The proline-rich L domains of human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) and other retroviruses interact with late endocytic proteins during virion assembly and budding. In contrast, the YPDL L domain of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) is apparently unique in its reported ability to interact both with the 2 subunit of the AP-2 adaptor protein complex and with ALG-2-interacting protein 1 (AIP1/Alix) protein factors involved in early and late endosome formation, respectively. To define further the mechanisms by which EIAV adapts vesicle trafficking machinery to facilitate virion production, we have examined the specificity of EIAV p9 binding to endocytic factors and the effects on virion production of alterations in early and late endocytic protein expression. The results of these studies demonstrated that (i) an ϳ300-residue region of AIP1/Alix-(409 -715) was sufficient for binding to the EIAV YPDL motif; (ii) overexpression of AIP1/Alix or AP-2 2 subunit specifically inhibited YPDL-mediated EIAV budding; (iii) virion budding from a replication-competent EIAV variant with its L domain replaced by the HIV PTAP sequence was inhibited by wild type or mutant 2 to a level similar to that observed when a dominant-negative mutant of Tsg101 was expressed; and (iv) overexpression or siRNA silencing of AIP1/Alix and AP-2 revealed additive suppression of YPDL-mediated EIAV budding. Taken together, these results indicated that both early and late endocytic proteins facilitate EIAV production mediated by either YPDL or PTAP L domains, suggesting a comprehensive involvement of endocytic factors in retroviral assembly and budding that can be accessed by distinct L domain specificities.
Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV)2 is a member of the lentivirus subfamily of retroviruses, which also includes human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1). The EIAV genome is the simplest among the lentivirus family and encodes three major structural proteins (Gag, Pol, and Env) along with three accessory gene products (Tat, Rev, S2). Like all retroviruses, EIAV Gag protein is synthesized as a polyprotein that upon virion maturation is processed by virus-encoded protease to yield four major structural proteins: matrix, capsid, nucleocapsid, and p9 protein. All four structural proteins of Gag polyprotein play critical and distinctive roles in retrovirus assembly and budding. Matrix proteins direct targeting of Gag polyproteins to cell membranes for viral assembly and budding (1, 2). Both capsid and nucleocapsid have been shown to mediate Gag-Gag interactions during viral assembly, with capsid responsible for the dimerization of homologous Gag polyproteins (3, 4) and nucleocapsid essential for multimerization of Gag molecules (5, 6). The EIAV p9 protein contains a YPDL late (L) domain that is critical for virion release during the late stage of virus budding. Proline-rich L domains such as PTAP and PPPY with similar functions have also been identified from HIV-1, Rous sarcoma virus, and a variety of other enveloped viruses (7).L domains appear to...