RESUMO
Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis virus labelled with [14C]aminoacids or [3H]uridine was purified and UV-irradiated. The irradiation led to the formation of uracil photodimers and the covalent linking of the nucleocapsid protein C to virion RNA. The inactivation of infectivity correlated with the formation of uracil dimers, whereas the RNA-protein links were formed at much higher doses of UV irradiation. The analysis of covalent RNA-protein complexes suggests that a fairly large fraction (at least one third) of the whole content of C protein is able to participate in the formation of UV-induced links, suggesting extensive contacts of RNA with protein with the nucleocapsid.
Assuntos
Vírus da Encefalite Equina Venezuelana/efeitos da radiação , Ativação Viral/efeitos da radiação , Animais , Centrifugação com Gradiente de Concentração , Embrião de Galinha , Vírus da Encefalite Equina Venezuelana/genética , Vírus da Encefalite Equina Venezuelana/isolamento & purificação , Fibroblastos , Dímeros de Pirimidina/química , Dímeros de Pirimidina/efeitos da radiação , RNA Viral/química , RNA Viral/efeitos da radiação , Raios Ultravioleta , Proteínas Virais/química , Proteínas Virais/efeitos da radiaçãoRESUMO
Formation of Venecuelan equine encephalomyelitis virus (VEE) aggregates induced by UV-light has been studied. The high doses of UV-irradiation induced the protein-protein cross-links resulting in formation of fast sedimenting viral structures. The latter structures are supposed to be presented by the aggregates of several virions linked by the UV-light induced RNA-protein and protein-protein covalent bonds. The lesions in the fine structure of virion envelope was registered by the electron microscopy technique.