Newcastle disease virus HN protein alters the conformation of the F protein at cell surfaces

Conformational changes in the Newcastle disease virus (NDV) fusion (F) protein during activation of fusion and the role of HN protein in these changes were characterized with a polyclonal antibody. This antibody was raised against a peptide with the sequence of the amino-terminal half of the F protein HR1 domain. This antibody immunoprecipitated both F(0) and F(1) forms of the fusion protein from infected and transfected cell extracts solubilized with detergent, and precipitation was unaffected by expression of the HN protein. In marked contrast, this antibody detected significant conformational differences in the F protein at cell surfaces, differences that depended upon HN protein expression. The antibody minimally detected the F protein, either cleaved or uncleaved, in the absence of HN protein expression. However, when coexpressed with HN protein, an uncleaved mutant F protein bound the anti-HR1 antibody, and this binding depended upon the coexpression of specifically the NDV HN protein. When the cleaved wild-type F protein was coexpressed with HN protein, the F protein bound anti-HR1 antibody poorly although significantly more than F protein expressed alone. Anti-HR1 antibody inhibited the fusion of R18 (octadecyl rhodamine B chloride)-labeled red blood cells to syncytia expressing HN and wild-type F proteins. This inhibition showed that fusion-competent F proteins present on surfaces of syncytia were capable of binding anti-HR1. Furthermore, only antibody which was added prior to red blood cell binding could inhibit fusion. These results suggest that the conformation of uncleaved cell surface F protein is affected by HN protein expression. Furthermore, the cleaved F protein, when coexpressed with HN protein and in a prefusion conformation, can bind anti-HR1 antibody, and the anti-HR1-accessible conformation exists prior to HN protein attachment to receptors on red blood cells.     

A single amino acid change in the Newcastle disease virus fusion protein alters the requirement for HN protein in fusion

The role of a leucine heptad repeat motif between amino acids 268 and 289 in the structure and function of the Newcastle disease virus (NDV) F protein was explored by introducing single point mutations into the F gene cDNA. The mutations affected either folding of the protein or the fusion activity of the protein. Two mutations, L275A and L282A, likely interfered with folding of the molecule since these proteins were not proteolytically cleaved, were minimally expressed at the cell surface, and formed aggregates. L268A mutant protein was cleaved and expressed at the cell surface although the protein migrated slightly slower than wild type on polyacrylamide gels, suggesting an alteration in conformation or processing. L268A protein was fusion inactive in the presence or absence of HN protein expression. Mutant L289A protein was expressed at the cell surface and proteolytically cleaved at better than wild-type levels. Most importantly, this protein mediated syncytium formation in the absence of HN protein expression although HN protein enhanced fusion activity. These results show that a single amino acid change in the F(1) portion of the NDV F protein can alter the stringent requirement for HN protein expression in syncytium formation.     

Individual N-Glycans Added at Intervals along the Stalk of the Nipah Virus G Protein Prevent Fusion but Do Not Block the Interaction with the Homologous F Protein

The promotion of membrane fusion by most paramyxoviruses requires an interaction between the viral attachment and fusion (F) proteins to enable receptor binding by the former to trigger the activation of the latter for fusion. Numerous studies demonstrate that the F-interactive sites on the Newcastle disease virus (NDV) hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) and measles virus (MV) hemagglutinin (H) proteins reside entirely within the stalk regions of those proteins. Indeed, stalk residues of NDV HN and MV H that likely mediate the F interaction have been identified. However, despite extensive efforts, the F-interactive site(s) on the Nipah virus (NiV) G attachment glycoprotein has not been identified. In this study, we have introduced individual N-linked glycosylation sites at several positions spaced at intervals along the stalk of the NiV G protein. Five of the seven introduced sites are utilized as established by a retardation of electrophoretic mobility. Despite surface expression, ephrinB2 binding, and oligomerization comparable to those of the wild-type protein, four of the five added N-glycans completely eliminate the ability of the G protein to complement the homologous F protein in the promotion of fusion. The most membrane-proximal added N-glycan reduces fusion by 80%. However, unlike similar NDV HN and MV H mutants, the NiV G glycosylation stalk mutants retain the ability to bind F, indicating that the fusion deficiency of these mutants is not due to prevention of the G-F interaction. These findings suggest that the G-F interaction is not mediated entirely by the stalk domain of G and may be more complex than that of HN/H-F.     

