We believe that our results are generally in close agreement with previous evidence. For example, several groups have determined that the presumptive ECL2 and ECL4 of Pit1 and Pit2 are required for receptor function (
14,
17-19,
29,
30,
35,
36). In addition, a region encompassing ECL5 and the extreme carboxyl-terminal region of Pit1 has also been implicated in FeLV-B reception (
29,
35). Furthermore, the amino-terminal region of gp70 that includes VRA and VRB has been strongly implicated in specific associations with cell surface receptors for diverse type C retroviruses (
4,
5,
7,
22,
35). As described above, specific amino acids essential for receptor utilization have been identified within the first disulfide-bonded VRA loop (VRA1) of several retroviruses (
2,
3,
8,
32,
35) and between the two disulfide-bonded loops of VRA (
12,
13,
21) in the region corresponding to residues 66 to 78 of FeLV-B and A-MLV that we have identified as important for interactions with Pit1 and Pit2 ECL4.
A recent study by Lundorf et al. (
18) disagrees with our proposed model that efficient A-MLV infections require the interactions of both VRA with Pit2 ECL4/ECL5 and VRB with ECL2. Their conclusion was based on previous studies which showed that a chimeric receptor containing Pit2 ECL1 to -3 and Pit1 ECL4 and -5 (chimera RRG in reference
25) supported a wild-type level of A-MLV infection despite lacking Pit2 ECL4 and -5 sequences. In addition, a chimera containing Pit1 ECL1 to -3 and Pit2 ECL4 and -5 (GGR in reference
25) and a Pit1 chimera that contains Pit2 ECL4 (pOJ102 in reference
29) also mediates A-MLV infections. Although, we do not dispute these previous results, we have an alternative interpretation. Because Pit1 and Pit2 are closely related (62% identity), it would not be surprising, as discussed above, if A-MLV could weakly interact with certain Pit1 sequences, resulting in utilization of some Pit1/Pit2 chimeras. Indeed, our current results suggest that A-MLV residues 66 to 78 can recognize the Pit1 ECL4 sequence, although this recognition is much weaker than the recognition of the same loop by FeLV-B residues 66 to 78 (Fig.
3). From this perspective, it is not surprising that a Pit2 chimera containing Pit1 ECL4 (pOJ80 in reference
29), a chimera containing Pit2 ECL1 and -2 and Pit1 ECL3 to -5 (RGG in reference
25), and the RRG chimera can all support A-MLV infections to some extent. Similarly, it is not surprising that the GGR and pOJ102 chimeras, which contain Pit1 ECL2 and Pit2 ECL4, can also support A-MLV infections. However, Lundorf et al. (
18) do not interpret the substantial evidence that all Pit1/Pit2 chimeras that contain either Pit2 ECL2 or Pit2 ECL4, such as GGR, RGG, and pOJ102, mediate A-MLV infections that are weaker than infections mediated by native Pit2. These quantitative results suggest that interactions of A-MLV with Pit2 ECL2 and -4 are very important for efficient infection. The exceptions are the RRG and pOJ80 chimeras, which support wild-type levels of A-MLV infections. These exceptions have been discussed in our previous report (
35). We suggest that the Pit2 ECL3, present in RRG and pOJ80, plays a role in receptor function by influencing overall receptor folding (
35). This conclusion has been supported by subsequent studies reported by Leverett et al. (
17) and by Lundorf et al. (
18). Thus, we do not disagree that A-MLV can recognize ECLs from other related phosphate symporters, such as Pit1 and Pho-4. However, we conclude, based on our previous data and evidence from this study, that within the context of Pit2, A-MLV interacts with Pit2 ECL2, -4, and -5 and that these interactions make important contributions to efficient infection. Substitutions of these ECLs result in decreases in virus infection which can range from a mild to a severe decrease, depending on which ECLs are substituted and the replacement sequences that are used. Similarly, within the context of Pit1, efficient FeLV-B infection appears to require the interaction with Pit1 ECL2, -4, and -5. In this context, we emphasize that a site that is critical for virus-receptor interaction would not be detected in a mutagenesis or chimera study if the replacement sequence were too similar to or only slightly different from the natural sequence. Therefore, the decision about whether a specific sequence is necessary or of only minor importance for infection cannot be based on studies of only a few chimeras or mutants. Based on these considerations, we believe that our proposal that VRA and VRB interactions may both be essential for infections is compatible with the available evidence.
In addition, two other groups have reported evidence that appears to partially disagree with our data on A-MLV envelope domains involved in receptor recognition (
3,
13). Results supporting our conclusion that VRA1 of A-MLV is required for interactions with Pit2 were reported by Battini et al. (
3). However, they also found that replacement of the VRB disulfide-bonded loop or upstream sequences with a foreign sequence caused only 10-fold reductions in receptor activity, and they inferred that VRB is unimportant for A-MLV infections. On the contrary, our results suggest that replacing the sequence from 129 to 139 of A-MLV with FeLV-B sequences reduced utilization of Pit2 by 3 orders of magnitude (Fig.
4) and that replacement of the A-MLV VRB disulfide-bonded loop with a foreign peptide reduced utilization of Pit2 approximately 10-fold. We believe that this difference in our results is not substantive and may be principally a consequence of methodological differences. Because site-directed mutations in envelope glycoproteins often result in abnormalities in processing or stability, infectivity losses of only 10-fold are generally discounted. In contrast, we are able to interpret relatively small changes in receptor activities because the mutant viruses gain the ability to use certain receptor chimeras while simultaneously losing the ability to use others. Thus, we have an internal positive control that enables us to better exclude nonspecific defects in function.
In agreement with our results, Han et al. recently described evidence that both VRA1 and nearby downstream residues 66 to 78 may collaboratively or redundantly contribute to utilization of the Pit2 receptor (
13). Their evidence was based on the observation that substitutions of either VRA1 or residues 66 to 78 with corresponding sequences from polytropic MLV did not eliminate Pit2 utilization whereas replacement of both regions abolished this activity. In apparent contrast with our results, however, they also reported that mutations including Y60 and V61 of A-MLV VRA1 did not abolish viral infectivity for NIH 3T3 fibroblasts although they reduced infectivity by extents ranging from 4- to 20-fold. In correspondence with their data, we also find that substitution of Y60 and V61 alone into the VRA1 region of FeLV-B is insufficient to switch the receptor recognition toward utilization of Pit2 (Fig.
2) and that the effect of the Y60-V61 replacement depends in a cooperative or partially redundant manner with downstream sequences between amino acids 66 and 78 (Fig.
3). However, in the context of the FeLV-B gp70, replacement of F60 and P61 with A-MLV residues Y60 and V61 caused a 1,000-fold reduction of Pit1 utilization (Fig.
2). The effects of these substitutions clearly depend on the overall gp70 context in which they occur. We believe that the available evidence is consistent with our conclusions that the residues at VRA positions 60 and 61 are not critical by themselves although they have a strong partially cooperative effect on specific interactions of these viruses with the Pit1 and Pit2 receptors.