Insect virus proteins (FALPE and p10) self-associate to form filaments in infected cells

Entomopoxviruses and baculoviruses are pathogens of insects which replicate in the cytoplasm and nuclei of their host cells, respectively. During the late stages of infection, both groups of viruses produce occlusion bodies which serve to protect virions from the external environment. Immunofluorescence and electron microscopy studies have shown that large bundles of filaments are associated with these occlusion bodies. Entomopoxviruses produce cytoplasmic fibrils which appear to be composed of the filament-associated late protein of entomopoxviruses (FALPE). Baculoviruses, on the other hand, yield filaments in the nuclei and cytoplasm of the infected cell which are composed of a protein called p10. Despite significant differences in their sequences, FALPE and p10 have similar hydrophilicity profiles, and each has a proline-rich stretch of amino acids at its carboxyl terminus. Evidence that FALPE and p10 could produce filaments in the absence of other viral proteins is presented. When FALPE was expressed in insect cells from a recombinant baculovirus, filaments similar to those produced by the wild-type Amsacta moorei entomopoxvirus were observed. In addition, when expression plasmids containing FALPE or p10 genes were transfected into Vero monkey kidney cells, filament structures similar to those found in infected insect cells were produced. The manner in which FALPE and p10 subunits interact to form polymers was investigated through deletion and site-specific mutagenesis in conjunction with immunofluorescence microscopy, yeast two-hybrid protein interaction analysis, and chemical cross-linking of adjacent molecules. These studies indicated that the amino termini of FALPE and p10 were essential for subunit interaction. Although deletion of the carboxy termini did not affect this interaction, it did inhibit filament formation. In addition, modification of several potential sites for phosphorylation also abolished filament assembly. We concluded that although the sequences of FALPE and p10 were different, the structural and functional properties of the two polypeptides appeared to be similar.