JVI Figure table search 04
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Heinkelein, M.
Right arrow Articles by Rethwilm, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Heinkelein, M.
Right arrow Articles by Rethwilm, A.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

J Virol, August 1998, p. 6307-6314, Vol. 72, No. 8
0022-538X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Characterization of a cis-Acting Sequence in the pol Region Required To Transfer Human Foamy Virus Vectors

Martin Heinkelein, Michael Schmidt,dagger Nicole Fischer,Dagger Astrid Moebes, Dirk Lindemann, Jörg Enssle, and Axel Rethwilm*

Institut für Virologie und Immunbiologie, Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

Received 25 February 1998/Accepted 20 April 1998

To identify cis-acting elements in the foamy virus (FV) RNA pregenome, we developed a transient-vector-production system based on cotransfection of indicator gene-bearing vector and gag-pol and env expression plasmids. Two elements which were critical for vector transfer were found and mapped approximately. The first element was located in the RU5 leader and the 5' gag region (approximately up to position 650 of the viral RNA). The second element was located in an approximately 2-kb sequence in the 3' pol region. Although small 5' and 3' deletions, as well as internal deletions of the latter element, were tolerated, both elements were found to be absolutely required for vector transfer. The functional characterization of the pol region-located cis-acting element revealed that it is essential for efficient incorporation or the stability of particle-associated virion RNA. Furthermore, virions derived from a vector lacking this sequence were found to be deficient in the cleavage of the Gag protein by the Pol precursor protease. Our results suggest that during the formation of infectious virions, complex interactions between FV Gag and Pol and the viral RNA take place.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institut für Virologie und Immunbiologie, Universität Würzburg, Versbacher Strasse 7, 97078 Würzburg, Germany. Phone: (49) 931-201-3928. Fax: (49) 931-201-3934. E-mail: rethwilm{at}vim.uni-wuerzburg.de.

dagger Present address: Molecular Hematology Branch, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-1654.

Dagger Present address: Laboratory of Neurovirology, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-4295.

J Virol, August 1998, p. 6307-6314, Vol. 72, No. 8
0022-538X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
J. Bacteriol. Mol. Cell. Biol. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev.
Clin. Vaccine Immunol. ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 1998 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.