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A normal cell protein cross-reactive to the major Abelson murine leukaemia virus gene product

Abstract

Abelson murine leukaemia virus (A-MuLV) is a replication-defective retrovirus capable of rapid in vivo and in vitro transformation of bone marrow lymphoid target cells. A-MuLV was isolated from a steroid treated BALB/c mouse inoculated with the replication competent Moloney-MuLV (M-MuLV)1–4. The A-MuLV genome (5.5 kilobases) retains regions of precise homology to M-MuLV at its 5′ end (1,320 bases) and 3′ end (730 bases). The centre of the A-MuLV genome (3,500 bases) is non-homologous to M-MuLV and presumably represents unique sequences derived from the mouse genome by a recombinational event5. The only known protein encoded by the A-MuLV genome is one of MW 120,000, called P120 (refs 6, 7). About one-quarter of this protein is encoded by the 5′-terminal M-MuL V-related sequences and the rest is encoded by the A-MuLV unique sequences. P120 has been found in all cell lines transformed by the strain of A-MuLV that originally derived from ANN-1 cells2, including transformed non-producer cells. P120 can be translated in vitro using A-MuLV genomic RNA as messenger RNA. P120 is a phosphoprotein but there is no evidence for glycosylation6,8,9. We have used an anti-A-MuLV syngeneic tumour regressor serum with defined specificities to search for cross-reacting normal cellular proteins. We have identified a protein of MW 150,000 (NCP150) in metabolically labelled thymus and other lymphoid organs. NCP150 by absorption and competition analysis is closely related to the unique region of the A-MuLV P120 protein.

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Witte, O., Rosenberg, N. & Baltimore, D. A normal cell protein cross-reactive to the major Abelson murine leukaemia virus gene product. Nature 281, 396–398 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/281396a0

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