Point mutations modify the response of poliovirus RNA to a translation initiation factor: a comparison of neurovirulent and attenuated strains.

Upon translation of poliovirus RNA in reticulocyte lysates, initiation occurs largely "incorrectly," that is, at sites in the middle of the viral genome rather than at the beginning of the polyprotein reading frame; the anomaly appears to be due to an initiation factor deficiency. Here, a fraction which stimulated initiation at the correct site, provisionally called "initiation correcting factor" (ICF), was partially purified from Krebs-2 cells. The ICF activity appeared to copurify with a complex of initiation factors eIF-2 and eIF-2B. The ability of ICF to stimulate, in reticulocyte lysates, the correct initiation of translation on the RNAs from neurovirulent and attenuated type 1 and type 3 poliovirus strains was investigated. Like crude initiation factor preparations, ICF appeared to be relatively less active with the RNAs from attenuated strains, the difference being especially pronounced for the type 3 strains. For the latter strains, the data suggested an important role of the nucleotide at, and perhaps around, position 472 in determining a response to the addition of ICF. It is proposed that interaction of a specific segment of the viral RNA with one or more of initiation factors plays an important part in the mechanism of translation of the picornavirus genomes, poliovirus attenuation, and, possibly, pathogenesis of poliomyelitis.