scholarly journals Structure of the mature Rous sarcoma virus lattice reveals a role for IP6 in the formation of the capsid hexamer

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Obr ◽  
Clifton L. Ricana ◽  
Nadia Nikulin ◽  
Jon-Philip R. Feathers ◽  
Marco Klanschnig ◽  
...  

AbstractInositol hexakisphosphate (IP6) is an assembly cofactor for HIV-1. We report here that IP6 is also used for assembly of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV), a retrovirus from a different genus. IP6 is ~100-fold more potent at promoting RSV mature capsid protein (CA) assembly than observed for HIV-1 and removal of IP6 in cells reduces infectivity by 100-fold. Here, visualized by cryo-electron tomography and subtomogram averaging, mature capsid-like particles show an IP6-like density in the CA hexamer, coordinated by rings of six lysines and six arginines. Phosphate and IP6 have opposing effects on CA in vitro assembly, inducing formation of T = 1 icosahedrons and tubes, respectively, implying that phosphate promotes pentamer and IP6 hexamer formation. Subtomogram averaging and classification optimized for analysis of pleomorphic retrovirus particles reveal that the heterogeneity of mature RSV CA polyhedrons results from an unexpected, intrinsic CA hexamer flexibility. In contrast, the CA pentamer forms rigid units organizing the local architecture. These different features of hexamers and pentamers determine the structural mechanism to form CA polyhedrons of variable shape in mature RSV particles.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Obr ◽  
Clifton L. Ricana ◽  
Nadia Nikulin ◽  
Jon-Philip R. Feathers ◽  
Marco Klanschnig ◽  
...  

AbstractInositol hexakisphosphate (IP6) is an assembly cofactor for HIV-1. We report here that IP6 is also used for assembly of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV), a retrovirus from a different genus. IP6 was ∼100-fold more potent at promoting RSV mature CA assembly than observed for HIV-1 and removal of IP6 in vivo reduced infectivity by 100-fold. By cryo-electron tomography and subtomogram averaging, mature virus-like particles (VLPs) showed an IP6-like density in the CA hexamer, coordinated by rings of six lysines and six arginines. Phosphate and IP6 had opposing effects on CA in vitro assembly, inducing formation of T=1 icosahedrons and tubes, respectively, implying that phosphate promotes pentamer and IP6 hexamer formation. Subtomogram averaging and classification optimized for analysis of pleomorphic retrovirus particles revealed that the heterogeneity of mature RSV CA polyhedrons results from an unexpected, intrinsic CA hexamer flexibility. In contrast, the CA pentamer forms rigid units organizing the local architecture. These different features of hexamers and pentamers determine the structural mechanism to form CA polyhedrons of variable shape in mature RSV particles.


2015 ◽  
Vol 89 (20) ◽  
pp. 10294-10302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian K. M. Schur ◽  
Robert A. Dick ◽  
Wim J. H. Hagen ◽  
Volker M. Vogt ◽  
John A. G. Briggs

ABSTRACTThe polyprotein Gag is the primary structural component of retroviruses. Gag consists of independently folded domains connected by flexible linkers. Interactions between the conserved capsid (CA) domains of Gag mediate formation of hexameric protein lattices that drive assembly of immature virus particles. Proteolytic cleavage of Gag by the viral protease (PR) is required for maturation of retroviruses from an immature form into an infectious form. Within the assembled Gag lattices of HIV-1 and Mason-Pfizer monkey virus (M-PMV), the C-terminal domain of CA adopts similar quaternary arrangements, while the N-terminal domain of CA is packed in very different manners. Here, we have used cryo-electron tomography and subtomogram averaging to studyin vitro-assembled, immature virus-like Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) Gag particles and have determined the structure of CA and the surrounding regions to a resolution of ∼8 Å. We found that the C-terminal domain of RSV CA is arranged similarly to HIV-1 and M-PMV, whereas the N-terminal domain of CA adopts a novel arrangement in which the upstream p10 domain folds back into the CA lattice. In this position the cleavage site between CA and p10 appears to be inaccessible to PR. Below CA, an extended density is consistent with the presence of a six-helix bundle formed by the spacer-peptide region. We have also assessed the affect of lattice assembly on proteolytic processing by exogenous PR. The cleavage between p10 and CA is indeed inhibited in the assembled lattice, a finding consistent with structural regulation of proteolytic maturation.IMPORTANCERetroviruses first assemble into immature virus particles, requiring interactions between Gag proteins that form a protein layer under the viral membrane. Subsequently, Gag is cleaved by the viral protease enzyme into separate domains, leading to rearrangement of the virus into its infectious form. It is important to understand how Gag is arranged within immature retroviruses, in order to understand how virus assembly occurs, and how maturation takes place. We used the techniques cryo-electron tomography and subtomogram averaging to obtain a detailed structural picture of the CA domains in immature assembled Rous sarcoma virus Gag particles. We found that part of Gag next to CA, called p10, folds back and interacts with CA when Gag assembles. This arrangement is different from that seen in HIV-1 and Mason-Pfizer monkey virus, illustrating further structural diversity of retroviral structures. The structure provides new information on how the virus assembles and undergoes maturation.


Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 129
Author(s):  
Alžběta Dostálková ◽  
Barbora Vokatá ◽  
Filip Kaufman ◽  
Pavel Ulbrich ◽  
Tomáš Ruml ◽  
...  

The assembly of a hexameric lattice of retroviral immature particles requires the involvement of cell factors such as proteins and small molecules. A small, negatively charged polyanionic molecule, myo-inositol hexaphosphate (IP6), was identified to stimulate the assembly of immature particles of HIV-1 and other lentiviruses. Interestingly, cryo-electron tomography analysis of the immature particles of two lentiviruses, HIV-1 and equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV), revealed that the IP6 binding site is similar. Based on this amino acid conservation of the IP6 interacting site, it is presumed that the assembly of immature particles of all lentiviruses is stimulated by IP6. Although this specific region for IP6 binding may be unique for lentiviruses, it is plausible that other retroviral species also recruit some small polyanion to facilitate the assembly of their immature particles. To study whether the assembly of retroviruses other than lentiviruses can be stimulated by polyanionic molecules, we measured the effect of various polyanions on the assembly of immature virus-like particles of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV), a member of alpharetroviruses, Mason-Pfizer monkey virus (M-PMV) representative of betaretroviruses, and murine leukemia virus (MLV), a member of gammaretroviruses. RSV, M-PMV and MLV immature virus-like particles were assembled in vitro from truncated Gag molecules and the effect of selected polyanions, myo-inostol hexaphosphate, myo-inositol, glucose-1,6-bisphosphate, myo-inositol hexasulphate, and mellitic acid, on the particles assembly was quantified. Our results suggest that the assembly of immature particles of RSV and MLV was indeed stimulated by the presence of myo-inostol hexaphosphate and myo-inositol, respectively. In contrast, no effect on the assembly of M-PMV as a betaretrovirus member was observed.


2015 ◽  
Vol 89 (20) ◽  
pp. 10371-10382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Dick ◽  
Siddhartha A. K. Datta ◽  
Hirsh Nanda ◽  
Xianyang Fang ◽  
Yi Wen ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTPreviously, no retroviral Gag protein has been highly purified in milligram quantities and in a biologically relevant and active form. We have purified Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) Gag protein and in parallel several truncation mutants of Gag and have studied their biophysical properties and membrane interactionsin vitro. RSV Gag is unusual in that it is not naturally myristoylated. From its ability to assemble into virus-like particlesin vitro, we infer that RSV Gag is biologically active. By size exclusion chromatography and small-angle X-ray scattering, Gag in solution appears extended and flexible, in contrast to previous reports on unmyristoylated HIV-1 Gag, which is compact. However, by neutron reflectometry measurements of RSV Gag bound to a supported bilayer, the protein appears to adopt a more compact, folded-over conformation. At physiological ionic strength, purified Gag binds strongly to liposomes containing acidic lipids. This interaction is stimulated by physiological levels of phosphatidylinositol-(4,5)-bisphosphate [PI(4,5)P2] and by cholesterol. However, unlike HIV-1 Gag, RSV Gag shows no sensitivity to acyl chain saturation. In contrast with full-length RSV Gag, the purified MA domain of Gag binds to liposomes only weakly. Similarly, both an N-terminally truncated version of Gag that is missing the MA domain and a C-terminally truncated version that is missing the NC domain bind only weakly. These results imply that NC contributes to membrane interactionin vitro, either by directly contacting acidic lipids or by promoting Gag multimerization.IMPORTANCERetroviruses like HIV assemble at and bud from the plasma membrane of cells. Assembly requires the interaction between thousands of Gag molecules to form a lattice. Previous work indicated that lattice formation at the plasma membrane is influenced by the conformation of monomeric HIV. We have extended this work to the more tractable RSV Gag. Our results show that RSV Gag is highly flexible and can adopt a folded-over conformation on a lipid bilayer, implicating both the N and C termini in membrane binding. In addition, binding of Gag to membranes is diminished when either terminal domain is truncated. RSV Gag membrane association is significantly less sensitive than HIV Gag membrane association to lipid acyl chain saturation. These findings shed light on Gag assembly and membrane binding, critical steps in the viral life cycle and an untapped target for antiretroviral drugs.


