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Biomedical subjects

E M Scolnick

Publications and source records attributed to E M Scolnick.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Identification of amino acid residues required for Ras p21 target activation.

The Krev-1 gene has been shown to suppress ras-mediated transformation in vitro. Both ras and Krev-1 proteins have identical effector domains (ras residues 32 to 40), which are required for biological activity and for the interaction of Ras p21 with Ras GTPase-activating protein (GAP). In this study, five amino acid residues flanking the ras effector domain, which are not conserved with the Krev-1 protein, were shown to be required for normal protein-protein interactions and biological activity. The substitution of Krev-1 p21 residues 26, 27, 30, 31, and 45 with the corresponding amino acid residues from Ras p21 resulted in a Krev-1 protein which had ras function in both mammalian and yeast biological assays. Replacement of these residues in Ras p21 with the corresponding Krev-1 p21 amino acids resulted in ras proteins which were impaired biologically or reduced in their affinity for in vitro GAP binding. Evaluation of these mutant ras proteins have implications for Ras p21-GAP interactions in vivo.

Amino Acid Sequence

Guanine nucleotide-binding activity as an assay for src protein of rat-derived murine sarcoma viruses.

We have recently identified a 21,000-dalton protein, p21, coded for by Kirsten or Harvey murine sarcoma virus. On the basis of the results obtained with the p21 of a mutant of Kirsten sarcoma virus, temperature sensitive for the maintenance of transformation, we concluded that the p21 was required for the maintenance of transformation induced by either virus. We report herein that when extracts from cells transformed by Kirsten or Harvey sarcoma virus are incubated with [(3)H]GDP or [alpha-(32)P]GTP, picomole quantities of guanine nucleotide can be immunoprecipitated with antisera that contain antibodies to the p21. Previously we have shown that the immunoprecipitability of [(35)S]methionine-labeled p21 of the temperature-sensitive mutant of Kirsten sarcoma virus is thermolabile. The binding of guanine nucleotide is shown herein also to be thermolabile in extracts of cells transformed by the same mutant. However, the immunoprecipitability of the [(35)S]methionine-labeled p21 in such extracts of the temperature-sensitive mutant can be preserved if the extracts containing labeled p21 are incubated with added GDP or GTP prior to heating. The results suggest an interaction between p21 and certain guanine nucleotides, and the possible roles of guanine nucleotides and p21 in the maintenance of transformation are discussed.

Animals

Different rat-derived transforming retroviruses code for an immunologically related intracellular phosphoprotein.

Kirsten sarcoma virus (Ki-MSV) and Harvey sarcoma virus (Ha-MSV) are mouse-rat recombinant viruses that were originally isolated by experimental inoculation of rats with helper-independent mouse type C viruses. We have recently identified in cells transformed by Ki-MSV or Ha-MSV, a phosphoprotein, p21, coded for by Ki-MSV and Ha-MSV [Shih, T.Y., Weeks, M.O., Young, H.A. & Scolnick, E.M. (1979) Virology 95, in press]. The p21, which is not a virion structural protein, was identified with antisera prepared by transplantation in rats of syngeneic Ha-MSV- or Ki-MSV-transformed nonproducer cells. In this study, we have applied the same methodology to examine a purely rat sarcoma virus (RaSV), which was isolated in cell culture by using helper-independent rat type C viruses [Rasheed, S., Gardner, M.B. & Huebner, R.J. (1978) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 75, 2972-2976]. We report here that this new, purely rat sarcoma virus apparently codes for a p29, which shares immunological determinants and common V-8 protease-generated peptides with the p21 of Ha-MSV. The data suggest that the RaSV has acquired genetic information with similar coding capacity to some rat genetic information with similar coding combinant viruses, Ki-MSV and Ha-MSV. Based on data obtained on the p21 of a mutant of Ki-MSV temperature-sensitive for the maintenance of transformation, we suggest that the gene in RaSV that codes for the p29 is also required for the maintenance of RaSV-induced fibroblast transformation.

Animals

Defective retrovirus-like 30S RNA species of rat and mouse cells are infectious if packaged by type C helper virus.

