Vesicular stomatitis virus-infected cells fuse when the intracellular pool of functional M protein is reduced in the presence of G protein.
Five highly cytolytic strains of both Indiana and New Jersey serotypes of vesicular stomatitis virus were shown to induce cell fusion in BHK-21 and R(B77) cells. Inhibition of protein synthesis after the eclipse period of viral replication is a prerequisite for vesicular stomatitis virus-induced cell fusion. Pulse-chase experiments showed that inhibition of protein synthesis would lead to a drastic reduction in the intracellular pool of M protein as compared with other proteins. A temperature-sensitive mutant defective in M protein function (G31) was the only mutant of the five complementation groups to spontaneously induce polykaryocytes at the nonpermissive temperature. Previously, G protein has been shown to play a role in vesicular stomatitis virus-induced cell fusion. These results suggest that the combination of the presence of G protein on the virus-infected cell surface and the absence of functional M protein or a reduced level of intracellular M protein promotes cell fusion. On the basis of this study, we propose that vesicular stomatitis virus infection can induce cell fusion when the functional M protein pool declines to a critical level while G protein remains on the cell surface.
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D000596:Amino Acids / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D002459:Cell Fusion; D002460:Cell Line; D002472:Cell Transformation, Viral; D006224:Cricetinae; D003588:Cytopathogenic Effect, Viral; D003673:Defective Viruses / Q000502:physiology; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D009154:Mutation; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D051381:Rats; D013696:Temperature; D014721:Vesicular stomatitis Indiana virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D018116:Vesiculovirus; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
D000596:Amino Acids; C028391:G protein, vesicular stomatitis virus; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins