Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Virology logoLink to Journal of Virology
. 1994 Sep;68(9):6124–6129. doi: 10.1128/jvi.68.9.6124-6129.1994

Evidence that a central domain of nucleocapsid protein is required for RNA packaging in murine leukemia virus.

A Rein 1, D P Harvin 1, J Mirro 1, S M Ernst 1, R J Gorelick 1
PMCID: PMC237026  PMID: 8057495

Abstract

We have analyzed RNA packaging by a series of mutants altered in the nucleocapsid (NC) protein of Moloney murine leukemia virus (Mo-MuLV). We found that mutants lacking residues 8 through 11 or 44 through 60 of NC package Mo-MuLV RNA with virtually the same efficiency as wild-type Mo-MuLV. In contrast, point mutants altered at the conserved cysteines in the cysteine array (residues 26 and 29) and a mutant lacking residues 16 through 23 packaged Mo-MuLV RNA with approximately 1% of the efficiency of wild-type Mo-MuLV. The deficiency in packaged RNA was observed not only in Northern (RNA) analysis but also in an RNA-PCR assay, which would detect degraded as well as intact RNA. One of the cysteine array mutants was also shown to be defective with respect to encapsidation of hygromycin phosphotransferase mRNA containing a Mo-MuLV packaging signal. We suggest that a central region of NC, consisting of the cysteine array and flanking basic residues, is required for RNA packaging in Mo-MuLV.

