title: Structural studies of retroviruses: characterization of oligomeric complexes of murine and feline leukemia virus envelope and core components formed upon cross-linking.
abstract: To examine the protein proximity and subunit organization of type C retroviruses, preparations of AKR murine leukemia virus were treated with bifunctional cross-linking reagents and analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The cross-linked components obtained were characterized by immunoprecipitation with monospecific antisera against purified viral proteins, followed by SDS-PAGE analysis both before and after cleavage of the cross-links. With these procedures, complexes of both viral envelope and core components were identified. The major envelope subunit obtained was a large (apparent molecular weight of 450,000 to 500,000), glycosylated complex, composed of four to six gp70-p15(E) subunits. This complex was detected over a 100-fold range of cross-linker concentration and thus seems to represent a particularly stable viral substructure. The cross-linked complexes of the core proteins consisted of oligomers of p30 dimers, suggesting that the p30 dimer is a basic structural unit of the viral core. When virion preparations, which had previously been disrupted with the nonionic detergent Nonidet P-40, were cross-linked, the envelope complex was still observed, indicating that this structure is stable in the presence of Nonidet P-40. A similar envelope structure was observed for feline leukemia virus, suggesting that such a complex may be a conserved feature of oncornavirus structure.
mesh_terms: D000406:AKR murine leukemia virus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002621:Chemistry; D004136:Dinitrobenzenes / Q000494:pharmacology; D004220:Disulfides / Q000494:pharmacology; D007202:Indicators and Reagents / Q000494:pharmacology; D005256:Leukemia Virus, Feline / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D009052:Leukemia Virus, Murine / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D013388:Succinimides / Q000494:pharmacology; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D004136:Dinitrobenzenes; D004220:Disulfides; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D013388:Succinimides; D014764:Viral Proteins