RNA species with properties of defective retrovirus-like 30S RNA genomes have previously been detected in both rats and mice and in some rat and mouse retroviruses. Using cell lines which express high levels of this retrovirus-like RNA, we formed pseudotypes of the 30S RNAs with helper-independent type C viruses. A pseudotype virus complex containing a mouse 30S subunit was transmitted to rat cells, and a pseudotype virus complex containing a rat 30S subunit was transmitted to bat cells. In other transmission experiments, a rat 30S subunit was isolated in nonproducer bat cells without detectable expression of the helper-independent type C virus used to pseudotype it. The results provide further support for the retrovirus-like nature of the rat 30S subunit and provide evidence which supports the protovirus hypothesis proposed by Temin.

Animals

Characterization of a protein found in cells infected with the spleen focus-forming virus that shares immunological cross-reactivity with the gp70 found in mink cell focus-inducing virus particles.

Previously we detected an antigen in cells infected with the spleen focus-forming virus (SFFV) with a radioimmunoassay specific for the gp 70's of murine leukemia mink cell focus-inducing (MCF) viruses. This antigen has now been characterized in competition radioimmunoassays with limiting dilutions of antibody and in pulse-labeling studies under conditions of antibody excess. Both methods of analysis indicate that the SFFV-encoded antigen is a glycoprotein with a molecular weight of approximately 52,000. The gp52 shared immunological reactivity and methionine-containing tryptic peptides with the gp70 of a Friend MCF virus and was expressed on the surface of SFFV-infected cells as well as in the cytoplasm. The gp52 could be detected (i) in fibroblastic cell lines from several species when these cells were infected with SFFV; (ii) in several established erythroleukemic cell lines; and (iii) in the spleens of mice recently infected with SFFV. Although it shared immunochemical properties with the gp70 of Friend MCF virus, the gp52 could be distinguished from the MCF gp70 (i) by its apparent lack of group and interspecies immunological determinants compared with MCF virus-derived gp70's; (ii) by its failure to be released from cells infected with SFFV or SFFV plus helper virus; (iii) by its molecular weight; and (iv) by tryptic peptide analysis. The results indicate that SFFV codes for an MCF gp70-related gp52 which is apparently no longer a virion structural protein like the MCF gp70 from which it was originally derived.

Animals

Nature and distribution of feline sarcoma virus nucleotide sequences.

The genomes of three independent isolates of feline sarcoma virus (FeSV) were compared by molecular hybridization techniques. Using complementary DNAs prepared from two strains, SM- and ST-FeSV, common complementary DNA'S were selected by sequential hybridization to FeSV and feline leukemia virus RNAs. These DNAs were shown to be highly related among the three independent sarcoma virus isolates. FeSV-specific complementary DNAs were prepared by selection for hybridization by the homologous FeSV RNA and against hybridization by fline leukemia virus RNA. Sarcoma virus-specific sequences of SM-FeSV were shown to differ from those of either ST- or GA-FeSV strains, whereas ST-FeSV-specific DNA shared extensive sequence homology with GA-FeSV. By molecular hybridization, each set of FeSV-specific sequences was demonstrated to be present in normal cat cellular DNA in approximately one copy per haploid genome and was conserved throughout Felidae. In contrast, FeSV-common sequences were present in multiple DNA copies and were found only in Mediterranean cats. The present results are consistent with the concept that each FeSV strain has arisen by a mechanism involving recombination between feline leukemia virus and cat cellular DNA sequences, the latter represented within the cat genome in a manner analogous to that of a cellular gene.

Animals

Spleen focus-forming Friend virus: identification of genomic RNA and its relationship to helper virus RNA.