Conserved glycine residues in the fusion peptide of the paramyxovirus fusion protein regulate activation of the native state

Hydrophobic fusion peptides (FPs) are the most highly conserved regions of class I viral fusion-mediating glycoproteins (vFGPs). FPs often contain conserved glycine residues thought to be critical for forming structures that destabilize target membranes. Unexpectedly, a mutation of glycine residues in the FP of the fusion (F) protein from the paramyxovirus simian parainfluenza virus 5 (SV5) resulted in mutant F proteins with hyperactive fusion phenotypes (C. M. Horvath and R. A. Lamb, J. Virol. 66:2443-2455, 1992). Here, we constructed G3A and G7A mutations into the F proteins of SV5 (W3A and WR isolates), Newcastle disease virus (NDV), and human parainfluenza virus type 3 (HPIV3). All of the mutant F proteins, except NDV G7A, caused increased cell-cell fusion despite having slight to moderate reductions in cell surface expression compared to those of wild-type F proteins. The G3A and G7A mutations cause SV5 WR F, but not NDV F or HPIV3 F, to be triggered to cause fusion in the absence of coexpression of its homotypic receptor-binding protein hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN), suggesting that NDV and HPIV3 F have stricter requirements for homotypic HN for fusion activation. Dye transfer assays show that the G3A and G7A mutations decrease the energy required to activate F at a step in the fusion cascade preceding prehairpin intermediate formation and hemifusion. Conserved glycine residues in the FP of paramyxovirus F appear to have a primary role in regulating the activation of the metastable native form of F. Glycine residues in the FPs of other class I vFGPs may also regulate fusion activation.     

Measles Virus Fusion Machinery Activated by Sialic Acid Binding Globular Domain

Paramyxoviruses, including the human pathogen measles virus (MV) and the avian Newcastle disease virus (NDV), enter host cells through fusion of the viral envelope with the target cell membrane. This fusion is driven by the concerted action of two viral envelope glycoproteins: the receptor binding protein and the fusion protein (F). The MV receptor binding protein (hemagglutinin [H]) attaches to proteinaceous receptors on host cells, while the receptor binding protein of NDV (hemagglutinin-neuraminidase [HN]) interacts with sialic acid-containing receptors. The receptor-bound HN/H triggers F to undergo conformational changes that render it competent to mediate fusion of the viral and cellular membranes. The mechanism of fusion activation has been proposed to be different for sialic acid-binding viruses and proteinaceous receptor-binding viruses. We report that a chimeric protein containing the NDV HN receptor binding region and the MV H stalk domain can activate MV F to fuse, suggesting that the signal to the stalk of a protein-binding receptor binding molecule can be transmitted from a sialic acid binding domain. By engineering the NDV HN globular domain to interact with a proteinaceous receptor, the fusion activation signal was preserved. Our findings are consistent with a unified mechanism of fusion activation, at least for the Paramyxovirinae subfamily, in which the receptor binding domains of the receptor binding proteins are interchangeable and the stalk determines the specificity of F activation.     

Mutations in the stalk of the measles virus hemagglutinin protein decrease fusion but do not interfere with virus-specific interaction with the homologous fusion protein

The hemagglutinin (H) protein of measles virus (MV) mediates attachment to cellular receptors. The ectodomain of the H spike is thought to consist of a membrane-proximal stalk and terminal globular head, in which resides the receptor-binding activity. Like other paramyxovirus attachment proteins, MV H also plays a role in fusion promotion, which is mediated through an interaction with the viral fusion (F) protein. The stalk of the hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) protein of several paramyxoviruses determines specificity for the homologous F protein. In addition, mutations in a conserved domain in the Newcastle disease virus (NDV) HN stalk result in a sharp decrease in fusion and an impaired ability to interact with NDV F in a cell surface coimmunoprecipitation (co-IP) assay. The region of MV H that determines specificity for the F protein has not been identified. Here, we have adapted the co-IP assay to detect the MV H-F complex at the surface of transfected HeLa cells. We have also identified mutations in a domain in the MV H stalk, similar to the one in the NDV HN stalk, that also drastically reduce fusion yet do not block complex formation with MV F. These results indicate that this domain in the MV H stalk is required for fusion but suggest either that mutation of it indirectly affects the H-dependent activation of F or that the MV H-F interaction is mediated by more than one domain in H. This points to an apparent difference in the way the MV and NDV glycoproteins interact to regulate fusion.     

Identification of domains on the fusion (F) protein trimer that influence the hemagglutinin-neuraminidase specificity of the f protein in mediating cell-cell fusion

For most paramyxoviruses, virus type-specific interaction between fusion (F) protein and attachment protein (hemagglutinin-neuraminidase [HN], hemagglutinin [H], or glycoprotein [G]) is a prerequisite for mediating virus-cell fusion and cell-cell fusion. Our previous cell-cell fusion assay using the chimeric F proteins of human parainfluenza virus 2 (HPIV2) and simian virus 41 (SV41) suggested that the middle region of the HPIV2 F protein contains the site(s) that determines its specificity for the HPIV2 HN protein. In the present study, we further investigated the sites of the F protein that could be critical for determining the HN protein specificity. By analyzing the reported structure of the F protein of parainfluenza virus 5 (PIV5), we found that four major domains (M1, M2, M3, and M4) and five minor domains (A to E) in the middle region of the PIV5 F protein were exposed on the trimer surface. We then replaced these domains with the SV41 F counterparts individually or in combination and examined whether the resulting chimeras could mediate cell-cell fusion when coexpressed with the SV41 HN protein. The results showed that a chimera designated M(1+2), which harbored SV41 F-derived domains M1 and M2, mediated cell-cell fusion with the coexpressed SV41 HN protein, suggesting that these domains are involved in determining the HN protein specificity. Intriguingly, another chimera which harbored the SV41 F-derived domain B in addition to domains M1 and M2 showed increased specificity for the SV41 HN protein compared to that of M(1+2), although it was capable of mediating cell-cell fusion by itself.     

Triggering of the newcastle disease virus fusion protein by a chimeric attachment protein that binds to Nipah virus receptors

The fusion (F) proteins of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) and Nipah virus (NiV) are both triggered by binding to receptors, mediated in both viruses by a second protein, the attachment protein. However, the hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) attachment protein of NDV recognizes sialic acid receptors, whereas the NiV G attachment protein recognizes ephrinB2/B3 as receptors. Chimeric proteins composed of domains from the two attachment proteins have been evaluated for fusion-promoting activity with each F protein. Chimeras having NiV G-derived globular domains and NDV HN-derived stalks, transmembranes, and cytoplasmic tails are efficiently expressed, bind ephrinB2, and trigger NDV F to promote fusion in Vero cells. Thus, the NDV F protein can be triggered by binding to the NiV receptor, indicating that an aspect of the triggering cascade induced by the binding of HN to sialic acid is conserved in the binding of NiV G to ephrinB2. However, the fusion cascade for triggering NiV F by the G protein and that of triggering NDV F by the chimeras can be distinguished by differential exposure of a receptor-induced conformational epitope. The enhanced exposure of this epitope marks the triggering of NiV F by NiV G but not the triggering of NDV F by the chimeras. Thus, the triggering cascade for NiV G-F fusion may be more complex than that of NDV HN and F. This is consistent with the finding that reciprocal chimeras having NDV HN-derived heads and NiV G-derived stalks, transmembranes, and tails do not trigger either F protein for fusion, despite efficient cell surface expression and receptor binding.     

Structure and function of a paramyxovirus fusion protein

Paramyxoviruses initiate infection by attaching to cell surface receptors and fusing viral and cell membranes. Viral attachment proteins, hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN), hemagglutinin (HA), or glycoprotein (G), bind receptors while fusion (F) proteins direct membrane fusion. Because paramyxovirus fusion is pH independent, virus entry occurs at host cell plasma membranes. Paramyxovirus fusion also usually requires co-expression of both the attachment protein and the fusion (F) protein. Newcastle disease virus (NDV) has assumed increased importance as a prototype paramyxovirus because crystal structures of both the NDV F protein and the attachment protein (HN) have been determined. Furthermore, analysis of structure and function of both viral glycoproteins by mutation, reactivity of antibody, and peptides have defined domains of the NDV F protein important for virus fusion. These domains include the fusion peptide, the cytoplasmic domain, as well as heptad repeat (HR) domains. Peptides with sequences from HR domains inhibit fusion, and characterization of the mechanism of this inhibition provides evidence for conformational changes in the F protein upon activation of fusion. Both proteolytic cleavage of the F protein and interactions with the attachment protein are required for fusion activation in most systems. Subsequent steps in membrane merger directed by F protein are poorly understood.     

