SPECIFIC INTERACTIONS BETWEEN RETROVIRUS ENV AND GAG PROTEINS IN RAT NEURONS

In this work we have studied the intracellular Localization properties of the Gag and Env proteins of Moloney murine leukemia virus (MLV) an d human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neu rons of rat, These neurons form thick bundles of axons, which facilita tes protein localization studies by immunofluorescence analyses. When such neuron cultures were infected with recombinant Semliki Forest vir us particles carrying the gag genes of either retrovirus, the expresse d Gag proteins were localized to both tile somatic and the axonal regi ons of the DRG neurons. In contrast, the Env proteins were confined on ly to the somatic region, When the Gag and Env proteins were coexpress ed, the Gag proteins were also excluded from the axons. This effect of the Env proteins was shown to be dependent on the concentration of th e Gag proteins in the neuron and also to be specific for homologous pa irs of retrovirus proteins, Therefore, the results suggest that there are specific interactions between the Env and the Gag proteins of MLV and HIV in the DRG neurons.