The use of aqueous two-phase systems to concentrate and purify bovine leukemia virus outer envelope protein gp51.

Enzootic bovine leucosis is a chronic lymphoproliferative disease of cattle. The causative agent, bovine leukemia virus (BLV), is related to the human retroviruses HTLV-I and -II. The external env-protein of BLV, a glycoprotein of 51 kDa, carries neutralizing epitopes and should be an essential component in a vaccine against the virus. Problems have been encountered with the concentration and purification of intact virions of BLV and other retroviruses. During centrifugation procedures the external env-proteins are to a great extent detached and consequently poorly recovered with the virion particles. Therefore, other methods are sought to obtain a high yield of the external glycoproteins. The use of two-phase systems based on water soluble polymers is described for the extraction of BLV-gp51 from culture medium. Several polymer systems were tested and the results showed that some were attractive for large scale application. The classical combination dextran-polyethylene glycol gave promising results; a partition coefficient of about 0.02 was obtained for the distribution of the gp51 between the top and combined inter- and bottom phases. In a single extraction step it was possible to obtain 45% of the glycoprotein in a small volume bottom phase and at the same time about 15-fold purified. That should be compared with a recovery of less than 20% with the conventional centrifugation procedures. It is concluded that extraction in phase systems based on water soluble polymers is a methodology well suited for the concentration and purification of BLV-gp51.

Structural components of bovine leukemia virus: further biochemical and immunological characterization of major structural proteins and glycoproteins.

Proteins from bovine leukemia virus (BLV) were investigated by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence and absence of 14C amino acids. Virus grown either in fetal lamb kidney (FLK) or bat lung (BL) cells revealed seven major proteins designated p10, p12, p15(1), p15(2), p24, gp30, and gp64. By tryptic peptide analysis, N-terminal amino acid analysis and radioimmunoassay it could be shown that p10, a basic protein with hydrophobic properties, is a cleavage product of p15(2), the acidic and slightly hydrophobic phosphoprotein of BLV. The structural protein p12 was shown to be a phosphorylated protein identifying it as a second major viral protein to contain phosphorous. Investigation of [3H]glucosamine incorporation, N-terminal amino acid analysis and hydrophobic properties by chloroform-methanol extraction confirmed properties of gp30 and gp64 predicted by nucleotide sequence data. The two p15 proteins have been characterized in more detail.

Establishment of B-cell lines from tumor of enzootic bovine leukosis.

Two lymphoid cell lines were established from enzootic bovine leukosis tumor cells. Suspension cell cultures of these cell lines have been maintained in vitro for over 2 yr. The cell grew as floating cells without attaching to the glass surface. These 2 cell lines have B-cell surface marker, tumor-associated antigen on the cell surface and bovine leukemia provirus in the genomes.

Bovine leukaemia virus and enzootic bovine leukosis.

Infection of bovines with bovine leukaemia virus (BLV) manifests itself in either of two ways: 30-70% of carriers develop persistent lymphocytosis (PL), with the viral genome integrated at a large number of different sites in the DNA of the affected B-lymphocytes, without causing any chromosomal abnormalities. Only 0,1-10% of carriers develop lymphoid tumours, which also consist of B-lymphocytes. In contrast to PL, however, they are of mono- or oligoclonal origin in terms of the integration site, which is characteristic for each tumour. All cells contain one or more copies of the viral genome, chromosomal aberrations are common and if deletions are present they are invariably found in the 5'-half of the virus DNA sequence. In both types of affected cells transcription is repressed in vivo, but transient virus production can be induced in vitro and detected by means of syncytia induction or haemagglutination. In vivo production of virus in some unknown cell is suggested by the presence of high antibody titres in infected animals, especially against the envelope glycoprotein gp51. This can be detected by various techniques such as immunodiffusion, radioimmune assay or ELISA. Monoclonal antibodies against gp51 have revealed 8 epitopes, 3 of which are recognized by neutralizing antibodies and one by a cytolytic antibody. The BLV genome, about 9 kb in size, have been cloned, and some of the information obtained on its molecular structure and function is discussed. It codes for at least 4 non-glycosylated and 2 glycoproteins. Of special interest is the recently discovered serological relationship between some of the non-glycosylated proteins and those of the human T-cell leukaemia virus. The functional role of BLV in leukaemogenesis is largely unknown. The presence of the viral genome seems to be necessary for the maintenance of the transformed state, but not its continuous expression nor an LTR-mediated promotion of transcription of cellular genes. No oncogene is carried by the virus. Although bovine leukosis is not of major economic importance, its eradication is desirable and feasible in countries with a relatively low incidence, by means of testing and elimination. For endemic situations vaccination would be preferable, and distinct possibilities exist for the development of gp51 based vaccines.

