EXPRESSION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF EQUINE HERPESVIRUS-1 GLYCOPROTEIN-D IN MAMMALIAN-CELL LINES

Equine herpesvirus 1 glycoprotein D (EHV-1 gD) expressed constitutivel y in mammalian cell lines had similar electrophoretic mobility to gD p roduced in EHV-1 infected cells but lacked a possibly complexed higher molecular weight form seen in the latter. Recombinant go was N-termin ally cleaved at the same site as gD in EHV-1 infected cells and expres sion was associated with enhanced levels of cell-cell fusion, indicati ng a role for EHV-1 gD in cell-to-cell transmission of virus.