The genome of the defective, murine spleen focus-forming Friend virus (SFFV) was identified as a 50S RNA complex consisting of 32S RNA monomers. Electrophoretic mobility and the molecular weights of unique RNase T1-resistant oligonucleotides (T1-oligonucleotides) indicated that the 32S RNA had a complexity of about 7.4 kilobases. Hybridization with DNA complementary to Friend murine leukemia virus (Fr-MLV) has distinguished two sets of nucleotide sequences in 32S SFFV RNA, 74% which were Fr-MLV related and 26% which were SFFV specific. By the same method, SFFV RNA was 48% related to Moloney MLV. We have resolved 23 large T1-oligonucleotides of SFFV RNA and 43 of Fr-MLV RNA. On the basis of the relationship between SFFV and Fr-MLV RNAs, the 23 SFFV oligonucleotides fell into four classes: (i) seven which had homologous equivalents in Fr-MLV RNA; (ii) six more which could be isolated from SFFV RNA-Fr-MLV cDNA hybrids treated with RNases A and T1; (iii) eight more which were isolated from hybrids treated with RNases A and T1; and (iv) two which did not have Fr-MLV-related counterparts. Surprisingly, the two class iv oligonucleotides had homologous counterparts in the RNA of six amphotropic MLV's including mink cell focus-forming and HIX-MLVs analyzed previously. The map locations of the 23 SFFV T1-oligonucleotides relative to the 3' polyadenylic acid coordinate of SFFV RNA were deduced from the size of the smallest polyadenylic acid-tagged RNA fragment from which a given oligonucleotide was isolated. The resulting oligonucleotide map could be divided roughly into three segments: two terminal segments which are mosaics of oligonucleotides of classes i, ii, and iii and an internal segment between 2 and 2.5 kilobases from the 3' end containing the two oligonucleotides shared with amphotropic MLVs. Since SFFV RNA consists predominantly of sequence elements related to ecotropic and amphotropic helper-independent MLVs, it would appear that the transforming gene of SFFV is not a major specific sequence unrelated to genes of helper viruses, as is the case with Rous sarcoma and probably withe other defective sarcoma and acute leukemia viruses.

Base Sequence

p21 of Kirsten murine sarcoma virus is thermolabile in a viral mutant temperature sensitive for the maintenance of transformation.

We have recently described an intracellular protein, p21, in nonproducer cells transformed by either the Kirsten (Ki-MSV) or Harvey (Ha-MSV) strain of murine sarcoma virus (Shih et al., Virology, in press). The p21 is phosphorylated and has been shown to be coded for by either Ki-MSV or Ha-MSV. In this report, we compare the thermal stability of the newly synthesized [35S]methionine-labeled p21 in cells transformed by the wild-type Ki-MSV or by a mutant of Ki-MSV (ts 371) which is temperature sensitive in a viral function required for the maintenance of several properties of the transformed phenotype. The immunoprecipitability of the p21 coded for by the ts 371 Ki-MSV was markedly more thermolabile than the p21 of the wild-type Ki-MSV when the cell extracts are heated in vitro. The present finding suggests that the p21 is required for the maintenance of transformation induced by Ki-MSV.

Animals

Heteroduplex analysis of the sequence relationships between the genomes of Kirsten and Harvey sarcoma viruses, their respective parental murine leukemia viruses, and the rat endogenous 30S RNA.

The sequence relations between Kirsten murine sarcoma virus (Ki-SV), Harvey murine sarcoma virus (Ha-SV), and a rat endogenous 30S RNA were studied by electron microscope heteroduplex analysis. The sequence relationships between the sarcoma viruses and their respective parental murine leukemia viruses (Kirsten and Moloney murine leukemia viruses), as well as between the two murine leukemia viruses, were also studied. The only observed nonhomology feature of the Kirsten murine leukemia virus/Moloney murine leukemia virus heteroduplexes was a substitution loop with two arms of equal length extending from 1.80 +/- 0.18 kilobases (kb) to 2.65 +/- 0.27 kb from the 3' end of the RNA. It is believed that this feature lies in the env gene region of the viral genomes. The Ha-SV and Moloney murine leukemia virus genomes (respective lengths, 6.0 and 9.0 kb) were homologous in a 1.0 +/- 0.05-kb region at the 3' end and possibly over a 200-nucleotide region at the 5' ends; otherwise, they were nonhomologous. Ha-SV and Ki-SV (length, 7.5 kb) were homologous in the first 4.36 +/- 0.37-kb region from the 3' end and in a 0.70 +/- 0.15-kb region at the 5' end. In between, there was a nonhomology region, possibly containing a short (0.23-kb) region of partial or total homology. The heteroduplex analysis between rat endogenous 30S RNA and Ki-SV shows that there are mixed regions of sequence homology and nonhomology at both the 5' and 3' ends. However, there is a large (4-kb) region of homology between Ki-SV and the rat 30S RNA in the center of the genomes, with only a small nonhomology hairpin feature. These studies help to define the regions of homology between the Ha-SV and Ki-SV genomes with each other and with the rat endogenous 30S RNA. These regions may be related to the sarcoma genicity of the viruses. In particular, the 0.7-kb region of homology of Ha-SV with Ki-SV at the 5' ends may be related to the formation of a 21,000-dalton phosphoprotein in cells transformed by either virus.