The diagnosis of enzootic bovine leukosis.

This paper reviews the clinical and virological diagnostic procedures for enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL). The clinical diagnosis must be always confirmed by a specific laboratory test for Bovine Leukaemia Virus (BLV). Many virological tests were proposed. The sensitivity of all the diagnostic methods is sufficient to do an early detection of a BLV infection on an individual base. Advantages of the highly sensitive methods like RIA and ELISA appear when the samples to be tested have naturally very low antibody titers (individual milk, bulk milk, pooled sera).

The envelope proteins of bovine leukemia virus: purification and sequence analysis.

Two proteins, termed gp60 and p30, have been purified to homogeneity from bovine leukemia virus (BLV) using controlled pore glass and reverse-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC). gp60 was shown to be a glycoprotein by identification of glucosamine on the amino acid analyzer. Antiserum prepared to gp60 recognized in addition to gp60 a 52,000-Da polypeptide in some virus preparations, but did not cross-react with p30. The amino and carboxyl termini of gp60 were found to be tryptophan and arginine, respectively, and a 38-residue amino-terminal sequence of gp60 (NH2TrpArgXSerLeuSerLeuGlyAsnGlnGlnTrpMetThrAlaTyrAsnGlnGluAlaLys PheSerIleSerIleAspGlnIleLeuGluAlaHisAsnGlnSerProPhe-) was obtained. A 12-residue amino-terminal sequence for p30 (NH2SerProValAlaAlaLeuThrLeuGlySerAlaLeu) was also obtained. The p30 sequence showed substantial homology to the transmembrane proteins of both types B and C retroviruses and also to a deduced sequence of the 3' region of the env gene of human T-cell leukemia virus. From these results and from elution behavior of these proteins on RPLC, it was concluded that gp60 and p30 are the BLV env gene-encoded surface glycoprotein and transmembrane protein, respectively.

Bovine leukemia virus (BLV)--a structural model based on chemical crosslinking studies.

Nearest neighbor relationships between lipid and protein as well as between high-molecular-weight viral RNA and protein were investigated in bovine leukemia virus (BLV) particles using chemical crosslinking reagents. Separation of dimethyl suberimidate (DMS) induced lipid-protein complexes by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed that the phosphoprotein pp 15 is linked to the lipid bilayer of the virus. By use of diepoxybutan (DEB) as crosslinking reagent p 12 and again pp 15 were found to be linked to the viral RNA. Based on these results and our previous data describing the spatial relationships of major structural proteins within BLV particles, a structural model of BLV is proposed.

Epitopes of bovine leukemia virus glycoprotein gp51 recognized by sera of infected cattle and sheep.

Sera of BLV-infected cattle and sheep are tested for their reactivity with different gp51 subregions by competition with radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies directed against 8 different gp51 epitopes. Sheep antisera are found to be very polyvalent, since they are able to displace the fixation of any of the mouse monoclonal antibodies to gp51. Bovine antisera do not display significant competition with monoclonal antibodies direct against 5 out of 8 gp51 epitopes. The bovine antibody response to gp51 is focused to a limited subregion of this molecule, bearing 3 epitopes (F, G and H) recognized by antibodies with virus-neutralizing activity. The differential reactivity of cattle and sheep antisera to BLV gp51 is discussed in relation to the pathology of BLV infection in these two species.

Structural and antigenic characterization of the proteins of human T-cell leukemia viruses and their relationships to the gene products of other retroviruses.

The primary structure analysis of the gag gene products of human T-cell leukemia virus (HTLV)-ICR has been nearly completed. A comparison of the amino acid sequences with the published nucleotide sequence of HTLV-IATK established that i) p19 which is known to share antigenic determinants with a protein present in normal thymic epithelium, is nevertheless virally coded. ii) The gene order and complete primary structure of the gag precursor (Pr55) which has been shown to be myristylated (My) at its N-terminus is My-p19-p24-p15-OH; and iii) the Pr55gag amino acid sequences of HTLV-ICR and HTLV-IATK are nearly identical showing only a single residue difference in the C-terminal region of p15. Antibodies to synthetic peptides inferred from the nucleotide sequence of the env gene of HTLV-IATK were also raised and used to identify and purify env precursor gPr62-68, surface glycoprotein gp46-51 and transmembrane protein p21. While most of the peptide sera were shown to be subgroup specific some of them detected antigenic determinants shared between protein homologs of viruses of subgroups I and II. Partial or complete amino acid sequences of both the gag and env gene coded proteins of bovine leukemia virus (BLV) structural proteins have also been determined. These extensive protein data together with nucleotide sequences confirm and extend our initial finding that HTLV and BLV are structurally and antigenically related and may have originated from common ancestor. The structural and immunological studies revealed also relationships between HTLV and a number of type C and type D retroviruses studied. One of the highly conserved sequences is shared by the transmembrane proteins of these retroviruses which have been implicated in immunosuppression. It is conceivable that these common regions have common biological function. Two previously unidentified proteins of BLV have also been purified and structurally characterized. Nucleotide sequences capable of coding for related products are present in HTLV. The nature and possible biological functions of these new BLV proteins and the putative HTLV gene products will be discussed. The size and complexity of the genome of the replication competent retroviruses are similar but not identical. The 35S RNA of all replication competent helper viruses is divided into three genes encoding the viral structural proteins: the gag (group-specific antigen) gene codes for the internal structural proteins, the pol (polymerase) gene codes for the enzymes protease, reverse transcriptase and endonuclease and the env (envelope) gene codes for the proteins of the viral envelope.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Complete amino acid sequence of the nucleic acid-binding protein of bovine leukemia virus.

