Assembly in vitro of a spanning membrane protein of the endoplasmic reticulum: the E1 glycoprotein of coronavirus mouse hepatitis virus A59.

The E1 glycoprotein of coronavirus mouse hepatitis virus A59 was synthesized in vitro by translation of viral mRNA in the presence of dog pancreatic microsomes. Its disposition in the membrane was investigated by digestion with proteases and by selective NH2-terminal labeling. The protein spans the membrane, but only small portions from the NH2 and COOH terminus are exposed respectively in the lumenal and cytoplasmic domains; the bulk of the molecule is apparently buried in the membrane. The protein lacks a cleavable leader sequence and does not acquire its characteristic O-linked oligosaccharides in rough microsomes. It may enter the membrane at any stage during synthesis of the first 150 amino acid residues. These unusual features of the protein might help to explain why it is not transported to the cell surface in vivo but remains in intracellular membranes, causing the virus to bud there.