Animals

Molecular cloning of the Harvey sarcoma virus closed circular DNA intermediates: initial structural and biological characterization.

Supercoiled Harvey sarcoma virus (Ha-SV) DNA was extracted from newly infected cells by the Hirt procedure, enriched by preparative agarose gel electrophoresis, and digested with EcoRI, which cleaved the viral DNA at a unique site. The linearized Ha-SV DNA was then inserted into lambda gtWESlambda B at the EcoRI site and cloned in an approved EK2 host. Ha-SV DNA inserts from six independently derived recombinant clones have been analyzed by restriction endonuclease digestion, molecular hybridization, electron microscopy, and infectivity. Four of the Ha-SV DNA inserts were identical, contained about 6.0 kilobase pairs (kbp), and comigrated in agarose gels with the infectious, unintegrated, linear Ha-SV DNA. One insert was approximately 0.65 kbp smaller (5.35 kbp) and one was approximately 0.65 kpb larger (6.65 kpb) than the 6.0 kpb inserts. R-looping with Ha-SV RNA revealed that the small (5.35 kbp) insert contained one copy of the Ha-SV RNA. Preliminary restriction endonuclease digestion of the recombinant DNAs suggested that the middle-size inserts contained a 0.65-kbp tandem duplication of sequences present only one in the small-size insert; this duplication corresponded to the 0.65-kpb terminal duplication of the unintegrated linear Ha-SV DNA. The large-size insert apparently contained a tandem triplication of these terminally located sequences. DNA of all three sized inserts induced foci in NIH 3T3 cells, and focus-forming activity could be rescued from the transformed cells by superinfection with helper virus. Infectivity followed single-hit kinetics, suggesting that the foci were induced by a single molecule.

Animals

Helper-independent mink cell focus-inducing strains of Friend murine type-C virus: potential relationship to the origin of replication-defective spleen focus-forming virus.

Recent studies have indicated that both the replication-defective spleen focus-forming virus (SFFV) in the Friend virus complex and the helper-independent mink cell focus-inducing (MCF) viruses derived from AKR-murine leukemia virus (MuLV) are env gene recombinants between ecotropic virus and xenotropic virus. In an attempt to isolate additional env gene recombinants between Friend murine leukemia virus (F-MuLV) and xenotropic virus, we have inoculated cloned ecotropic F-MuLV into newborn NIH Swiss mice and analyzed MuLV released from preleukemic and leukemic spleens of infected mice. Two helper-independent MCF strains of F-MuLV have been isolated. Like the previously described AKR-MCF viruses, the Friend MCF viruses are env gene recombinants between an ecotropic virus (F-MuLV) and a mouse xenotropic virus, as shown by host range, interference pattern, and tryptic peptide analysis of the gp70s of these MuLV. Furthermore, RNA from the Friend MCF viruses hybridizes completely to cDNAsffv, a nucleic acid probe which detects that portion of SFFV which was not derived from P-MuLV. The ability to isolate replicating MCF viruses derived from F-MuLV FURTHER strengthens the parallels between the Friend erythroleukemia system and the AKR thymic leukemia system. Finally, the potential relationship of helper-independent env gene recombinants between F-MuLV and xenotropic virus to be highly leukemogenic SFFV is discussed.

