Definition of a 14-amino-acid peptide essential for the interaction between the murine leukemia virus amphotropic envelope glycoprotein and its receptor.

Hydrophilic loops in the receptor binding domain of the amphotropic murine leukemia virus (MLV) envelope glycoprotein (SU) are predicted and may participate in SU-receptor interactions. We have replaced five segments of 6 to 15 amino acids located in each of these regions with an 11-amino-acid tag from the vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSV-G). Substitution was compatible with envelope processing, transport, and incorporation into virions. However, three substitution mutants showed a temperature-dependent phenotype, suggesting structural unstability. Accessibility of the tagging epitope for a monoclonal anti-VSV-G antibody was greater in oligomeric than in monomeric SUs when insertion was done in VRA, a domain essential for receptor recognition. In contrast, accessibility was independent of structural constraints when insertion was done in VRB, a domain playing an accessory role in receptor binding. Interaction with the amphotropic receptor was investigated by interference assay and study of binding and infection of target cells with MLV particles coated with the substituted envelopes. Envelope-receptor interaction was abolished when substitution was performed in a potential loop-forming segment located at the N-terminal half of VRA. Although interaction was affected to variable extents, depending on the substituted segment, other mutants conserved the ability to interact with the amphotropic receptor. These experiments indicate the 14-amino-acid segment between positions 50 and 64 of SU as an essential determinant of amphotropic-receptor recognition. They also show that a foreign linear epitope can be tolerated in several locations of the amphotropic SU receptor binding site, and this result has implications for the design of targeted retroviral vectors.