The complete amino acid sequence of the nucleic acid-binding protein p12 of bovine leukemia virus (BLV) has been determined. Peptides were generated by enzymatic digestion and formic acid cleavage, purified by reversed-phase liquid chromatography and subjected to automated Edman degradation. BLV p12 is a proline-rich linear polypeptide composed of 69 amino acids with Mr 7558. A comparison of the p12 structure to that of the avian and murine type C retroviral nucleic acid-binding proteins shows significant homology only in the putative binding domain. This conserved region is duplicated BLV p12 as in the avian homolog.

Structural and antigenic analysis of the nucleic acid-binding proteins of bovine and feline leukemia viruses.

The nucleic acid-binding proteins of bovine leukemia virus (BLV) and feline leukemia virus (FeLV) were isolated in a high state of purity with chloroform-methanol extraction followed by reversed-phase liquid chromatography. Selective solubilization and purity of BLV p12 and FeLV p10 was confirmed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The compositions and molecular weights were determined by amino acid analysis. An abundance of lysine and arginine residues along with their size identifies both BLV p12 and FeLV p10 as small basic proteins similar to well-defined type C viral nucleoproteins. NH2-terminal degradation by the semiautomated Edman method provided the sequence of the first 40 amino acids for both proteins. The putative nucleic acid binding site found in several type C viral nucleoproteins was contained within this sequence, with the most homology centered around an eight-amino acid region involving seven identical residues and one substitution. Antisera were developed in rabbits, and specificity and titers were determined by electroblotting and immunoautoradiography. By this technique, an immunological cross-reaction was found between BLV p12 and FeLV p10. The shared antigenic determinant most likely exists in the highly conserved eight-amino acid region. Although this sequence is also highly conserved in the nucleic acid-binding proteins of murine leukemia viruses, the shared antigenic determinant is not found in these or any other type C viruses tested. It is suggested that substitution of arginine (BLV p12/FeLV p10) to lysine (murine leukemia virus p10) is sufficient to elicit a change in antibody specificity.

Detection, purification, and characterization of two species of covalently closed circular proviral DNA molecules of bovine leukemia virus.

Cocultivation of uninfected and bovine leukemia virus-producing bat cells yielded, in addition to the unintegrated linear DNA duplex, DNA molecules that migrated as 4.4- and 4.8-kilobase-pair DNA fragments in gel electrophoresis. These DNA molecules were purified by acid-phenol extraction and cleaved with restriction endonucleases EcoRI, and HindIII, which have one recognition site each on the bovine leukemia virus proviral DNA. Such cleavage generated DNA molecules of approximately 10.0 and 9.4 kilobase pairs, thus indicating the existence of two species of covalently closed circular molecules of bovine leukemia virus proviral DNA.

Primary structure analysis of the major internal protein p24 of human type C T-cell leukemia virus.

