title: Analysis of jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV) envelope protein domains in transformation.
abstract: Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV) is the causative agent of a transmissible lung cancer in sheep. A unique feature is that JSRV envelope protein is also the oncogene for this virus. Previous studies have identified the cytoplasmic tail (CT) of the envelope transmembrane (TM) protein as critical for transformation although other regions of Env have also been implicated. In this study, the roles of other Env regions in transformation were investigated. Chimeras between JSRV Env and the Env of a related non-oncogenic endogenous retrovirus (enJSRV, 5F16) were used. A chimera containing the membrane-spanning region (MSR) of enJSRV inserted into JSRV Env showed substantially reduced transformation, indicating that the MSR plays a role in transformation. Transformation by this chimera was highly dependent on both Ras/Raf/MEK/MAPK and PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling. A chimera containing the two amino acids in the TM ectodomain that distinguish JSRV and enJSRV showed modestly reduced transformation. Chimeras in the SU protein indicated that the amino terminal region of SU contributes to transformation, while the C-terminal part is not important. To test if Env trimerization is important for transformation, we mutated a leucine-rich sequence in the putative trimerization domain in the ectodomain of TM (Tri-M). This mutant could not transform cells and it did not oligomerize. However, Tri-M could complement a non-transforming mutant CT mutant (Y590F) so oligomerization is not necessary for at least some aspects of transformation. These experiments provide new insight into the regions and residues of JSRV Env protein necessary for oncogenic transformation.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research Institute, Sprague Hall, University of California-Irvine, CA 92697-3900, USA.
authors.forename: Stacey
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hull
authors.forename: Joohyun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hamil
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nitta
authors.forename: Hung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002472:Cell Transformation, Viral; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D020077:Endogenous Retroviruses / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006801:Humans; D022141:Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D007930:Leucine / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D055503:Protein Multimerization; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011648:Pulmonary Adenomatosis, Ovine / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D015531:Radioimmunoprecipitation Assay; D012756:Sheep / Q000821:virology; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; D007930:Leucine