Full text

PDF
6125

Images in this article

6125Image
on p.6125
6126Image
on p.6126
6127Image
on p.6127

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Adam M. A., Miller A. D. Identification of a signal in a murine retrovirus that is sufficient for packaging of nonretroviral RNA into virions. J Virol. 1988 Oct;62(10):3802–3806. doi: 10.1128/jvi.62.10.3802-3806.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Aldovini A., Young R. A. Mutations of RNA and protein sequences involved in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 packaging result in production of noninfectious virus. J Virol. 1990 May;64(5):1920–1926. doi: 10.1128/jvi.64.5.1920-1926.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Anderson K. P., Low M. A., Lie Y. S., Keller G. A., Dinowitz M. Endogenous origin of defective retroviruslike particles from a recombinant Chinese hamster ovary cell line. Virology. 1991 Mar;181(1):305–311. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(91)90496-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Aronoff R., Hajjar A. M., Linial M. L. Avian retroviral RNA encapsidation: reexamination of functional 5' RNA sequences and the role of nucleocapsid Cys-His motifs. J Virol. 1993 Jan;67(1):178–188. doi: 10.1128/jvi.67.1.178-188.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Berkowitz R. D., Luban J., Goff S. P. Specific binding of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 gag polyprotein and nucleocapsid protein to viral RNAs detected by RNA mobility shift assays. J Virol. 1993 Dec;67(12):7190–7200. doi: 10.1128/jvi.67.12.7190-7200.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Bess J. W., Jr, Powell P. J., Issaq H. J., Schumack L. J., Grimes M. K., Henderson L. E., Arthur L. O. Tightly bound zinc in human immunodeficiency virus type 1, human T-cell leukemia virus type I, and other retroviruses. J Virol. 1992 Feb;66(2):840–847. doi: 10.1128/jvi.66.2.840-847.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Bieth E., Gabus C., Darlix J. L. A study of the dimer formation of Rous sarcoma virus RNA and of its effect on viral protein synthesis in vitro. Nucleic Acids Res. 1990 Jan 11;18(1):119–127. doi: 10.1093/nar/18.1.119. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Bowles N. E., Damay P., Spahr P. F. Effect of rearrangements and duplications of the Cys-His motifs of Rous sarcoma virus nucleocapsid protein. J Virol. 1993 Feb;67(2):623–631. doi: 10.1128/jvi.67.2.623-631.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Chance M. R., Sagi I., Wirt M. D., Frisbie S. M., Scheuring E., Chen E., Bess J. W., Jr, Henderson L. E., Arthur L. O., South T. L. Extended x-ray absorption fine structure studies of a retrovirus: equine infectious anemia virus cysteine arrays are coordinated to zinc. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992 Nov 1;89(21):10041–10045. doi: 10.1073/pnas.89.21.10041. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Darlix J. L., Gabus C., Nugeyre M. T., Clavel F., Barré-Sinoussi F. Cis elements and trans-acting factors involved in the RNA dimerization of the human immunodeficiency virus HIV-1. J Mol Biol. 1990 Dec 5;216(3):689–699. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(90)90392-Y. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. De Rocquigny H., Gabus C., Vincent A., Fournié-Zaluski M. C., Roques B., Darlix J. L. Viral RNA annealing activities of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 nucleocapsid protein require only peptide domains outside the zinc fingers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992 Jul 15;89(14):6472–6476. doi: 10.1073/pnas.89.14.6472. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Dib-Hajj F., Khan R., Giedroc D. P. Retroviral nucleocapsid proteins possess potent nucleic acid strand renaturation activity. Protein Sci. 1993 Feb;2(2):231–243. doi: 10.1002/pro.5560020212. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Dorfman T., Luban J., Goff S. P., Haseltine W. A., Göttlinger H. G. Mapping of functionally important residues of a cysteine-histidine box in the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 nucleocapsid protein. J Virol. 1993 Oct;67(10):6159–6169. doi: 10.1128/jvi.67.10.6159-6169.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Dorner A. J., Bonneville F., Kriz R., Kelleher K., Bean K., Kaufman R. J. Molecular cloning and characterization of a complete Chinese hamster provirus related to intracisternal A particle genomes. J Virol. 1991 Sep;65(9):4713–4719. doi: 10.1128/jvi.65.9.4713-4719.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Dupraz P., Oertle S., Meric C., Damay P., Spahr P. F. Point mutations in the proximal Cys-His box of Rous sarcoma virus nucleocapsid protein. J Virol. 1990 Oct;64(10):4978–4987. doi: 10.1128/jvi.64.10.4978-4987.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Feng Y. X., Yuan H., Rein A., Levin J. G. Bipartite signal for read-through suppression in murine leukemia virus mRNA: an eight-nucleotide purine-rich sequence immediately downstream of the gag termination codon followed by an RNA pseudoknot. J Virol. 1992 Aug;66(8):5127–5132. doi: 10.1128/jvi.66.8.5127-5132.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Fu W., Rein A. Maturation of dimeric viral RNA of Moloney murine leukemia virus. J Virol. 1993 Sep;67(9):5443–5449. doi: 10.1128/jvi.67.9.5443-5449.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Fu X. D., Katz R. A., Skalka A. M., Leis J. Site-directed mutagenesis of the avian retrovirus nucleocapsid protein, pp 12. Mutation which affects RNA binding in vitro blocks viral replication. J Biol Chem. 1988 Feb 15;263(5):2140–2145. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Gorelick R. J., Chabot D. J., Rein A., Henderson L. E., Arthur L. O. The two zinc fingers in the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 nucleocapsid protein are not functionally equivalent. J Virol. 1993 Jul;67(7):4027–4036. doi: 10.1128/jvi.67.7.4027-4036.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Gorelick R. J., Henderson L. E., Hanser J. P., Rein A. Point mutants of Moloney murine leukemia virus that fail to package viral RNA: evidence for specific RNA recognition by a "zinc finger-like" protein sequence. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 Nov;85(22):8420–8424. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.22.8420. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Gorelick R. J., Nigida S. M., Jr, Bess J. W., Jr, Arthur L. O., Henderson L. E., Rein A. Noninfectious human immunodeficiency virus type 1 mutants deficient in genomic RNA. J Virol. 1990 Jul;64(7):3207–3211. doi: 10.1128/jvi.64.7.3207-3211.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Graham F. L., van der Eb A. J. A new technique for the assay of infectivity of human adenovirus 5 DNA. Virology. 1973 Apr;52(2):456–467. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(73)90341-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Gritz L., Davies J. Plasmid-encoded hygromycin B resistance: the sequence of hygromycin B phosphotransferase gene and its expression in Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Gene. 1983 Nov;25(2-3):179–188. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(83)90223-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Housset V., De Rocquigny H., Roques B. P., Darlix J. L. Basic amino acids flanking the zinc finger of Moloney murine leukemia virus nucleocapsid protein NCp10 are critical for virus infectivity. J Virol. 1993 May;67(5):2537–2545. doi: 10.1128/jvi.67.5.2537-2545.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Karpel R. L., Henderson L. E., Oroszlan S. Interactions of retroviral structural proteins with single-stranded nucleic acids. J Biol Chem. 1987 Apr 15;262(11):4961–4967. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Khan R., Giedroc D. P. Recombinant human immunodeficiency virus type 1 nucleocapsid (NCp7) protein unwinds tRNA. J Biol Chem. 1992 Apr 5;267(10):6689–6695. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Lapadat-Tapolsky M., De Rocquigny H., Van Gent D., Roques B., Plasterk R., Darlix J. L. Interactions between HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein and viral DNA may have important functions in the viral life cycle. Nucleic Acids Res. 1993 Feb 25;21(4):831–839. doi: 10.1093/nar/21.4.831. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Lieber M. M., Benveniste R. E., Livingston D. M., Todaro G. J. Mammalian cells in culture frequently release type C viruses. Science. 1973 Oct 5;182(4107):56–59. doi: 10.1126/science.182.4107.56. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Linial M. L., Miller A. D. Retroviral RNA packaging: sequence requirements and implications. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. 1990;157:125–152. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-75218-6_5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Linial M. Creation of a processed pseudogene by retroviral infection. Cell. 1987 Apr 10;49(1):93–102. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90759-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Méric C., Goff S. P. Characterization of Moloney murine leukemia virus mutants with single-amino-acid substitutions in the Cys-His box of the nucleocapsid protein. J Virol. 1989 Apr;63(4):1558–1568. doi: 10.1128/jvi.63.4.1558-1568.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Méric C., Gouilloud E., Spahr P. F. Mutations in Rous sarcoma virus nucleocapsid protein p12 (NC): deletions of Cys-His boxes. J Virol. 1988 Sep;62(9):3328–3333. doi: 10.1128/jvi.62.9.3328-3333.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Méric C., Spahr P. F. Rous sarcoma virus nucleic acid-binding protein p12 is necessary for viral 70S RNA dimer formation and packaging. J Virol. 1986 Nov;60(2):450–459. doi: 10.1128/jvi.60.2.450-459.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Prats A. C., Housset V., de Billy G., Cornille F., Prats H., Roques B., Darlix J. L. Viral RNA annealing activities of the nucleocapsid protein of Moloney murine leukemia virus are zinc independent. Nucleic Acids Res. 1991 Jul 11;19(13):3533–3541. doi: 10.1093/nar/19.13.3533. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Prats A. C., Roy C., Wang P. A., Erard M., Housset V., Gabus C., Paoletti C., Darlix J. L. cis elements and trans-acting factors involved in dimer formation of murine leukemia virus RNA. J Virol. 1990 Feb;64(2):774–783. doi: 10.1128/jvi.64.2.774-783.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Prats A. C., Sarih L., Gabus C., Litvak S., Keith G., Darlix J. L. Small finger protein of avian and murine retroviruses has nucleic acid annealing activity and positions the replication primer tRNA onto genomic RNA. EMBO J. 1988 Jun;7(6):1777–1783. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb03008.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Sakaguchi K., Zambrano N., Baldwin E. T., Shapiro B. A., Erickson J. W., Omichinski J. G., Clore G. M., Gronenborn A. M., Appella E. Identification of a binding site for the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 nucleocapsid protein. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1993 Jun 1;90(11):5219–5223. doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.11.5219. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Shinnick T. M., Lerner R. A., Sutcliffe J. G. Nucleotide sequence of Moloney murine leukaemia virus. Nature. 1981 Oct 15;293(5833):543–548. doi: 10.1038/293543a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Summers M. F., Henderson L. E., Chance M. R., Bess J. W., Jr, South T. L., Blake P. R., Sagi I., Perez-Alvarado G., Sowder R. C., 3rd, Hare D. R. Nucleocapsid zinc fingers detected in retroviruses: EXAFS studies of intact viruses and the solution-state structure of the nucleocapsid protein from HIV-1. Protein Sci. 1992 May;1(5):563–574. doi: 10.1002/pro.5560010502. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Versteegen R. J., Oroszlan S. Effect of chemical modification and fragmentation on antigenic determinants of internal protein p30 and surface glycoprotein gp70 of type C retroviruses. J Virol. 1980 Mar;33(3):983–992. doi: 10.1128/jvi.33.3.983-992.1980. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Wills N. M., Gesteland R. F., Atkins J. F. Evidence that a downstream pseudoknot is required for translational read-through of the Moloney murine leukemia virus gag stop codon. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Aug 15;88(16):6991–6995. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.16.6991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Virology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES