Rh. Takahashi et al., Analysis of human lymphotropic T-cell virus type II-like particle production by recombinant baculovirus-infected insect cells, VIROLOGY, 256(2), 1999, pp. 371-380
The molecular processes involved in retrovirus assembly and budding formati
on remain poorly understood. The gag-propel genes of human lymphotropic T-c
ell Virus type Il (HTLV-II) are translated into Gag, Gag-Pro, or Gag-Pro-Po
l by frameshift events. In the present study, we investigated the roles of
the gag, pro, and pol regions of HTLV-II in Viral particle formation using
recombinant baculoviruses. in this study we could successfully produce matu
re HTLV-II viral particles containing core structures using a construct exp
ressing the entire gag-pro-pol region. We also investigated the role of the
pol region in particle formation. Deletion of the pol region affects viral
particle assembly or release Very little, indicating that the gag-pro regi
on is sufficient for viral particle formation and maturation. Expression of
the Gag proteins alone or Gag proteins with inactivated viral proteases (P
ro) resulted in the formation of viral particles; however, these particles
did not contain core structures. These results suggest the intracellular ex
pression of Gag with Pro of HTLV-II is essential for the production of matu
re virus particles, whereas that of Pol is not. (C) 1999 Academic Press.