Murine leukemia virus particle assembly quantitated by fluorescence microscopy: role of Gag-Gag interactions and membrane association.

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In order to track the assembly of murine leukemia virus (MLV), we used fluorescence microscopy to visualize particles containing Gag molecules fused to fluorescent proteins (FPs). Gag-FP chimeras budded from cells to produce fluorescent spots, which passed through the same pore-size filters and sedimented at the same velocity as authentic MLV. N-terminal myristylation of Gag-FPs was necessary for particle formation unless wild-type Gag was coexpressed. By labeling nonmyristylated Gag with yellow FP and wild-type Gag with cyan FP, we could quantitate the coincorporation of two proteins into single particles. This experiment showed that nonmyristylated Gag was incorporated into mixed particles at approximately 50% the efficiency of wild-type Gag. Mutations that inhibit Gag-Gag interactions (K. Alin and S. P. Goff, Virology 216:418-424, 1996; K. Alin and S. P. Goff, Virology 222:339-351, 1996) were then introduced into the capsid (CA) region of Gag-FPs. The mutations P150L and R119C/P133L inhibited fluorescent particle formation by these Gag-FPs, but Gag-FPs containing these mutations could be efficiently incorporated into particles when coexpressed with wild-type Gag. When these mutations were introduced into nonmyristylated Gag-FPs, no incorporation into particles in the presence of wild-type Gag was detected. These data suggest that two independent mechanisms, CA interactions and membrane association following myristylation, cooperate in MLV Gag assembly and budding.