Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Journal of Virology, September 2001, p. 8329-8339, Vol. 75, No. 17
Department of Cell Biology, Albert Einstein
College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461
Received 20 April 2001/Accepted 31 May 2001
During infection of host cells, a number of enveloped animal
viruses are known to produce soluble forms of viral membrane glycoproteins lacking the transmembrane domain. The roles of such soluble glycoproteins in viral life cycles are incompletely understood, but in several cases they are believed to modulate host immune response
and viral pathogenesis. Semliki Forest virus (SFV) is an enveloped
alphavirus that infects cells through low-pH-dependent fusion and buds
from the plasma membrane. Fusion is mediated by the E1 subunit of the
SFV spike protein. Previous studies described the in vivo generation of
E1s, a truncated soluble form of E1, under conditions in which budding
is inhibited in mammalian host cells. We have here examined the
properties of E1s generation and the biological activity of E1s. E1s
cleavage required spike protein transport out of the endoplasmic
reticulum and was independent of virus infection. Cell surface E1
efficiently acted as a precursor for E1s. E1s generation was strongly
pH dependent in BHK cells, with optimal cleavage at a pH of
0022-538X/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.75.17.8329-8339.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
In Vivo Generation and Characterization of a
Soluble Form of the Semliki Forest Virus Fusion Protein

and
7.0,
conditions that inhibited the budding of SFV but not the budding of the
rhabdovirus vesicular stomatitis virus. The pH dependence of E1s
production and SFV budding was unaffected by the stability of the spike
protein dimer but was a function of the host cell. Similar to the
intact virus and in vitro-generated E1 ectodomain, treatment of E1s at
low pH in the presence of target membranes triggered specific
acid-dependent conformational changes. Thus, under a variety of
conditions, SFV-infected cells can produce a soluble form of E1 that is
biologically active.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Cell Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park
Ave., Bronx, NY 10461. Phone: (718) 430-3638. Fax: (718) 430-8574. E-mail: kielian{at}aecom.yu.edu.
Present address: The Integrated Program in Cellular, Molecular and
Biophysical Studies, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia
University, New York, NY 10032.
Present address: Center for Cell Biology and Cancer Research,
Albany Medical College, Albany, NY 12203.
This article has been cited by other articles:
Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology. For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»