Structure and function of a paramyxovirus fusion protein

Paramyxoviruses initiate infection by attaching to cell surface receptors and fusing viral and cell membranes. Viral attachment proteins, hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN), hemagglutinin (HA), or glycoprotein (G), bind receptors while fusion (F) proteins direct membrane fusion. Because paramyxovirus fusion is pH independent, virus entry occurs at host cell plasma membranes. Paramyxovirus fusion also usually requires co-expression of both the attachment protein and the fusion (F) protein. Newcastle disease virus (NDV) has assumed increased importance as a prototype paramyxovirus because crystal structures of both the NDV F protein and the attachment protein (HN) have been determined. Furthermore, analysis of structure and function of both viral glycoproteins by mutation, reactivity of antibody, and peptides have defined domains of the NDV F protein important for virus fusion. These domains include the fusion peptide, the cytoplasmic domain, as well as heptad repeat (HR) domains. Peptides with sequences from HR domains inhibit fusion, and characterization of the mechanism of this inhibition provides evidence for conformational changes in the F protein upon activation of fusion. Both proteolytic cleavage of the F protein and interactions with the attachment protein are required for fusion activation in most systems. Subsequent steps in membrane merger directed by F protein are poorly understood.     

Effect of Cleavage Mutants on Syncytium Formation Directed by the Wild-Type Fusion Protein of Newcastle Disease Virus

The effects of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) fusion (F) glycoprotein cleavage mutants on the cleavage and syncytium-forming activity of the wild-type F protein were examined. F protein cleavage mutants were made by altering amino acids in the furin recognition region (amino acids 112 to 116) in the F protein of a virulent strain of NDV. Four mutants were made: Q114P replaced the glutamine residue with proline; K115G replaced lysine with glycine; double mutant K115G, R113G replaced both a lysine and an arginine with glycine residues; and a triple mutant, R112G, K115G, F117L, replaced three amino acids to mimic the sequence found in avirulent strains of NDV. All mutants except Q114P were cleavage negative and fusion negative. However, addition of exogenous trypsin cleaved all mutant F proteins and activated fusion. As expected for an oligomeric protein, the fusion-negative mutants had a dominant negative phenotype: cotransfection of wild-type and mutant F protein cDNAs resulted in an inhibition of syncytium formation. The presence of the mutant F protein did not inhibit cleavage of the wild-type protein. Furthermore, evidence is presented that suggests that the mutant protein and the wild-type protein formed heterooligomers. By measuring the syncytium-forming activity of the wild-type protein at various ratios of expression of mutant and wild-type protein, results were obtained that are most consistent with the notion that the size of the functionally active NDV F protein in these assays is a single oligomer, likely a trimer. That a larger oligomer, containing a mix of both wild-type and mutant F proteins, has partial activity cannot, however, be ruled out.     

Structure of the Ulster Strain Newcastle Disease Virus Hemagglutinin-Neuraminidase Reveals Auto-Inhibitory Interactions Associated with Low Virulence

Paramyxovirus hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) plays roles in viral entry and maturation, including binding to sialic acid receptors, activation of the F protein to drive membrane fusion, and enabling virion release during virus budding. HN can thereby directly influence virulence and in a subset of avirulent Newcastle disease virus (NDV) strains, such as NDV Ulster, HN must be proteolytically activated to remove a C-terminal extension not found in other NDV HN proteins. Ulster HN is 616 amino acids long and the 45 amino acid C-terminal extension present in its precursor (HN₀) form has to be cleaved to render HN biologically active. Here we show that Ulster HN contains an inter-subunit disulfide bond within the C-terminal extension at residue 596, which regulates HN activities and neuraminidase (NA) domain dimerization. We determined the crystal structure of the dimerized NA domain containing the C-terminal extension, which extends along the outside of the sialidase β-propeller domain and inserts C-terminal residues into the NA domain active site. The C-terminal extension also engages a secondary sialic acid binding site present in NDV HN proteins, which is located at the NA domain dimer interface, that most likely blocks its attachment function. These results clarify how the Ulster HN C-terminal residues lead to an auto-inhibited state of HN, the requirement for proteolytic activation of HN₀ and associated reduced virulence.     

