Microinjection of MRNA Enhances Translational Efficiency of Human Adenovirus Fiber Message in Monkey Cells

In monkey cells abortively infected with human adenovirus serotype 2, the synthesis of the fiber polypeptide of the virion capsid is reduced by at least a factor of 100 when compared with that in monkey cells productively infected with a host range mutant of adenovirus serotype 2 (Ad2hr400). However, the steady-state level of fiber-encoding mRNA present in abortively infected monkey cells is only reduced by a factor of 5 to 10. When mRNA isolated from abortively and productively infected monkey cells was microinjected into the cytoplasms of uninfected or abortively infected monkey cells, no differences in the efficiency of translation of the fiber messages from these two sources were observed. These results suggest that the block to synthesis of the fiber polypeptide in abortively infected monkey cells does not reside in the translational machinery of the abortively infected cells themselves but may involve compartmentalization of the fiber message within the cells or an altered processing of the fiber message which prevents correct presentation to the ribosomes.