title: Selective inhibition of translation of the mRNA coding for measles virus membrane protein at elevated temperatures.
abstract: The elevation of culture temperatures of C6 cells that were persistently infected with the Lec strain of the subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) virus (C6/SSPE) resulted in immediate selective inhibition of membrane (M) protein synthesis. This phenomenon was confirmed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of total cytoplasmic lysates and immunoprecipitation with monoclonal antibody against the M protein in short-time labeling experiments. The synthesis of various viral mRNAs in the presence of actinomycin D decreased gradually at similar rates after a shift to 39 degrees C. No specific disappearance of the mRNA coding for the M protein was observed when viral RNAs isolated from the infected cells were compared before and after a shift up by Northern blot analysis. Results of pulse-chase experiments did not show any significant difference in M protein stability between 35 and 39 degrees C. This rapid block of M protein synthesis was observed not only in Vero cells that were lytically infected with plaque-purified clones from the Lec strain, clones isolated from C6/SSPE cells and the standard Edmonston strain of measles virus but also in CV1, MA160, and HeLa cells that were lytically infected with the Edmonston strain. Poly(A)+ RNAs that were extracted from C6/SSPE cells before and after a shift to 39 degrees C produced detectable phospho, nucleocapsid, and M proteins in cell-free translation systems at 32 degrees C. Even higher incubation temperatures did not demonstrate the selective depression of M protein synthesis described above in vitro. All these data indicate that M protein synthesis of measles virus is selectively suppressed at elevated temperatures because of an inability of the translation apparatus to interact with the M protein-encoded mRNA.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D005910:Glioma; D008459:Measles virus / Q000235:genetics*; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics*; D051381:Rats; D013696:Temperature; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins