The genomic RNA of retroviruses exists within the virion as a noncovalently linked dimer. Previously, we identified a mutant of the viral matrix (MA) protein of Rous sarcoma virus that disrupts viral RNA dimerization. This mutant, Myr1E, is modified at the N terminus of MA by the addition of 10 amino acids from the Src protein, resulting in the production of particles containing monomeric RNA. Dimerization is reestablished by a single amino acid substitution that abolishes myristylation (Myr1E؊). To distinguish between cis and trans effects involving Myr1E, additional mutations were generated. In Myr1E.cc and Myr1E؊.cc, different nucleotides were utilized to encode the same protein as Myr1E and Myr1E؊, respectively. The alterations in RNA sequence did not change the properties of the viral mutants. Myr1E.ATG؊ was constructed so that translation began at the gag AUG, resulting in synthesis of the wild-type Gag protein but maintenance of the src RNA sequence. This mutant had normal infectivity and dimeric RNA, indicating that the src sequence did not prevent dimer formation. All of the src-containing RNA sequences formed dimers in vitro. Examination of MA-green fluorescent protein fusion proteins revealed that the wild-type and mutant MA proteins Myr1E.ATG؊, Myr1E؊, and Myr1E؊.cc had distinctly different patterns of subcellular localization compared with Myr1E and Myr1E.cc MA proteins. This finding suggests that proper localization of the MA protein may be required for RNA dimer formation and infectivity. Taken together, these results provide compelling evidence that the genomic RNA dimerization defect is due to a trans-acting effect of the mutant MA proteins.All retroviruses incorporate two identical copies of their RNA genome into each virion. The genomic RNA molecules are linked near their 5Ј ends by noncovalent interactions to form a stable structure possessing ordered secondary and tertiary structure. Although there are multiple contact points throughout the two parallel RNA molecules, the most stable linkage is called the dimer linkage structure. The dimer linkage structure can be visualized by electron microscopy and appears to be a region about 50 nucleotides (nt) in length near the 5Ј end of the genome (centered around nucleotide 511 in Rous sarcoma virus [RSV]) (1,20,23). Dimerization is required for infectivity, although precisely how it contributes to the replication cycle remains poorly understood. Dimerization is believed to facilitate recombination during reverse transcription by enabling close approximation of the viral RNA molecules, leading to increased genetic diversity and improved viral fitness (15,16,26). The dimeric RNA structure has also been implicated in inhibiting the translation of unspliced viral RNA so that genomic RNA is available for packaging; however, there is little experimental evidence in support of this idea (26).Because the RNA sequences that are important for dimerization overlap those required for RNA incorporation into virus particles, dimerization and packaging were postu...

Minimization of chemical modifications during the production of proteins for pharmaceutical and medical applications is of fundamental and practical importance. The gluconoylation of heterologously expressed protein which is observed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) constitutes one such undesired posttranslational modification. We postulated that formation of gluconoylated/phosphogluconoylated products of heterologous proteins is caused by the accumulation of 6-phosphogluconolactone due to the absence of phosphogluconolactonase (PGL) in the pentose phosphate pathway. The results obtained demonstrate that overexpression of a heterologous PGL in BL21(DE3) suppresses the formation of the gluconoylated adducts in the therapeutic proteins studied. When this E. coli strain was grown in high-cell-density fed-batch cultures with an extra copy of the pgl gene, we found that the biomass yield and specific productivity of a heterologous 18-kDa protein increased simultaneously by 50 and 60%, respectively. The higher level of PGL expression allowed E. coli strain BL21(DE3) to satisfy the extra demand for precursors, as well as the energy requirements, in order to replicate plasmid DNA and express heterologous genes, as metabolic flux analysis showed by the higher precursor and NADPH fluxes through the oxidative branch of the pentose phosphate shunt. This work shows that E. coli strain BL21(DE3) can be used as a host to produce three different proteins, a heterodimer of liver X receptors, elongin C, and an 18-kDa protein. This is the first report describing a novel and general strategy for suppressing this nonenzymatic modification by metabolic pathway engineering.

In this study, we used proteomics to better understand the growth on glucose of Escherichia coli in high cell density, fed-batch cultures and the response to overexpression of plasmid-encoded 6-phosphogluconolactonase (PGL). Using liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray mass spectrometry, at least 300 proteins were identified in the cytosolic fraction of the six time points used to monitor the fermentation. The relative abundance changes of selected proteins were obtained by comparing the peak area of the corresponding peptides at a particular m/z (mass over charge ratio) value. During the time course of samples collected during the rapid growth achieved under batch and fed-batch conditions, both the control and recombinant E. coli strains showed up-regulation of proteins participating in the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, particularly acetyl-CoA synthetase (AcCoAS), malate dehydrogenase (MDH), and succinyl-CoA synthetase (SuccCoAS). In the recombinant strain culture, fumarase was up-regulated until 35 h after inoculation but was not in the control strain culture. In addition, the proteomic measurement detected up-regulation of three well-characterized binding transport proteins in both control and recombinant strains. The up-regulation of TCA cycle enzymes is consistent with the increase in growth rate observed in the cell culture. In addition, up-regulation of these proteins demonstrated the importance of both the pentose-phosphate shunt and TCA cycle to the increased biosynthetic activity required by a high level protein synthesis. This study shows the potential of proteomics using shotgun sequencing (LC/MS of tryptic digests) to measure global changes in protein abundance during a fermentation process and will facilitate the development of robust manufacturing systems.