Proteins Specified by Herpes Simplex Virus X. Staining and Radiolabeling Properties of B Capsid and Virion Proteins in Polyacrylamide Gels

Abstract

Analyses of the structural proteins of herpes simplex virions and of capsids containing viral DNA (B capsids), after electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gels, revealed considerable variability in their properties with respect to: (i) retention of Coomassie brilliant blue (CBB) and fast green stains during destaining, (ii) relative optical absorbance of the CBB-protein complex at different wavelengths, (iii) relative efficiency with which 14 C-amino acids are incorporated during early and late periods of the infection cycle, and (iv) capacity to be phosphorylated in vivo. In addition, it was found that protein 22a of B capsids, which does not have an electrophoretically identical counterpart in virions, shares a relatively unique set of staining and radiolabeling properties with virion protein 22, which has a slightly more rapid electrophoretic mobility in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels.