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Journal of Virology, June 2006, p. 6115-6122, Vol. 80, No. 12
0022-538X/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.00167-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Second-Site Revertants of a Semliki Forest Virus Fusion-Block Mutation Reveal the Dynamics of a Class II Membrane Fusion Protein
Chantal Chanel-Vos
and
Margaret Kielian*
Department of Cell Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461
Received 24 January 2006/
Accepted 29 March 2006
The alphavirus Semliki Forest virus (SFV) infects cells through low-pH-induced membrane fusion mediated by the E1 protein, a class II virus membrane fusion protein. During fusion, E1 inserts into target membranes via its hydrophobic fusion loop and refolds to form a stable E1 homotrimer. Mutation of a highly conserved histidine (the H230A mutation) within a loop adjacent to the fusion loop was previously shown to block SFV fusion and infection, although the mutant E1 protein still inserts into target membranes and forms a homotrimer. Here we report on second-site mutations in E1 that rescue the H230A mutant. These mutations were located in a cluster within the hinge region, at the membrane-interacting tip, and within the groove where the E1 stem is believed to pack. Together the revertants reveal specific and interconnected aspects of the fusion protein refolding reaction.
* 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: Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY 10021.
Journal of Virology, June 2006, p. 6115-6122, Vol. 80, No. 12
0022-538X/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.00167-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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