Retrovirus-mediated transfer of an adenovirus gene encoding an integral membrane protein is sufficient to down regulate the receptor for epidermal growth factor.
We have used retrovirus-mediated gene transfer to introduce sequences encoding a 10,400-molecular-weight (10.4K) adenovirus protein previously shown to down regulate the receptor for epidermal growth factor (EGF) into two murine cell lines that possess human EGF receptors (EGF-Rs). Assays for receptor expression showed that acute infection resulted in rapid, constitutive down regulation of the EGF-R via a pathway that appears to be endosome mediated. This represents the first demonstration that 10.4K expression in the absence of other virus-encoded proteins is sufficient to elicit this response. The usefulness of this approach for the study of 10.4K-mediated signal transduction in cells with a nontransformed phenotype is discussed.
Institute for Molecular Virology, St. Louis University Medical Center, Missouri 63110.
B L
BL
Hoffman
A
A
Ullrich
W S
WS
Wold
C R
CR
Carlin
D000256:Adenoviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D015536:Down-Regulation; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005814:Genes, Viral; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009841:Oligonucleotides; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000235:genetics
D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009841:Oligonucleotides; D014764:Viral Proteins; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins; D066246:ErbB Receptors