title: Characterization of a conformationally sensitive epitope on Moloney murine leukemia virus gp70.
abstract: We describe here several properties of a conformationally sensitive epitope common to the Moloney (M) and Rauscher (R) murine leukemia virus (MLV) gp70 family of glycoproteins, e.g., M-MLV gp70 and R-MLV gp71. This epitope was not detected by western blotting or by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay experiments with three different lots of polyclonal R-MLV gp69/71 sera. However, it was detected when a specific monoclonal antibody, R47, was used in western blotting or immuno-dot-blotting experiments with the two viruses. R47 maps to a central 14-kd segment on R-MLV gp71 which spans an important structural domain, namely, that corresponding to the recombination site between ecotropic and endogenous envelope glycoprotein-coding sequences. Analysis of the western as well as dot blots developed with the R47 monoclonal antibody showed that about a 25-fold higher affinity for the epitope existed on R-MLV gp71, relative to M-MLV gp70. It thus appears that R-MLV and M-MLV gp70, although very closely related both structurally and serologically, are conformationally distinct in one domain, namely, the site of recombination between ecotropic and endogenous gp70-coding sequences.
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000915:Antibody Affinity; D003429:Cross Reactions; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D007106:Immune Sera; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008979:Moloney murine leukemia virus / Q000276:immunology*; D011925:Rauscher Virus / Q000276:immunology*; D012191:Retroviridae Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology*; D015682:Retroviridae Proteins, Oncogenic; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000939:Epitopes; D007106:Immune Sera; D012191:Retroviridae Proteins; D015682:Retroviridae Proteins, Oncogenic; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins