Acidic pH induces fusion of cells infected with baculovirus to form syncytia

FEBS Letters

Onaran, H.Ongun¹  Zimmerberg, Joshua¹  Leikina, Evgenia¹ 

[1] Laboratory of Theoretical and Physical Biology, NICHD, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA

关键词: Membrane fusion;    Viral fusion;    Enveloped virus;    Cell-cell fusion;    Baculovirus expression system;   

DOI  :  10.1016/0014-5793(92)80623-O

学科分类：生物化学/生物物理

来源: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

【 摘 要 】

The enveloped baculovirus⧹insect cell system has been used extensively for expression of recombinant proteins. including viral fusion proteins. We tested wild-type baculovirus for endogenous fusion protein activity. Syncytia formation, dye transfer, and capacitance changes were observed after incubating infected Spodoptera frugiperda cells in acidic media, consistent with fusion protein activity. Only a short acidic pulse or 10 s is needed to trigger syncytia formation. Identical results were obtained with recombinant baculovirus. This new system convenient for studying pH activated cell-cell fusion. However, using this enveloped virus to study the mechanism of recombinant fusion proteins requires caution.

【 授权许可】

Unknown