reported that TO subgroup strains, in addition to synthesizing the picornaviral polyprotein, use an alternative initiation codon just downstream from the polyprotein's AUG to translate an 18-kDa protein called L* that is out of frame with the polyprotein (H. H. Chen et al., Nat. Med. 1:927-931, 1995; W. P. Kong and R. P. Roos, J. Virol. 65:3395-3399, 1991). L* is critically important for virus persistence and the induction of the demyelinating disease (Chen et al., 1995; G. D. Ghadge et al. J. Virol. 72:8605-8612, 1998). We have proposed that variations in the amount of translation initiation from the L* AUG versus the polyprotein AUG may occur in different cell types and therefore affect the degree of expression of viral capsid proteins. We now demonstrate that ribosomal translation initiation at the polyprotein's initiation codon affects initiation at the L* AUG, suggesting that ribosomes land at the polyprotein's initiation codon before scanning downstream and initiating at the L* AUG. We also find that the viral 5' untranslated region affects utilization of the L* AUG. Surprisingly, mutant DA cDNAs were found to be infectious despite the presence of mutations of the polyprotein initiation codon or placement of a stop codon upstream of the L* AUG in the polyprotein's reading frame. Sequencing studies showed that these viruses had a second site mutation, converting the reading frame of L* into the polyprotein's reading frame; the results suggest that translation of the polyprotein during infection of these mutant viruses can be initiated at the L* AUG. These data are important in our understanding of translation initiation of TMEV and other RNAs that contain an internal ribosome entry site.
We have expressed the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) protease (PR) in bacteria as a Gag-PR polyprotein (J. Luban and S.P. Goff, J. Virol. 65:3203-3212, 1991). The protein displays enzymatic activity, cleaving the Gag polyprotein precursor Pr55gag to the expected products. The PR enzyme is only active as a dimer, and we hypothesized that PR activation might be used as an indicator of polyprotein multimerization. We constructed 25 linker insertion mutations throughout gag and assessed the PR activity of mutant Gag-PR polyproteins by the appearance of Gag cleavage products in bacterial lysates. All mutant constructs produced stable protein in bacteria. PR activity of the majority of the Gag-PR mutants was indistinguishable from that of the wild type. Six mutants, one with an insertion in the matrix (MA), four with insertions in the capsid (CA), and one with insertions in the nucleocapsid (NC), globally disrupted polyprotein processing. When PR was provided in trans on a separate plasmid, the Gag proteins were cleaved with wild-type efficiency. These results suggest that the gag mutations identified as disruptive of polyprotein processing did not conceal the scissile bonds of the polyprotein. Rather, the mutations prevented PR activation in the context of a Gag-PR polyprotein, perhaps by preventing polyprotein dimerization.
Leukemic cells of AKR mice contain as constituents of their membranes the murine leukemia virus envelope protein gp70 and the precursor polyprotein of the viral internal (core) structural proteins. Both gp70 and the core polyprotein are represented on the cell surface as glycoproteins, as evidenced by incorporation of [3H]glucosamine into their structure and the binding of these proteins to lectins. The glycosylated core polyprotein exists in at least two serologically distinguishable forms: the 95,000-dalton polyprotein reacts with antisera prepared against the viral proteins p30, p12, and p10, whereas the 85,000-dalton polyprotein reacts with antisera prepared against the viral proteins p30 and p12, but not p10. Additional heterogeneity in these cell surface polyproteins has been observed wtih leukemias induced by exogenous leukemia viruses. Spontaneous leukemia cells of AKR mice invariably express gp70 and the core polyprotein on their cell surface; normal thymocytes of young AKR mice express gp70, but not the core polyprotein on their surface.
A gene expression system designed for coordinated expression of multiple genes in plants and their targeting to specified subcellular locations was tested. A series of genes encoding polyproteins containing the tobacco vein mottling virus (TVMV) Nla proteinase along with two other reporter genes (those encoding the Escherichia coli acetate kinase (ACK) and Tn9 chloramphenicol, acetyl transferase (CAT) enzymes) were assembled. The respective coding sequences of these genes were separated by a TVMV Nla proteinase recognition sequence. In addition, in some instances, chloroplast targeting information (a transit peptide (TP) from a pea rbcS gene) was incorporated into the polyprotein. We found that the Nla proteinase can be used to express, as individual polypeptides, the ACK and CAT proteins, and that these proteins retain enzymatic activity. Polyproteins with the structure TP-Nla-ACK-CAT or TP-ACK-CAT-Nla failed to yield chloroplast-localized ACK and CAT proteins, although the latter did give rise to a chloroplast-localized ACK-CAT polyprotein. These results indicate that the Nla proteinase acts in cis more rapidly than transport of proteins into the chloroplast, but that chloroplast localization can take place before complete processing of the polyprotein. Polyproteins with the structures ACK-Nla-TP-CAT and TP-ACK-Nla-TP-CAT yielded appropriately processed and targeted ACK and CAT. Our results show that subcellular localization signals can be effectively recognized in the context of a polyprotein, and they suggest an appropriate strategy for simultaneous engineering of multiple subcellular compartments in plants.
Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) genes are expressed as a polyprotein which is rapidly processed into the four primary cleavage products L, P1, P2, and P3. In secondary cleavage reactions, these are further processed into the mature proteins. The FMDV L protein is located at the N terminus of the polyprotein and is the first gene product released from the nascent polyprotein. For analysis of its biological function, the L gene was mutated by site-directed mutagenesis of cloned cDNA. In vitro translation of in vitro transcripts of these DNAs and expression studies in Escherichia coli showed that the L mutants affect the processing of the viral polyprotein. The mutants isolated were partially or totally defective in processing the polyprotein at the L/P1 junction. These mutants could, however, be processed in the presence of the wild-type L protein. Furthermore, an antiserum directed against the L protein inhibited processing at the L/P1 cleavage site, so that the release of the L protein from the polyprotein was blocked. These data reveal that the L gene product represents a viral protease which catalyzes its own release from the nascent polyprotein.