An in-frame insertion into the Sindbis virus 6K gene leads to defective proteolytic processing of the virus glycoproteins, a trans-dominant negative inhibition of normal virus formation, and interference in virus shut off of host-cell protein synthesis.

Encoded in the genomes of all alphaviruses is a hydrophobic polypeptide of 55 amino acids, which is post-translationally modified with 4 covalently bound palmitic acids. This protein, noted as 6K, associates with membranes and is transported along with the two virus transmembranal glycoproteins to the site of virus assembly at the infected cell's plasma membrane. Previous studies showed that mutations in the 6K protein led to the slow release of aberrant, multi-cored infectious virions. In this paper, we report that an in-frame insertion of 45 nucleotides into an internal site of the 6K gene of Sindbis virus produced single-cored infectious particles at about 5% the yield of wild-type virus when the mutant was grown on avian, mammalian, and insect cells. Although the 15 amino acids were inserted at position 29 of the 55-amino-acid 6K protein, the mutation interfered with the cotranslational proteolytic processing that cleaves the 6K at its amino terminus from the Sindbis virus p62 glycoprotein and at its carboxyl terminus from the E1 glycoprotein. As a result, the amounts of normal p62 and E1 proteins were only half that made in cells infected with wild-type virus. In addition, the post-translational proteolytic conversion of p62 to E2 occurred at 10% the rate of wild-type proteins and the extensive fatty acylation normally detected on wild-type 6K protein was not found on the altered 6K protein. None of the mutated 6K protein was detected in virions, which were morphologically indistinguishable from wild-type virus. The mutant 6K virions also were similar to wild type in their rate of attachment, uncoating, and formation of an early nonstructural virus protein in avian cells. When compared with the wild-type virus, 6K29-infected cells exhibited a decreased rate of host-cell protein synthesis shut off. However, the rates of virus capsid synthesis were the same, indicating that capsid protein, per se, is not involved in shut off of host-cell protein synthesis. In complementation studies, this mutant exhibited a trans-dominant phenotype. These data provide clues about the topology of 6K protein in the membrane and its function in virus maturation.