Tissue tropism of avian leukosis viruses: analyses for viral DNA and proteins.
Analyses of six tissues from Rous-associated virus type 1-infected chickens have revealed a number of tissue-specific differences in virus synthesis and distribution. Chicks were infected at 1 day of age. Tissue (bursa, thymus, liver, kidney, muscle, and brain) were harvested 1 month later. Each of the tissues contained an average of 1.8 to 4 copies of viral DNA per cell. Most of this DNA was integrated. In brain, about one-third of the total viral DNA was in an unintegrated, linear form. Bursa, thymus, liver, and kidney expressed both Gag and Env proteins. In contrast, muscle expressed more Gag than Env, and brain expressed neither Gag nor Env. Tissues that were producing both Gag and Env contained higher levels of mature virus particles than tissues that were not producing both of these proteins.
Department of Pathology, Unversity of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester 01655.
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Robinson
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Ramamoorthy
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Collart
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Brown
D000818:Animals; D001353:Avian Leukosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D001354:Avian Leukosis Virus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002645:Chickens; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D015686:Gene Products, env / Q000032:analysis; D015683:Gene Products, gag / Q000032:analysis; D009928:Organ Specificity; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000032:analysis*
D004279:DNA, Viral; D015686:Gene Products, env; D015683:Gene Products, gag; D014764:Viral Proteins