Primate Gammaretroviruses Require an Ancillary Factor Not Required for Murine Gammaretroviruses to Infect BHK Cells

Xu W, Eiden MV.:

Abstract
BHK cells remain resistant to XMRV or GALV infection even when their respective receptors, Xpr1 or PiT1, are expressed. We set to determine the stage at which viral infection is blocked and whether this block is mediated by a dominant negative factor or the absence of a requisite ancillary factor. BHK cells bind neither XMRV nor GALV envelope proteins. BHK cells expressing the appropriate receptors bind XMRV or GALV envelope proteins. BHK cells can be infected by NZB-XMV enveloped vectors, an envelope derived from a xenotropic retrovirus that, like XMRV, employs Xpr1 as a receptor, and also by vectors bearing the envelope of 10A1 MLV, a murine retrovirus that can use PiT1 as a receptor. The retroviral vectors used in these analyses differ solely in their viral envelope proteins suggesting that the block to XMRV and GALV infection is mediated at the level of envelope-receptor interactions. N-linked glycosylation of the receptors was not found to mediate resistance of receptor-expressing BHK to GALV or XMRV, as shown by tunicamycin treatment and mutation of specific glycosylation site of the PiT1 receptor. Hybrid cells produced by fusing BHKXpr1 or BHKPiT1 to XMRV or GALV resistant cells respectively can mediate efficient XMRV or GALV infection.

These findings indicate that BHK cells lack a factor that is required for infection by primate xenotropic viruses. This factor is not required for viruses that use the same receptors but were directly isolated from mice.