Evidence for covalent attachment of fatty acids to Sindbis virus glycoproteins

Selective binding of lipid to glycoprotein was detected when [3H]palmitate-labeled Sindbis virus particles or viral-infected cells were disrupted by heating with sodium dodecyl sulfate, and glycoproteins were isolated by electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate/10% polyacrylamide gels. The smaller glycoprotein (E2) retained 2 to 3 times more labeled lipid than did the larger EI glycoprotein, and the cell-associated glycoprotein precursor (PE2) bound even less lipid. No lipid was associated with the nonglycosylated glycoproteins that accumulated in infected cells treated with tunicamycin. The labeled lipid remained bound to the glycoproteins after exhaustive extraction with chloroform/methanol of virus particles, infected-cell extracts, or isolated glycoproteins, but it could be extracted by chloroform/methanol after treating glycoproteins with mild alkali. Analysis by gas/liquid chromatography showed that 60% of the label was in palmitate and the balance of label was distributed between oleate and stearate. There were approximately 2 mol of fatty acid bound per mol of E1 glycoprotein. Proteolysis of the fatty acid-labeled glycoprotein with pepsin, thermolysin, and Pronase degraded the polypeptide to fragments that retained the fatty acids in an alkali-labile state. These data suggest that a covalent attachment of fatty acid may occur during maturation of the viral glycoproteins.