Identification of a Region in the Stalk Domain of the Nipah Virus Receptor Binding Protein That Is Critical for Fusion Activation

Paramyxoviruses, including the emerging lethal human Nipah virus (NiV) and the avian Newcastle disease virus (NDV), enter host cells through fusion of the viral and target cell membranes. For paramyxoviruses, membrane fusion is the result of the concerted action of two viral envelope glycoproteins: a receptor binding protein and a fusion protein (F). The NiV receptor binding protein (G) attaches to ephrin B2 or B3 on host cells, whereas the corresponding hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) attachment protein of NDV interacts with sialic acid moieties on target cells through two regions of its globular domain. Receptor-bound G or HN via its stalk domain triggers F to undergo the conformational changes that render it competent to mediate fusion of the viral and cellular membranes. We show that chimeric proteins containing the NDV HN receptor binding regions and the NiV G stalk domain require a specific sequence at the connection between the head and the stalk to activate NiV F for fusion. Our findings are consistent with a general mechanism of paramyxovirus fusion activation in which the stalk domain of the receptor binding protein is responsible for F activation and a specific connecting region between the receptor binding globular head and the fusion-activating stalk domain is required for transmitting the fusion signal.     

Quantitative measurement of paramyxovirus fusion: differences in requirements of glycoproteins between simian virus 5 and human parainfluenza virus 3 or Newcastle disease virus.

To compare the requirements for paramyxovirus-mediated cell fusion, the fusion (F) and hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) glycoproteins of simian virus 5 (SV5), human parainfluenza virus 3 (HPIV-3), and Newcastle disease virus (NDV) were expressed individually or coexpressed in either homologous or heterologous combinations in CV-1 or HeLa-T4 cells, using the vaccinia virus-T7 polymerase transient expression system. The contribution of individual glycoproteins in virus-induced membrane fusion was examined by using a quantitative assay for lipid mixing based on the relief of self-quenching (dequenching) of fluorescence of the lipid probe octadecyl rhodamine (R18) and a quantitative assay for content mixing based on the cytoplasmic activation of a reporter gene, beta-galactosidase. In these assays, expression of the individual F glycoproteins did not induce significant levels of cell fusion and no cell fusion was observed in experiments when cells individually expressing homologous F or HN proteins were mixed. However, coexpression of homologous F and HN glycoproteins resulted in extensive cell fusion. The kinetics of fusion were found to be very similar for all three paramyxoviruses studied. With NDV and HPIV-3, no cell fusion was detected when F proteins were coexpressed with heterologous HN proteins or influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA). In contrast, SV5 F protein exhibited a considerable degree of fusion activity when coexpressed with either NDV or HPIV-3 HN or with influenza virus HA, although the kinetics of fusion were two- to threefold higher when the homologous SV5 F and HN proteins were coexpressed. Thus, these data indicate that among the paramyxoviruses tested, SV5 has different requirements for cell fusion.     

Full Conversion of the Hemagglutinin-Neuraminidase Specificity of the Parainfluenza Virus 5 Fusion Protein by Replacement of 21 Amino Acids in Its Head Region with Those of the Simian Virus 41 Fusion Protein