2008 ◽  
Vol 9 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 197-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bernard Heymann ◽  
Carmen Butan ◽  
Dennis C. Winkler ◽  
Rebecca C. Craven ◽  
Alasdair C. Steven

Whereas many viruses have capsids of uniquely defined sizes that observe icosahedral symmetry, retrovirus capsids are highly polymorphic. Nevertheless, they may also be described as polyhedral foldings of a fullerene lattice on which the capsid protein (CA) is arrayed. Lacking the high order of symmetry that facilitates the reconstruction of icosahedral capsids from cryo-electron micrographs, the 3D structures of individual retrovirus capsids may be determined by cryo-electron tomography, albeit at lower resolution. Here, we describe computational and graphical methods used to construct polyhedral models that match in size and shape, capsids of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) observed within intact virions. The capsids fall into several shape classes, including tubes, ‘lozenges’ and ‘coffins’. The extent to which a capsid departs from icosahedral symmetry reflects the irregularity of the distribution of pentamers, which are always 12 in number for a closed polyhedral capsid. The number of geometrically distinct polyhedra grows rapidly with increasing quotas of hexamers, and ranks in the millions for particles in the size range of RSV capsids, which typically have 150–300 hexamers. Unlike the CAs of icosahedral viruses that assume a minimal number of quasi-equivalent conformations equal to the triangulation number (T), retroviral CAs exhibit a near-continuum of quasi-equivalent conformations – a property that may be attributed to the flexible hinge linking the N- and C-terminal domains.


1984 ◽  
Vol 4 (8) ◽  
pp. 1508-1514
Author(s):  
A W Stoker ◽  
P J Enrietto ◽  
J A Wyke

Four temperature-sensitive (ts) Rous sarcoma virus src gene mutants with lesions in different parts of the gene represent three classes of alteration in pp60src. These classes are composed of mutants with (i) heat-labile protein kinase activities both in vitro and in vivo (tsLA27 and tsLA29), (ii) heat-labile kinases in vivo but not in vitro (tsLA33), and (iii) neither in vivo nor in vitro heat-labile kinases (tsLA32). The latter class indicates the existence of structural or functional pp60src domains that are required for transformation but do not grossly affect tyrosine kinase activity.


1986 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 2198-2206
Author(s):  
Y Uehara ◽  
M Hori ◽  
T Takeuchi ◽  
H Umezawa

Three benzenoid ansamycin antibiotics (herbimycin, macbecin, and geldanamycin) were found to reduce the intracellular phosphorylation of p60src at a permissive temperature (33 degrees C) in a rat kidney cell line infected with a temperature-sensitive mutant of Rous sarcoma virus. This effect was accompanied by morphological changes from the transformed to the normal phenotype. The filamentous staining pattern of actin fibers was observed in the cells treated with these antibiotics at 33 degrees C. Removal of the antibiotics allowed the cells to revert to the transformed morphology. Ansamitocin, another benzenoid ansamycin, and naphthalenoid ansamycins such as streptovaricin and rifamycins did not show this effect. Pulse-labeling of the antibiotic-treated cultures with 32Pi showed a marked reduction of 32P radioactivity incorporated into p60src. A parallel experiment with [35S]methionine showed that synthesis of p60src was slightly inhibited. The immune complex prepared by mixing the herbimycin-treated cell extracts with antibody against p60src was inactive in vitro in phosphorylating the complex itself. On the contrary, the immune complex derived from untreated cells was active in vitro even in the presence of the antibiotics. These results suggest that benzoquinonoid ansamycins have no direct effect on src kinase but destroy its intracellular environment, resulting in an irreversible alteration of p60src and loss of catalytic activity.


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