Title |
The vaccinia virus N1L protein is an intracellular homodimer that promotes virulence
|
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Published in |
Journal of General Virology, August 2002
|
DOI | 10.1099/0022-1317-83-8-1965 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Nathan Bartlett, Julian A Symons, David C Tscharke, Geoffrey L Smith |
Abstract |
The vaccinia virus (VV) N1L gene encodes a protein of 14 kDa that was identified previously in the concentrated supernatant of virus-infected cells. Here we show that the protein is present predominantly (>90%) within cells rather than in the culture supernatant and it exists as a non-glycosylated, non-covalent homodimer. The N1L protein present in the culture supernatant was uncleaved at the N terminus and was released from cells more slowly than the VV A41L gene product, a secreted glycoprotein that has a conventional signal peptide. Bioinformatic analyses predict that the N1L protein is largely alpha-helical and show that it is conserved in many VV strains, in other orthopoxviruses and in members of other chordopoxvirus genera. However, database searches found no non-poxvirus proteins with significant amino acid similarity to N1L. A deletion mutant lacking the N1L gene replicated normally in cell culture, but was attenuated in intranasal and intradermal murine models compared to wild-type and revertant controls. The conservation of the N1L protein and the attenuated phenotype of the deletion mutant indicate an important role in the virus life-cycle. |
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Brazil | 1 | 3% |
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Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
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Researcher | 7 | 18% |
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Other | 3 | 8% |
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Unknown | 8 | 21% |
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