T. Lund et al., A HERPESVIRUS SAIMIRI PROTEIN REQUIRED FOR INTERLEUKIN-2 INDEPENDENCEIS ASSOCIATED WITH MEMBRANES OF TRANSFORMED T-CELLS, Journal of virology, 69(7), 1995, pp. 4495-4499
A region of the herpesvirus saimiri genome encoding an mRNA with two o
pen reading frames (ORFs) has been identified to be essential for tran
sformation of T cells. Deletion of either ORF resulted in the loss of
transforming ability. ORF-1 has been shown to code for a collagen-like
oncoprotein. This study shows for the first time that the bicistronic
mRNA can translate a 32-kDa protein from ORF-2. Polyclonal serum to O
RF-2 was generated by using a glutathione fusion protein. Using this a
ntiserum, ORF-2 was localized in cell membranes and is expressed on th
e outer cell membrane. The half-life of this membrane protein was foun
d to be about 5.5 h. Limited sequence similarity was found between ORF
-2 and interleukin-11; however, no secretion of ORF-2 protein was dete
cted in supernatants from transformed cells. Further studies are requi
red to investigate the potential interaction with the interleukin-11 r
eceptor.