Endogenous Feline Leukaemia Viruses: Their Role in Leukaemia and Resistance to Infection

McDougall, Ann Stephanie (1992) Endogenous Feline Leukaemia Viruses: Their Role in Leukaemia and Resistance to Infection. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This investigation was designed to characterise the expression of enFeLV in vitro and in vivo at both RNA and protein levels in feline cells and tissues because of the potential importance of endogenous virus expression in mediating resistance to infection and participating in genetic recombination. A new enFeLV specific probe was generated which enabled the examination of endogenous expression on a background of exogenous virus expression. EnFeLV expression was shown to be more widespread than had been previously been reported. The expressed transcripts contained an env open reading frame which was highly conserved in length and sequence content. Sequence analysis of these highly expressed enFeLV env genes suggested that they are not the primary source of recombinant viruses, although a novel recombinant virus, FeLV-B/GMl, may be an exception to this rule. The heterogeneity and conservation of individual loci were examined, and it was established that the expressed loci showed no more genetic polymorphism than their apparently non-expressed relatives. A C-terminal fragment of the enFeLV env-oif was expressed in bacteria and the purified protein product used to generate an enFeLV env-specific polyclonal antiserum. This serum detected a candidate protein product from enFeLV loci, and the expression of this protein was found to correlate with resistance to FeLV-B infection in feline cells. These studies provide new insights into the significance of enFeLV expression in resistance to infection and have major implications on the immune responses to enFeLV and exogenous FeLV.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Adviser: James Neil
• Keywords: Virology, Veterinary science, Genetics
• Date of Award: 1992
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:1992-75205
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 19 Nov 2019 21:46
• Last Modified: 19 Nov 2019 21:46
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/75205