MUTAGENESIS OF THE YELLOW-FEVER VIRUS NS2B 3 CLEAVAGE SITE - DETERMINANTS OF CLEAVAGE SITE-SPECIFICITY AND EFFECTS ON POLYPROTEIN PROCESSING AND VIRAL REPLICATION/
Tj. Chambers et al., MUTAGENESIS OF THE YELLOW-FEVER VIRUS NS2B 3 CLEAVAGE SITE - DETERMINANTS OF CLEAVAGE SITE-SPECIFICITY AND EFFECTS ON POLYPROTEIN PROCESSING AND VIRAL REPLICATION/, Journal of virology, 69(3), 1995, pp. 1600-1605
The determinants of cleavage site specificity of the yellow fever viru
s (YF) NS3 proteinase for its 2B/3 cleavage site have been studied by
using site-directed mutagenesis. Mutations at residues within the GARR
down arrow S sequence were tested for effects on cia cleavage of an N
S2B-3(181) polyprotein during cell-free translation, At the P1 positio
n, only the conservative substitution R-->K exhibited Significant leve
ls of cleavage. Conservative and nonconservative substitutions were to
lerated at the P1' and P2 positions, resulting in intermediate levels
of cleavage. Substitutions at the P3 and P4 positions had no effects o
n cleavage efficiency in the cell-free assay. Processing at other diba
sic sites was studied by using transient expression of a sig2A-5(356)
polyprotein. Cleavage at the 2B/3 site was not required for processing
at downstream sites. However, increased accumulation of high-molecula
r-weight viral polyproteins was generally observed for mutations which
reduced cleavage efficiency at the 2B/3 site. Several mutations were
also tested for their effects on viral replication. Virus was not reco
vered from substitutions which blocked or substantially reduced cleava
ge in the cell-free assay,suggesting that efficient cleavage at the 2B
/3 site is required for flavivirus replication.