EXPRESSION OF INFLUENZA HEMAGGLUTININ-POLYOMA T-ANTIGEN FUSION PROTEINS IN A RAT EMBRYO FIBROBLAST CELL-LINE

Plasmids encoding the amino terminal portion of an influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) fused to polyoma virus middle T (mT) or large T (lT) sequences have been constructed. Stable expression of the chimeric proteins was obtained in established rat embryo fibroblasts following plasmid co-transfection and selection for G418 resistance. The synthesis and localization of the proteins was followed by metabolic labeling with [35S]methionine and [3H]mannose, cell fractionation, and immunoprecipitation with anti-polyoma T antibody. The HA leader and amino terminal peptide direct the synthesis of the lT and mT proteins into the endoplasmic reticulum where they undergo glycosylation, but this occurs with a very low efficiency. Most of the HA-mT and HA-lT fusion protein molecules do not enter completely into the endoplasmic reticulum, but rather achieve their normal locations in the cell as slightly higher molecular weight proteins, presumably due to the extra sequences derived from HA at their amino termini. HA-mT fusion protein is found to have associated tyrosine-specific protein kinase activity precipitable with anti-src as well as anti-T antibody, and cells expressing this fusion protein have a transformed phenotype.