Postentry Restriction of Mason-Pfizer Monkey Virus in Mouse Cells

Abstract

Mason-Pfizer monkey virus (M-PMV) is a prototypical betaretrovirus responsible for simian AIDS (SAIDS) in rhesus macaques. It has been shown previously that mouse cells are resistant to infection by HIV-1 and other primate lentiviruses. However, the susceptibility of mouse cells to primate retroviruses such as M-PMV remains unexplored. In the present study, using single-round green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter viruses, we showed that various mouse cell lines are unable to support the early stages of M-PMV replication. The block to infection occurs postentry and is independent of the viral envelope. Using quantitative real-time PCR, we showed that the block to infection occurs after reverse transcription but before formation of circular DNA or proviral DNA. Finally, we showed that the M-PMV block in mouse cells is not attributable to the previously characterized mouse restriction factor Fv1 . Overall, these findings suggest that mouse cells exhibit a previously uncharacterized block to M-PMV infection. IMPORTANCE Here we document a novel postentry restriction to M-PMV infection in mouse cells. The block occurs after reverse transcription but before the formation of circular or proviral DNA and is independent of the previous characterized mouse restriction factor Fv1 .