AKR murine leukemia virus

Expression of RNA of an endogenous replication-defective retrovirus in rat mammary adenocarcinomas induced by 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene.

An investigation into the possible relationship between chemical carcinogen induction of rat mammary tumors and the expression of an endogenous retroviral genome was initiated. Mammary tumors were induced in female SD rats with 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA). Tumors, identified histologically as mammary adenocarcinomas, were analyzed for RNA of a replication-defective endogenous retrovirus or RNA of a helper-independent endogenous type C virus. Expression of RNA of the replication-defective virus was detected in mammary tumors weighing 0.2--2.0 g. Larger tumors, for which histologic examination revealed proportionally more fibroblastic tissue than epithelial cells, did not contain comparable concentrations of this viral RNA. RNA homologous to a helper-independent rat type C retrovirus was not detected in tumors of any size. A cell line was established from a primary DMBA-induced mammary adenocarcinoma and appeared similar to the small mammary tumors with respect to endogenous type C viral RNA expression. We discuss possible implications of the expression of endogenous replication-defective viruses for use as markers for the effects of chemical carcinogens.

9,10-Dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene

Identification of a 30S RNA with properties of a defective type C virus in murine cells.

A novel species of 30S RNA has been detected in a variety of mouse cell lines. The 30S RNA is specifically packaged by helper-independent type C viruses propagated in such cells. Nucleic acid hybridization detects no homology between the 30SRNA and the genomic RNA of helper-independent mouse type C viruses. The properties of the 30S RNA suggest that it is a defective endogenous mouse type C virus and that it is analogous to a previously described class of defective endogenous rat type C virus, which has been shown previously to be the progenitor of Kirsten and Harvey murine sarcoma viruses.

Animals

Glucocorticoids induce focus formation and increase sarcoma viral expression in a mink cell line that contains a murine sarcoma viral genome.

Dexamethasone (3 X 10(-10) to 3 X 10(-6) M) induced foci of morphologically transformed cells in a small proportion of a mink cell line that contains the Moloney murine sarcoma viral genome (S+L-). The induction was glucocorticoid specific, since other steroids with glucocorticoid activity (prednisolone, cortisol, and aldosterone) induced foci with an efficiency that paralleled their glucocorticoid activity, and steroids lacking glucocorticoid activity (17B-estradiol, testosterone, and progesterone) failed to induce foci. Viral antigen, as measured by specific immunofluorescence, was localized to the foci. The induction of foci by dexamethasone (3 X 10(-7)) was accompanied by an approximately 10-fold increase in intracellular Moloney murine sarcoma virus-specific RNA and viral p30 antigen. Removal of dexamethasone was followed by the disappearance of foci and a decrease in viral RNA and p30. In this cell system, therefore, glucocorticoids can affect the intracellular levels of type C viral RNA and protein.

Animals

Physical map of the Kirsten sarcoma virus genome as determined by fingerprinting RNase T1-resistant oligonucleotides.

From analysis of the large RNase T1-resistant oligonucleotides of Kirsten sarcoma virus (Ki-SV), a physical map of the virus genome was deduced. Kirsten murine leukemia virus (Ki-MuLV) sequences were detected in T1 oligonucleotides closest to the 3' end of the viral RNA and extended approximately 1,000 nucleotides into the genome. The rat genetic sequences started at this point and extended all the way to the very 5' end of the RNA molecules, where a small stretch of Ki-MuLV sequence was detected. By comparison of the fingerprints of Ki-SV RNA and the RNA of the endogenous rat src genetic sequences, it was found that more than 50% of the T1 oligonucleotides were similar between Ki-SV and the endogenous rat src RNA, suggesting an identical primary nucleotide sequence in over 50% of the viral genomes. The results indicate that Ki-SV arose by recombination between the 5' and 3' ends of Ki-MuLV and a large portion of the homologous sequences of the endogenous rat src RNA.

Base Sequence