Summary.
Ecotropic infection by Murine leukemia virus (MuLV) infection is initiated by the interaction between the receptor-binding domain of the viral surface glycoprotein (SU) and the cell-surface receptor, mCAT-1. To study the in vivo localization of viral binding site in mice, green fluorescence protein (GFP)-tagged Friend SU (F-SU/GFP) was incubated with tissue sections. Lymphohematopoietic organs and a part of the glandular tissues of C3H as well as C57BL/6 mice revealed positive signals for F-SU/GFP binding on the cell surface. In contrast, C4W mice, which is a partial congenic mouse strain carrying the Fv-4 r gene on a BALB/c genetic background, exhibited negative signals in most of the organs except for a very weak binding in the pancreas. The expression of mCAT-1 mRNA determined by reverse transcriptase (RT)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) revealed a similar distribution in C3H, C57BL/6 and C4W mice. Most of the organs including lymphohematopoietic organs and glandular organs revealed significant expression of mRNA for mCAT-1 gene, while the liver, heart and muscle did not. The results from binding assay were consistent with the fact that Friend MuLV-induced pathogenesis was usually associated with lymphohematopoietic systems, although mRNA expression for mCAT-1 was rather ubiquitous. The discrepancy between F-SU/GFP binding and mRNA expression for mCAT-1 in lymphohematopoietic organs of C4W mice would support the receptor interference effect by the Fv-4 r gene causing the resistance of C4W mouse to Friend MuLV infection.
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Received October 31, 2002; accepted January 31, 2003 Published online April 9, 2003
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Yamaguchi, S., Hasegawa, M., Suzuki, T. et al. In vivo distribution of receptor for ecotropic murine leukemia virus and binding of envelope protein of Friend Murine leukemia virus . Arch Virol 148, 1175–1184 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-003-0017-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-003-0017-9