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Journal of Virology, October 1999, p. 8907-8912, Vol. 73, No. 10
0022-538X/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Mutational Analysis of the Putative Fusion Domain of Ebola Virus Glycoprotein

Hiroshi Ito,1 Shinji Watanabe,1 Anthony Sanchez,2 Michael A. Whitt,3 and Yoshihiro Kawaoka1,*

Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin---Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 537061; Special Pathogens Branch, Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, National Center for Infectious Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 303332; and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee 381633

Received 16 February 1999/Accepted 14 July 1999

Ebola viruses contain a single glycoprotein (GP) spike, which functions as a receptor binding and membrane fusion protein. It contains a highly conserved hydrophobic region (amino acids 524 to 539) located 24 amino acids downstream of the N terminus of the Ebola virus GP2 subunit. Comparison of this region with the structural features of the transmembrane subunit of avian retroviral GPs suggests that the conserved Ebola virus hydrophobic region may, in fact, serve as the fusion peptide. To test this hypothesis directly, we introduced conservative (alanine) and nonconservative (arginine) amino acid substitutions at eight positions in this region of the GP2 molecule. The effects of these mutations were deduced from the ability of the Ebola virus GP to complement the infectivity of a vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) lacking the receptor-binding G protein. Some mutations, such as Ile-to-Arg substitutions at positions 532 (I532R), F535R, G536A, and P537R, almost completely abolished the ability of the GP to support VSV infectivity without affecting the transport of GP to the cell surface and its incorporation into virions or the production of virus particles. Other mutations, such as G528R, L529A, L529R, I532A, and F535A, reduced the infectivity of the VSV-Ebola virus pseudotypes by at least one-half. These findings, together with previous reports of liposome association with a peptide corresponding to positions 524 to 539 in the GP molecule, offer compelling support for a fusion peptide role for the conserved hydrophobic region in the Ebola virus GP.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin---Madison, 2015 Linden Dr. West, Madison, WI 53706. Phone: (608) 265-4925. Fax: (608) 265-5622. E-mail: kawaokay{at}svm.vetmed.wisc.edu.

Journal of Virology, October 1999, p. 8907-8912, Vol. 73, No. 10
0022-538X/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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