MOLECULAR-CLONING OF FELINE CC-CHEMOKINE CDNAS

cDNA clones of feline chemokines, MIP-1 alpha, MIP-1 beta and RANTES, were molecularly isolated with the purpose of using these sequences fo r future investigation of the inhibitory effects on lentivirus entry a nd their role in immunological functions. The feline MIP-1 alpha and M IP-1 beta cDNA clones spanned their entire coding regions encoding 93 and 92 amino acids, respectively. The amino acid sequences of feline M IP-1 alpha and MIP-1 beta compared to those of their human, mouse and rat counterparts showed similarities of 75.3-79.6% and 73.9-88.0%, res pectively. Feline MIP-1 alpha and MIP-1 beta had four conserved cystei nes with a structure made up of the first two cysteines that are chara cteristic of the CC-chemokine subfamily. The amino terminal of these M IP-1 and MIP-1 beta sequences was distinctly hydrophobic, suggesting t hat they may function as signal peptides. A partial cDNA clone consist ing of 193 bp was obtained for feline RANTES, and it also showed a hig h degree of sequence similarity to those of other species and containe d the characteristic structure made up of adjacent cysteines. These mo lecular clones of feline chemokines will be useful in the examination of their inhibitory effect on the cellular entry of feline immunodefic iency virus. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.