Ebola Virus: Identification of Virion Structural Proteins Free

Abstract

SUMMARY

Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of purified Ebola virus revealed the presence of four major virion structural proteins which we have designated VP1, VP2, VP3 and VP4. Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) proteins were used as mol. wt. markers, and the virion proteins were found to have mol. wt. of 125000 (VP1), 104000 (VP2), 40000 (VP3) and 26000 (VP4). VP1 was labelled with glucosamine and is probably a glycoprotein. The density of the Ebola virion was approx. 1.14 g/ml in potassium tartrate. Virus nucleocapsids with a density of 1.32 g/ml in caesium chloride were released when virions were treated with detergents. Proteins VP2 and VP3 were consistently associated with released nucleocapsids and are probably the major structural nucleocapsid proteins analogous to the N protein of VSV. Protein VP4 was reduced or absent in released nucleocapsids and is probably analogous to the membrane (M) protein of VSV and similar viruses. The glycoprotein (VP1) is larger than the glycoprotein of any known negative-strand RNA virus and is not labelled well with S-methionine. VP1 is solubilized by detergent treatment, suggesting that it is a component of the virion spikes and analogous to the G protein of VSV. Our results, in conjunction with analysis of Ebola virion RNA (Regnery ., 1980), strongly suggest that the virus is a negative-strand RNA virus and, along with Marburg virus, may constitute a new taxon within this group.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/0022-1317-49-2-333
1980-08-01
2024-03-29
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/jgv/49/2/JV0490020333.html?itemId=/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/0022-1317-49-2-333&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Bowen E. T. W., Platt G. S., Lloyd G., Baskerville A., Harris W. J., Vella E. C. 1977; Viral haemorrhagic fever in southern Sudan and northern Zaire. Lancet 1:571–573
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Choppin P. W., Compans R. W. 1975; Reproduction of paramyxovirus. In Comprehensive Virology vol 4 pp 95–178 Edited by Fraenkel-Conrat H., Wagner R. R. New York and London: Plenum Press;
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Compans R. W., Choppin P. W. 1975; Reproduction of myxoviruses. In Comprehensive Virology vol 4 pp 179–252 Edited by FraenkelConrat H., Wagner R. R. New York and London: Plenum Press;
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Emerson S. U., Wagner R. R. 1972; Dissociation and reconstitution of the transcriptase and template activities of vesicular stomatitis B and T virions. Journal of Virology 10:297–309
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Johnson K. M., Webb P. A., Lange J. V., Murphy F. A. 1977; Isolation and partial characterization of a new virus causing acute haemorrhagic fever in Zaire. Lancet 1:569–571
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Kang C. Y., Prevec L. 1969; Proteins of vesicular stomatitis virus. I. Polyacrylamide gel analysis of viral antigens. Journal of Virology 3:403–413
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Kiley M. P., Wagner R. R. 1972; Ribonucleic acid species of intracellular nucleocapsids and released virions of vesicular stomatitis virus. Journal of Virology 10:244–255
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Kiley M. P., Gray R. H., Payne E. E. 1974; Replication of measles virus: distinct species of short nucleocapsids in cytoplasmic extracts of infected cells. Journal of Virology 13:721–728
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Knudson D. L., MacLeod R. 1972; The proteins of potato yellow dwarf virus. Virology 47:285–295
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Mcallister P. E., Wagner R. R. 1975; Structural proteins of two salmonid rhabdoviruses. Journal of Virology 15:733–738
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Maizel J. V. 1971; Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of viral proteins. Methods in Virology 5:179–246
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Mountcastle W. E., Compans R. W., Caliguiri L. A., Choppin P. W. 1970; Nucleocapsid protein subunits of simian virus 5, Newcastle disease virus, and Sendai virus. Journal of Virology 6:677–684
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Mountcastle W. E., Compans R. W., Choppin P. W. 1971; Proteins and glycoproteins of paramyxoviruses: a comparison of simian virus 5, Newcastle disease virus and Sendai virus. Journal of Virology 7:47–52
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Murphy F. A., van Der Groen G., Whitfield S. G., Lange J. V. 1978; Ebola and Marburg virus morphology and taxonomy. In Ebola Virus Haemorrhagic Fever pp 61–84 Edited by Pattyn S. R. Amsterdam and New York: Elsevier/North Holland;
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Obueski J. F., Murphy F. A. 1977; Bunyaviridae: recent biochemical developments. Journal of General Virology 37:1–14
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Obueski J. F., Marchenko A. T., Bishop D. H. L., Cann B. W., Murphy F. A. 1974; Comparative electrophoretic analysis of the virus proteins of four rhabdo viruses. Journal of General Virology 22:21–33
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Pattyn S., Jacob W., van Der Groen G., Piot P., Courteille G. 1977; Isolation of a Marburg-like virus from a case of haemorrhagic fever in Zaire. Lancet 1:573–574
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Reed L. J., Muench H. 1938; A simple method of estimating fifty percent endpoints. American Journal of Hygiene 27:493–497
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Regnery R. L., Johnson K. M., Kiley M. P. 1980; The virion nucleic acid of Ebola virus. Journal of Virology (in the press)
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Scheid A., Choppin P. W. 1973; Isolation and purification of the envelope proteins of Newcastle disease virus. Journal of Virology 11:263–271
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Siegert R., Shu H.-L., Slenczka W., Peters D., Muller G. 1967; Zur Atiologie einer unbekannten, von Affen ausgegangenen menschlichen Infektionskrankheit. Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift 92:23–41
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Skehel J. J., Schild G. C. 1971; The polypeptide composition of influenza A viruses. Virology 44:396–408
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Sokol F., Stancek D., Koprowski H. 1971; Structural proteins of rabies virus. Journal of Virology 7:241–249
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Stone H. O., Kingsbury D. W., Darlington R. W. 1972; Sendai virus-induced transcriptase from infected cells: polypeptides in the transcriptive complex. Journal of Virology 10:1037–1043
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Wagner R. R. 1975; Reproduction of Rhabdoviruses. In Comprehensive Virology vol 4 pp 1–93 Edited by Fraenkel-Conrat H., Wagner R. R. New York and London: Plenum Press;
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Wagner R. R., Schnaitman T. C., Snyder R. M., Schnaitman C. A. 1969; Protein composition of the structural components of vesicular stomatitis virus. Journal of Virology 3:611–618
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Wagner R. R., Prevec L., Brown F., Summers D. F., Sokol F., MacLeod R. 1972; Classification of rhabdovirus proteins: a proposal. Journal of Virology 10:1228–1230
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Webb P. A., Johnson K. M., Wulff H., Lange J. V. 1978; Some observations on the properties of Ebola virus. In Ebola Virus Haemorrhagic Fever pp 91–94 Edited by Pattyn S. R. Amsterdam and New York: Elsevier/North Holland;
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Weber K., Osborn M. 1969; The reliability of molecular weight determinations by dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Journal of Biological Chemistry 244:4406–4412
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Wulff H., Lange J. V. 1975; Indirect immunofluorescence for the diagnosis of Lassa fever infection. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 52:429–436
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Yasumura Y., Kawatika Y. 1963; Studies on SV40 virus in tissue culture cells. Nippon Rinsho 21:1201–1215
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/0022-1317-49-2-333
Loading
/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/0022-1317-49-2-333
Loading

Data & Media loading...

Most cited Most Cited RSS feed