title: Transmembrane domain of the envelope gene of a polycythemia-inducing retrovirus determines erythropoietin-independent growth.
abstract: Both the polycythemia-inducing and the anemia-inducing strains of Friend spleen focus-forming virus can induce acute erythroleukemia in susceptible adult mice. However, only cells infected with the polycythemia-inducing strain become erythropoietin-independent for proliferation and differentiation. The sequences responsible for the altered erythropoietin responsiveness have previously been localized to a 678-base-pair EcoRI-Cla I fragment at the 3' end of the envelope gene. This region is now further analyzed by dividing it into two fragments by using the Fok I restriction site. Two recombinants were made by replacing either the 558-base-pair EcoRI-Fok I or the 113-base-pair Fok I-Cla I env gene fragments from the anemia-inducing strain of spleen focus-forming virus with sequences derived from the polycythemia-inducing strain. Our results indicate that the 113-base-pair Fok I-Cla I fragment, which encodes primarily the transmembrane domain of the envelope protein, determines erythropoietin-independent growth.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wolff
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Ruscetti
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects*; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D004261:DNA Replication; D004921:Erythropoietin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005814:Genes, Viral; D009052:Leukemia Virus, Murine / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010957:Plasmids; D011086:Polycythemia / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D013154:Spleen / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D013155:Spleen Focus-Forming Viruses / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins; D004921:Erythropoietin