A human type C retrovirus [human T-cell leukemia (lymphoma) virus; HTLV], recently isolated from young adult patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma or leukemia, was not detectably related to other known animal retroviruses in molecular hybridization studies, by comparison of reverse transcriptase and the major core protein p24. The p24 core protein was purified to homogeneity. The amino acid composition, the COOH-terminal amino acid, and the NH(2)-terminal amino acid sequence of the first 25 residues of this major internal structural protein were determined. These results were then compared to the known structure of the internal core protein of other retroviruses. The compositional data reveal that HTLV p24 is chemically distinct from p30-p24 of other animal retroviruses, in agreement with the earlier immunological analyses. However, HTLV p24 shares the common NH(2)-terminal proline and COOH-terminal leucine of all mammalian type C viral p30s. In addition, like bovine leukemia virus (BLV), HTLV lacks the common prolylleucylarginine tripeptide and the larger conserved region found near the NH(2) terminus of the other mammalian type C viral p30s. Alignment of the amino acid sequence of HTLV p24 with previously determined sequences of other retrovirus proteins, including BLV p24, reveals statistically significant sequence homology only to BLV. The results reported here demonstrate that HTLV p24 is related to but chemically distinct from the major core protein of other retroviruses. Similarly, previous results showed that there was no immunological crossreactivity of the p24 protein and reverse transcriptase of HTLV with other retroviruses, including BLV, and no nucleic acid sequence homology. However, the present results, combined with the common size of the p24 and reverse transcriptase, suggest that HTLV may be closer to BLV than any other known retrovirus.

Viral RNA content of bovine leukemia virus-infected cells.

A bovine leukemia virus (BLV)-producing cell line, fetal lamb kidney cells infected with BLV (FLK) contains one or a few copies of BLV proviral DNA in its genome. These cells contain 0.002% of viral RNA which sediments, in a sucrose gradient, at about 35S and between 18S and 28S. In cattle affected by enzootic bovine leukosis, tumor cells and circulating lymphocytes also contain one or a few copies of BLV proviral DNA integrated in their genome. However, in all cases tested (except one), no viral RNA was detected in these cells in conditions where one or two copies of viral genomic RNA per cell would have been easily detected.

Detection of a precursor-like protein of bovine leukaemia virus structural polypeptides in purified virions.

Gel filtration chromatography of disrupted bovine leukaemia virus (BLV) resulted in the isolation of the 25000 mol. wt. major internal protein (p25), two previously uncharacterized proteins of mol. wt 65000 (p65) and 12000 (p12), and a mixture of p12 and a protein of mol. wt. 15000 (p15). The p65 protein does not bind to concanavalin A and its antigenicity is ether resistant. Therefore, this polypeptide is different from the previously described glycoprotein associated with BLV. Radioimmunoprecipitation and competitive radioimmunoassays indicated that the p65 protein shares antigenic determinants with the p25, p15 and p12 proteins, respectively. Furthermore, tryptic peptide mapping demonstrated that p65 contains p25, p15, p12 and a BLV protein of mol. wt. 10000 (p10). These results are consistent with the view that p65 is the precursor of gag gene-derived core proteins of BLV.

Glycoprotein and protein composition of bovine leukemia virus (BLV).

Highly purified preparation of bovine leukemia virus (BLV) was obtained by the method described in this communication. BLV was isolated from cell-free culture medium, harvested from BLV-producing cell-line FLK. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of BLV proteins and glycoproteins, in comparison with avian myeloblastosis virus (AMV), confirmed high purity of BLV preparations. Molecular weights of some BLV-proteins and glycoproteins were calculated. By employing polyacrylamide gradient 5 to 30% it was found that BLV structural protein p15 contains at least two components.

Comparison of radioimmunoassay for internal protein of bovine leukemia virus with neutralization test employing VSV-BLV pseudotype.

Two methods for the detection of antibodies to the bovine leukemia virus (BLV) in infected animals were compared for their suitability for the early diagnosis of bovine leukemia - pseudotype neutralization test (PNT) employing vesicular stomatitis virus - bovine leukemia virus pseudotypes (VSV-BLV), and radioimmunoassay test (RIA) for major internal viral protein p24 of the BLV. The comparison was made using more than 300 sera from cows of the herds with high incidence of bovine leukemia. In infected animals the presence of antibodies against virus envelope glycoprotein detected by PNT and antibodies against major structural viral protein p24 detected by RIA were found always coincidentally. Both methods were found highly comparable and suitable for early detection of bovine leukemia virus infected animals.

Radioimmunoassay for major internal structural protein (p21) of the bovine leukemia virus; antibodies detection and viruses identification.

The major internal protein of bovine leukemia virus (BLV p24) was isolated using ion exchange chromatography on phosphocellulose and gel filtration. The specificity of the BLV p24 isolated was checked by both the radioimmunoprecipitation (RIP) and the competitive radioimmunoassay (RIA). No cross reactivity between BLV p25 and the mammalian viruses of type C and D and the retrovirus isolated from human myeloma cells RPMI8226 [8, 17] was detected. The analysis of 429 leukemia-suspected bovine blood sera resulted in the detection of 165 (38.5%) positive and 264 (61.5%) negative blood sera. A correlation of the results of radioimmunoprecipitation reaction of major internal protein p24 and immunodiffusion test on the glycoprotein antigen of BLV was observed.