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Bacterial expression of an enzymatically active protein encoded by RSV src gene

Nature volume 295, pages 423–425 (1982)Cite this article

Abstract

Genetic evidence indicates that the oncogenic potential of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) resides in a single viral gene denoted src1,2. The product of this gene is a 60,000-molecular weight (Mr) phosphoprotein (pp60src)3–6 which is linked to the plasma membrane of RSV-infected cells7–9 by an interaction at its amino terminus10. This protein is associated with a protein kinase activity5,11 capable of phosphorylating tyrosine residues in acceptor proteins12–15. A closely related protein occurs in uninfected cells from a wide variety of vertebrates16–18 and is presumably encoded by a cellular gene that is alleged to be the progenitor of src16–19. Because detailed enzymological characterization of pp60src has been hampered by a lack of sufficient quantities of purified material, we have produced a bacterial plasmid capable of expressing in Escherichia coli a protein closely related to pp60src. We report here the construction of this vector, which directs the synthesis in E. coli of large quantities of a protein having the size and immunological properties characteristic of pp60src. In addition, we have demonstrated tyrosine-specific protein kinase activity associated with the bacterially derived protein, an observation which greatly strengthens the claim that the kinase activity previously observed to be associated with pp60src represents a bona fide property of the protein.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Biology, Genentech, Inc., 460 Point San Bruno Boulevard, South San Francisco, California, 94080, USA

    J. P. McGrath & A. D. Levinson

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  1. J. P. McGrath
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  2. A. D. Levinson
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McGrath, J., Levinson, A. Bacterial expression of an enzymatically active protein encoded by RSV src gene. Nature 295, 423–425 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/295423a0

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