The capsid determinant of fibrotropism for the MVMp strain of minute virus of mice functions via VP2 and not VP1.

The minute virus of mice, prototype strain MVMp, productively infects cultured murine fibroblasts but not T cells. The immunosuppressive strain, MVMi, shows the converse tropism. These reciprocal tropisms are mediated by the viral capsids, in which their determinants have been mapped to a few specific amino acids in the primary sequence shared by VP1 and VP2. Which of these proteins is relevant in presenting these determinants during infection is not known. We have approached this question using a recombinant parvovirus system in which a LuIII-derived transducing genome, containing the luciferase reporter in place of viral coding sequences, can be packaged by capsid proteins from separate helper sources. We generated transducing virions by using helper constructs expressing either VP1 or VP2, containing the MVMp or MVMi tropic determinant region, in various combinations. The virions were used to infect human NB324K cells and murine A9 fibroblasts. Transduction of the human cells (permissive for both MVMp and MVMi) required both VP1 and VP2 and was successful with all combinations of these proteins. In contrast, significant transducing activity for A9 cells was detected only with recombinant virions containing VP2 of MVMp, while the use of either source of VP1 had little effect. We conclude that VP2 from MVMp is necessary to enable infection of murine A9 fibroblasts.