For most parainfluenza viruses, a virus type-specific interaction between the hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) and fusion (F) proteins is a prerequisite for mediating virus-cell fusion and cell-cell fusion. The molecular basis of this functional interaction is still obscure partly because it is unknown which region of the F protein is responsible for the physical interaction with the HN protein. Our previous cell-cell fusion assay using the chimeric F proteins of parainfluenza virus 5 (PIV5) and simian virus 41 (SV41) indicated that replacement of two domains in the head region of the PIV5 F protein with the SV41 F counterparts bestowed on the PIV5 F protein the ability to induce cell-cell fusion on coexpression with the SV41 HN protein while retaining its ability to induce fusion with the PIV5 HN protein. In the study presented here, we furthered the chimeric analysis of the F proteins of PIV5 and SV41, finding that the PIV5 F protein could be converted to an SV41 HN-specific chimeric F protein by replacing five domains in the head region with the SV41 F counterparts. The five SV41 F-protein-derived domains of this chimera were then divided into 16 segments; 9 out of 16 proved to be not involved in determining its specificity for the SV41 HN protein. Finally, mutational analyses of a chimeric F protein, which harbored seven SV41 F-protein-derived segments, revealed that replacement of at most 21 amino acids of the PIV5 F protein with the SV41 F-protein counterparts was enough to convert its HN protein specificity.     

Interacting domains of the HN and F proteins of newcastle disease virus

The activation of most paramyxovirus fusion proteins (F proteins) requires not only cleavage of F(0) to F(1) and F(2) but also coexpression of the homologous attachment protein, hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) or hemagglutinin (H). The type specificity requirement for HN or H protein coexpression strongly suggests that an interaction between HN and F proteins is required for fusion, and studies of chimeric HN proteins have implicated the membrane-proximal ectodomain in this interaction. Using biotin-labeled peptides with sequences of the Newcastle disease virus (NDV) F protein heptad repeat 2 (HR2) domain, we detected a specific interaction with amino acids 124 to 152 from the NDV HN protein. Biotin-labeled HR2 peptides bound to glutathione S-transferase (GST) fusion proteins containing these HN protein sequences but not to GST or to GST containing HN protein sequences corresponding to amino acids 49 to 118. To verify the functional significance of the interaction, two point mutations in the HN protein gene, I133L and L140A, were made individually by site-specific mutagenesis to produce two mutant proteins. These mutations inhibited the fusion promotion activities of the proteins without significantly affecting their surface expression, attachment activities, or neuraminidase activities. Furthermore, these changes in the sequence of amino acids 124 to 152 in the GST-HN fusion protein that bound HR2 peptides affected the binding of the peptides. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that HN protein binds to the F protein HR2 domain, an interaction important for the fusion promotion activity of the HN protein.     

Mutational analysis of heptad repeats in the membrane-proximal region of Newcastle disease virus HN protein

For most paramyxoviruses, syncytium formation requires the expression of both surface glycoproteins (HN and F) in the same cell, and evidence suggests that fusion involves a specific interaction between the HN and F proteins (X. Hu et al., J. Virol. 66:1528-1534, 1992). The stalk region of the Newcastle disease virus (NDV) HN protein has been implicated in both fusion promotion and virus specificity of that activity. The NDV F protein contains two heptad repeat motifs which have been shown by site-directed mutagenesis to be critical for fusion (R. Buckland et al., J. Gen. Virol. 73:1703-1707, 1992; T. Sergel-Germano et al., J. Virol. 68:7654-7658, 1994; J. Reitter et al., J. Virol. 69:5995-6004, 1995). Heptad repeat motifs mediate protein-protein interactions by enabling the formation of coiled coils. Upon analysis of the stalk region of the NDV HN protein, we identified two heptad repeats. Secondary structure analysis of these repeats suggested the potential for these regions to form alpha helices. To investigate the importance of this sequence motif for fusion promotion, we mutated the hydrophobic a-position amino acids of each heptad repeat to alanine or methionine. In addition, hydrophobic amino acids in other positions were also changed to alanine. Every mutant protein retained levels of attachment activity that was greater than or equal to the wild-type protein activity and bound to conformation-specific monoclonal as well as polyclonal antisera. Neuraminidase activity was variably affected. Every mutation, however, showed a dramatic decrease in fusion promotion activity. The phenotypes of these mutant proteins indicate that individual amino acids within the heptad repeat region of the stalk domain of the HN protein are important for the fusion promotion activity of the protein. These data are consistent with the idea that the HN protein associates with the F protein via specific interactions between the heptad repeat regions of both proteins.     

