F. Petit et al., CHARACTERIZATION OF A MYXOMA VIRUS-ENCODED SERPIN-LIKE PROTEIN WITH ACTIVITY AGAINST INTERLEUKIN-1-BETA-CONVERTING ENZYME, Journal of virology, 70(9), 1996, pp. 5860-5866
A genomic library of myxoma virus (MV) DNA, a leporipoxvirus that caus
es myxomatosis, was constructed and screened by in vitro transcription
-translation. A clone was selected on the basis of its strong reactivi
ty with MV antiserum. Analysis of the corresponding DNA sequence and t
he deduced amino acid sequence revealed an open reading frame coding f
or a 34-kDa protein with strong homologies to members of the serpin su
perfamily, The gene encoding this new protein, called serp2, was local
ized on the MV genome. Interestingly, this gene is deleted in an atten
uated strain. We constructed a baculovirus vector to produce recombina
nt Serp2 protein and raised specific antisera that allowed the charact
erization of Serp2 expression during the MV cycle. The biological rele
vance of this new serpin from MV was monitored, and it was shown that
Serp2 could inhibit human interleukin-1 beta-converting enzyme activit
y.