The Newcastle disease virus V protein binds zinc.

The V protein of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is produced by the insertion of a single nontemplated G residue at a specific point during transcription of the phosphoprotein (P) gene, accessing a new reading frame upon translation. The V protein, in common with its counterpart in other paramyxoviruses contains a highly cysteine rich motif near the carboxyl terminus, suggestive of a zinc-binding domain. By constructing E. coli overexpression plasmids for the NDV P and V proteins, and monitoring the binding of 65ZnCl2 to proteins electroblotted onto nitrocellulose membranes, we have demonstrated that the V protein strongly binds zinc.