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Journal of Virology, October 2003, p. 10327-10338, Vol. 77, No. 19
0022-538X/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JVI.77.19.10327-10338.2003

Antigenic Subclasses of Polytropic Murine Leukemia Virus (MLV) Isolates Reflect Three Distinct Groups of Endogenous Polytropic MLV-Related Sequences in NFS/N Mice

Leonard H. Evans,^* Marc Lavignon, Marc Taylor, and A. S. M. Alamgir

Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Hamilton, Montana 59840

Received 28 January 2003/ Accepted 9 July 2003

Polytropic murine leukemia viruses (MLVs) are generated by recombination of ecotropic MLVs with members of a family of endogenous proviruses in mice. Previous studies have indicated that polytropic MLV isolates comprise two mutually exclusive antigenic subclasses, each of which is reactive with one of two monoclonal antibodies termed MAb 516 and Hy 7. A major determinant of the epitopes distinguishing the subclasses mapped to a single amino acid difference in the SU protein. Furthermore, distinctly different populations of the polytropic MLV subclasses are generated upon inoculation of different ecotropic MLVs. Here we have characterized the majority of endogenous polytropic MLV-related proviruses of NFS/N mice. Most of the proviruses contain intact sequences encoding the receptor-binding region of the SU protein and could be distinguished by sequence heterogeneity within that region. We found that the endogenous proviruses comprise two major groups that encode the major determinant for Hy 7 or MAb 516 reactivity. The Hy 7-reactive proviruses correspond to previously identified polytropic proviruses, while the 516-reactive proviruses comprise the modified polytropic proviruses as well as a third group of polytropic MLV-related proviruses that exhibit distinct structural features. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that the latter proviruses reflect features of phylogenetic intermediates linking xenotropic MLVs to the polytropic and modified polytropic proviruses. These studies elucidate the relationships of the antigenic subclasses of polytropic MLVs to their endogenous counterparts, identify a new group of endogenous proviruses, and identify distinguishing characteristics of the proviruses that should facilitate a more precise description of their expression in mice and their participation in recombination to generate recombinant viruses.

Present address: Bio-Inova Life Sciences International, 78372 Plaisir Cedex, France.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Evans, L. H., Lavignon, M., Peterson, K., Hasenkrug, K., Robertson, S., Malik, F., Virtaneva, K. (2006). In vivo interactions of ecotropic and polytropic murine leukemia viruses in mixed retrovirus infections.. J. Virol. 80: 4748-4757 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Alamgir, A. S. M., Owens, N., Lavignon, M., Malik, F., Evans, L. H. (2005). Precise Identification of Endogenous Proviruses of NFS/N Mice Participating in Recombination with Moloney Ecotropic Murine Leukemia Virus (MuLV) To Generate Polytropic MuLVs. J. Virol. 79: 4664-4671 [Abstract] [Full Text]