Rab 7: an important regulator of late endocytic membrane traffic

Rab5 and rab7 proteins belong to a superfamily of small molecular weight GTPases known to be associated with early and late endosomes, respectively. The rab5 protein plays an important regulatory role in early endocytosis, yet the function of rab7 protein was previously uncharacterized. This question was addressed by comparing the kinetics of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) G protein internalization in baby hamster kidney cells overexpressing wild-type or dominant negative mutant forms of the rab7 protein (rab7N125I and rab7T22N). Overexpression of wild-type rab7 protein allowed normal transport to late endosomes (mannose 6-phosphate receptor positive), while the rab7N125I mutant caused the VSV G protein to accumulate specifically in early (transferrin receptor positive) endosomes. Horseradish peroxidase and paramyxovirus SV5 hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) were used in quantitative biochemical assays to further demonstrate that rab7 function was not required for early internalization events, but was crucial in downstream degradative events. The characteristic cleavage of SV5 HN in the late endosome distinguishes internalization from transport to later stages of the endocytic pathway. Mutant rab7N125I or rab7T22N proteins had no effect on the internalization of either horseradish peroxidase or SV5 HN protein. In contrast, the mutant proteins markedly inhibited the subsequent cleavage of the SV5 HN protein. Taken together, these data support a key role for rab7, downstream of rab5, in regulating membrane transport leading from early to late endosomes. We compare our findings to those obtained for the yeast homologues Ypt51p, Ypt52p, Ypt53p, and Ypt7p.     

Mutations in the putative HR-C region of the measles virus F2 glycoprotein modulate syncytium formation

The fusion (F) glycoproteins of measles virus strains Edmonston (MV-Edm) and wtF (MV-wtF) confer distinct cytopathic effects and strengths of hemagglutinin (H) interaction on a recombinant MV-Edm virus. They differ in just two amino acids, V94 and V101 in F-Edm versus M94 and F101 in F-wtF, both of which lie in the relatively uncharacterized F(2) domain. By comparing the sequence of MV F with those of the parainfluenza virus SV5 and Newcastle disease virus (NDV) F proteins, the structures of which are known, we show that MV F(2) also possesses a potential heptad repeat (HR) C domain. In NDV, the N-terminal half of HR-C interacts with HR-A in F(1) while the C-terminal half is induced to kink outward by a central proline residue. We found that this proline is part of an LXP motif conserved in all three viruses. Folding and transport of MV F require this motif to be intact and also require covalent interaction of cysteine residues that probably support the potential HR-A-HR-C interaction. Amino acids 94 and 101, both located in "d" positions of the HR-C helical wheel, lie in the potentially outwardly kinked region. We demonstrate that their effect on MV fusogenicity and glycoprotein interaction is mediated solely by amino acid 94. Substitutions at position 94 with polar or charged amino acids are tolerated poorly or not at all, while changes to smaller and more hydrophilic amino acids are tolerated in both transiently expressed F protein and recombinant virus. MV F V94A and MV F V94G viruses induce extensive syncytium formation and are relatively, or almost completely, resistant to a known inhibitor of MV glycoprotein-induced fusion. We propose that the conformational changes in MV F protein required to expose the fusion peptide involve the C-terminal half of the HR-C helix, specifically amino acid 94.     

A fusion-defective mutant of the vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein.

We have recently described an assay in which a temperature-sensitive mutant of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV; mutant tsO45), encoding a glycoprotein that is not transported to the cell surface, can be rescued by expression of wild-type VSV glycoproteins from cDNA (M. Whitt, L. Chong, and J. Rose, J. Virol. 63:3569-3578, 1989). Here we examined the ability of mutant G proteins to rescue tsO45. We found that one mutant protein (QN-1) having an additional N-linked oligosaccharide at amino acid 117 in the extracellular domain was incorporated into VSV virions but that the virions containing this glycoprotein were not infectious. Further analysis showed that virus particles containing the mutant protein would bind to cells and were endocytosed with kinetics identical to those of virions rescued with wild-type G protein. We also found that QN-1 lacked the normal membrane fusion activity characteristic of wild-type G protein. The absence of fusion activity appears to explain lack of particle infectivity. The proximity of the new glycosylation site to a sequence of 19 uncharged amino acids (residues 118 to 136) that is conserved in the glycoproteins of the two VSV serotypes suggests that this region may be involved in membrane fusion. The mutant glycoprotein also interferes strongly with rescue of virus by wild-type G protein. The strong interference may result from formation of heterotrimers that lack fusion activity.