Disease relevance of N

• At the nucleotide level, the N gene sequences of these viral strains, and that of MHV-JHM, were more than 92% conserved overall [1].
• Sequence of the nucleocapsid gene from murine coronavirus MHV-A59 [2].
• It has been shown previously that N-specific CD4+ T cells can confer protection against acute disease upon transfer to otherwise lethally infected rats [3].
• The major viral RNA-binding protein in virions and infected cells was the phosphorylated nucleocapsid protein N (50K) [4].
• An immunodominant CD4+ T cell site on the nucleocapsid protein of murine coronavirus contributes to protection against encephalomyelitis [3].

High impact information on N

• Colonized mice often had pre-existing MHV antibodies directed against epitopes on the E2 glycoprotein, the E1 glycoprotein, and the nucleocapsid protein [5].
• The nucleotide sequence of the RNA encoding the nucleocapsid protein of coronavirus MHV-A59 has been determined [2].
• The carboxy-terminally located C4-N fragment (95 amino acids) induced the most pronounced proliferative response irrespective of whether the lymphocyte culture was derived from immunized or MHV-JHM-infected rats [3].
• Finally, we noted that four of the five N genes contain an internal open reading frame that potentially encodes a protein of 207 amino acids having a large proportion of basic and hydrophobic residues [1].
• However, amino acid sequence divergences were found to be clustered in two short segments of N, putative spacer regions that, together, constituted only 11% of the molecule [1].

Anatomical context of N

• N mRNAs transcribed from SP6 and T7 vectors were translated in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate [6].
• We established T cell lines specific for the truncated N protein fragments and tested their potential to mediate protection by transfer experiments [3].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of N

• Surprisingly, PCR amplification and sequence analysis revealed the presence of not one, but two small leader-containing RNAs that initiate from highly conserved intergenic start sites (UCCAAAC and UCUAAAU) which are located within the 3'-most nucleocapsid gene sequence [7].
• We developed a microfabricated electrochemical DNA chip for detection of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products from 16S rRNA sequences of Clostridium piliforme (Cp), Helicobacter bilis (Hb) and Helicobacter hepaticus (Hh), and the nucleocapsid protein gene of mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) [8].

References