Individual ev loci determine characteristic patterns of endogenous retroviral envelope antigen expression during lymphocyte maturation.
A comparative study of the expression of retroviral envelope antigen by T and B lymphocytes at different maturational stages was made with chickens typed for genomic ev loci. All lymphocyte subclasses from chf(-) chickens were negative for expression of retroviral envelope antigen. By contrast, cells of the lymphocyte lineage from all the chf(+) lines examined were positive for expression, with the levels of envelope antigen in the lymphoblasts exceeding the levels in the immature and resting cells. This pattern of lymphocyte expression was found in lines of chickens in which the expression of chf in fibroblasts was encoded by the ev 3, ev 6, or ev 9 loci. Plasma cells from those chf(+) lines possessing ev 6 expressed higher levels of envelope antigen than the lymphoblasts, an effect not observed with the chf(+) lines lacking ev 6.
D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D001354:Avian Leukosis Virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D002645:Chickens; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000276:immunology; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D005814:Genes, Viral; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D010641:Phenotype; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
D000956:Antigens, Viral; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins