Cell-free coupling of Newcastle disease virus RNA transcription, translation and Co-translational processing

A cell-free coupled system for transcription, translation and glycoprotein processing of the Newcastle disease virus genome is described. The system consists of a rabbit reticulocyte lysate preincubated with micrococcal nuclease and of detergent-disrupted purified Newcastle disease virions. [35S]methionine incorporation was linear for 2 h. Polypeptides NP and M, the presumably unglycosylated analogues of glycoproteins HN and possibly F, were identified as translation products. When in vitro synthesis was carried out in the presence of dog pancreas microsomes the HN analogue (pre-HN) was converted to an 80K (approx.) protein which comigrated on polyacrylamide gels with HN synthesized in vivo and which, except for a small fragment, was protected from proteolytic degradation. In immunoprecipitation studies, antiserum against HN purified from virions reacted with both the processed and the unprocessed form of HN synthesized in vitro.