A successful infection involves: virus entry into the cell; uncoating, expression, and replication of the genome; assembly and release of infectious virus particles; and defense against specific and non- specific host immune mechanisms. Combined genetic, biochemical, electron microscopic, and immunologic approaches are being used to investigate these complex processes. During the past year, studies have continued on the assembly of vaccinia virus. A viral protein, p65, was found to accumulate in novel inclusion bodies when the assembly of vaccinia virus was prevented by use of a specific inhibitor. Following reversal of drug treatment, the p65 protein became associated with the immature viral membranes. The p65 protein may function as a membrane scaffold to assemble the viral particle. Vaccinia virus has at least three genes that determine the host range of the virus in tissue culture cells. The absence of the K1L gene was found to result in a block in both vaccinia virus DNA replication and transcription of the intermediate class genes in rabbit kidney cells. A rabbit cell line was constructed that stably expressed the vaccinia virus K1L gene and was permissive for viral K1L deletion mutants. This is the first description of the complementation of a poxvirus mutant by cells that stably express a viral gene.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Intramural Research (Z01)
Project #
1Z01AI000539-07
Application #
3746570
Study Section
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
Budget End
Support Year
7
Fiscal Year
1994
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
City
State
Country
United States
Zip Code
Wagenaar, Timothy R; Moss, Bernard (2009) Expression of the A56 and K2 proteins is sufficient to inhibit vaccinia virus entry and cell fusion. J Virol 83:1546-54
Resch, Wolfgang; Weisberg, Andrea S; Moss, Bernard (2009) Expression of the highly conserved vaccinia virus E6 protein is required for virion morphogenesis. Virology 386:478-85
Nelson, Gretchen E; Wagenaar, Timothy R; Moss, Bernard (2008) A conserved sequence within the H2 subunit of the vaccinia virus entry/fusion complex is important for interaction with the A28 subunit and infectivity. J Virol 82:6244-50
Wagenaar, Timothy R; Ojeda, Suany; Moss, Bernard (2008) Vaccinia virus A56/K2 fusion regulatory protein interacts with the A16 and G9 subunits of the entry fusion complex. J Virol 82:5153-60
Townsley, Alan C; Moss, Bernard (2007) Two distinct low-pH steps promote entry of vaccinia virus. J Virol 81:8613-20
Resch, Wolfgang; Hixson, Kim K; Moore, Ronald J et al. (2007) Protein composition of the vaccinia virus mature virion. Virology 358:233-47
Husain, Matloob; Weisberg, Andrea S; Moss, Bernard (2007) Sequence-independent targeting of transmembrane proteins synthesized within vaccinia virus factories to nascent viral membranes. J Virol 81:2646-55
Wagenaar, Timothy R; Moss, Bernard (2007) Association of vaccinia virus fusion regulatory proteins with the multicomponent entry/fusion complex. J Virol 81:6286-93
Husain, Matloob; Weisberg, Andrea S; Moss, Bernard (2007) Resistance of a vaccinia virus A34R deletion mutant to spontaneous rupture of the outer membrane of progeny virions on the surface of infected cells. Virology 366:424-32
Charity, James C; Katz, Ehud; Moss, Bernard (2007) Amino acid substitutions at multiple sites within the vaccinia virus D13 scaffold protein confer resistance to rifampicin. Virology 359:227-32

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