ABSENCE OF VARICELLA-ZOSTER VIRUS (VZV) GLYCOPROTEIN-V DOES NOT ALTERGROWTH OF VZV IN-VITRO OR SENSITIVITY TO HEPARIN

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) encodes at least five glycoproteins, gpI to gpV. VZV gpV, M(r) 100K to 110K, is the product of VZV open reading frame (ORF) 14. VZV gpV is homologous to herpes simplex virus gC and pseudorabies virus gIII. To determine whether gpV is required for vira l replication, we inserted a stop codon after the fifteenth codon of t he ORF14 gene in a cosmid containing the gene. Transfection of human m elanoma cells with the cosmid containing the mutant ORF14 gene and thr ee other cosmids resulted in the production of infectious VZV. Immunop recipitation indicated that the mutant virus did not express gpV. VZV that did not express gpV grew at the same rate as parental virus and w as inhibited by heparin to a similar extent. The pattern of inhibition by heparin of the gpV mutant was similar to that reported for a herpe s simplex virus mutant that does not contain gC, but different from th at described for a pseudorabies virus mutant devoid of gIII. These res ults indicate that VZV gpV is not required for viral replication in vi tro.