Comprehensive mutational analysis of the moloney murine leukemia virus envelope protein

The envelope (Env) protein of Moloney murine leukemia virus is the primary mediator of viral entry. We constructed a large pool of insertion mutations in the env gene and analyzed the fitness of each mutant in completing two critical steps in the virus life cycle: (i) the expression and delivery of the Env protein to the cell surface during virion assembly and (ii) the infectivity of virions displaying the mutant proteins. The majority of the mutants were poorly expressed at the producer cell surface, suggesting folding defects due to the presence of the inserted residues. The mutants with residual infectivity had insertions either in the aminoterminal signal sequence region, two disulfide-bonded loops in the receptor binding domain, discrete regions of the carboxy-terminal region of the surface subunit (SU), or the cytoplasmic tail. Insertions that allowed the mutants to reach the cell surface but not to mediate detectable infection were located within the aminoterminal sequence of the mature Env, within the SU carboxy-terminal region, near putative receptor binding residues, and throughout the fusion peptide. Independent analysis of select mutants in this group allowed more precise identification of the defect in Env function. Mapping of mutant phenotypes to a structural model of the receptor-binding domain provides insights into the protein's functional organization. The high-resolution functional map reported here will be valuable for the engineering of the Env protein for a variety of uses, including gene therapy.