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Journal of Virology, November 2001, p. 11244-11248, Vol. 75, No. 22
Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue
University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-1392
Received 16 May 2001/Accepted 8 August 2001
Mice expressing the Fv-4 gene are resistant to
infection by ecotropic murine leukemia viruses (MuLVs). The
Fv-4 gene encodes an envelope (Env) protein whose
putative receptor-binding domain resembles that of ecotropic MuLV Env
protein. Resistance to ecotropic MuLVs appears to result from viral
interference involving binding of the endogenously expressed
Fv-4 env-encoded protein to the ecotropic receptor,
although the immune system also plays a role in resistance. The
Fv-4 env-encoded protein is processed normally and can
be incorporated into virus particles but is unable to promote viral
entry. Among the many sequence variations between the transmembrane
(TM) subunit of the Fv-4 env-encoded protein and the TM
subunits of other MuLV Env proteins, there is a substitution of an
arginine residue in the Fv-4 env-encoded protein for a
glycine residue (gly-491 in Moloney MuLV Env) that is otherwise
conserved in all of the other MuLVs. This residue is present in the
MuLV TM fusion peptide sequence. In this study, gly-491 of Moloney MuLV
Env has been replaced with other residues and a mutant Env bearing a
substitution for gly-487 was also created. G491R recapitulates the
Fv-4 Env phenotype in cell culture, indicating that this
substitution is sufficient for creation of an Env protein that can
establish the interference-mediated resistance to ecotropic viruses
produced by the Fv-4 gene. Analysis of the mutant MuLV
Env proteins also has implications for an understanding of the role of
conserved glycine residues in fusion peptides and for the engineering
of organismal resistance to retroviruses.
0022-538X/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.75.22.11244-11248.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Fv-4: Identification of the Defect in Env and the
Mechanism of Resistance to Ecotropic Murine Leukemia Virus
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Biological Sciences, Purdue University, 1392 Lilly Hall, West
Lafayette, IN 47907. Phone: (765) 494-6453. Fax: (765) 496-1189. E-mail: retrovir{at}bragg.bio.purdue.edu.
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