Identification of Functional Sites on Bovine Leukemia Virus Envelope Glycoproteins Using Structural and Immunological Data

Sequence analysis using the sensitive hydrophobic cluster analysis method shows that the bovine leukemia virus envelope glycoproteins conserve the general organization of the influenza hemagglutinin into a 'stem', containing the external part of the transmembrane glycoprotein and the N-terminal and C-terminal parts of the external glycoprotein, and a 'head', containing only external glycoprotein residues. However, our analysis suggests, for the first time, that the bovine leukemia virus envelope head will not adopt the typical 'jelly-roll' fold of the influenza A hemagglutinin head, but most likely folds into another type of 'Greek-key' structure corresponding to the overall topology of constant immunoglobulin domains. We constructed a three-dimensional model for the bovine leukemia virus envelope head by homology modeling using the crystal structure of the human histocompatibility antigen HLA-A2 alpha 3 domain. Furthermore, we propose a general model for the oligomeric organization of this head, based on the hemagglutinin trimer. The proposed structural organization of bovine leukemia virus external glycoprotein is further supported by antipeptide and monoclonal antibody reactivities. Our modeling study suggests that the loops of the two neutralizing peptides located in the head are adjacent at the top of the domain and define a potential interaction site of the external glycoprotein with its cellular receptor. This site is topologically similar to the binding site of hemagglutinin with its cellular receptor, sialic acid. The other neutralizing peptides are located within a small domain linking the head to the stem. These data are of interest for defining other oncoviral glycoproteins heads and receptor-binding sites.