Vaccinia virus envelope H3L protein binds to cell surface heparan sulfate and is important for intracellular mature virion morphogenesis and virus infection in vitro and in vivo.

ABSTRACT: An immunodominant antigen, p35, is expressed on the envelope of intracellular mature virions (IMV) of vaccinia virus. p35 is encoded by the viral late gene H3L, but its role in the virus life cycle is not known. This report demonstrates that soluble H3L protein binds to heparan sulfate on the cell surface and competes with the binding of vaccinia virus, indicating a role for H3L protein in IMV adsorption to mammalian cells. A mutant virus defective in expression of H3L (H3L(-)) was constructed; the mutant virus has a small plaque phenotype and 10-fold lower IMV and extracellular enveloped virion titers than the wild-type virus. Virion morphogenesis is severely blocked and intermediate viral structures such as viral factories and crescents accumulate in cells infected with the H3L(-) mutant

SUBMITTER: Lin CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC111837 | biostudies-literature | 2000 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature