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Journal of Virology, January 2006, p. 51-61, Vol. 80, No. 1
0022-538X/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.80.1.51-61.2006

Entry of Vaccinia Virus and Cell-Cell Fusion Require a Highly Conserved Cysteine-Rich Membrane Protein Encoded by the A16L Gene

Suany Ojeda, Tatiana G. Senkevich, and Bernard Moss*

Laboratory of Viral Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0445

Received 5 August 2005/ Accepted 26 September 2005

The vaccinia virus A16L open reading frame encodes a 378-amino-acid protein with a predicted C-terminal transmembrane domain and 20 invariant cysteine residues that is conserved in all sequenced members of the poxvirus family. The A16 protein was expressed late in infection and incorporated into intracellular virus particles with the N-terminal segment of the protein exposed on the surface. The cysteine residues were disulfide bonded via the poxvirus cytoplasmic redox system. Unsuccessful attempts to isolate a mutant virus with the A16L gene deleted suggested that the protein is essential for replication. To study the role of the A16 protein, we made a recombinant vaccinia virus that has the Escherichia coli lac operator system regulating transcription of the A16L gene. In the absence of inducer, A16 synthesis was repressed and plaque size and virus yield were greatly reduced. Nevertheless, virus morphogenesis occurred and normal-looking intracellular and extracellular virus particles formed. Purified virions made in the presence and absence of inducer were indistinguishable, though the latter had 60- to 100-fold-lower specific infectivity. A16-deficient virions bound to cells, but their cores did not penetrate into the cytoplasm. Furthermore, A16-deficient virions were unable to induce low-pH-triggered syncytium formation. The phenotype of the inducible A16L mutant was similar to those of mutants in which synthesis of the A21, A28, H2, or L5 membrane protein was repressed, indicating that at least five conserved viral proteins are required for entry of poxviruses into cells as well as for cell-cell fusion.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratory of Viral Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 4 Center Dr., MSC 0445, Bethesda, MD 20892-0445. Phone: (301) 496-9869. Fax: (301) 480-1147. E-mail: bmoss{at}nih.gov.

Journal of Virology, January 2006, p. 51-61, Vol. 80, No. 1
0022-538X/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.80.1.51-61.2006




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