Purification and Characterization of the Major Envelope Glycoprotein of Simian Foamy Virus Type 1

1 Institute of Biology, University of Algiers, Box 9, Dar el Beida, Algeria and 2 Institut de Recherches sur les Maladies du Sang, Hôpital Saint-Louis, Département d'Oncologie Expérimentale, Unité 107 INSERM, LOI 101, 75010 Paris, France Simian foamy virus type 1 (SFV-1), the prototype of the Spumavirinae, was subjected to disruption and serial purification procedures. Separation of SFV-1 envelope components from viral cores was verified by electron microscopy, density gradient centrifugation and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. After affinity chromatography of the envelope polypeptides on a concanavalin A-Sepharose column, a highly purified 70000 mol. wt. protein was recovered. Glycosylation of this gp70 was confirmed by glucosamine labelling. Immunological studies with anti-SFV antisera confirmed the type-specificity of this envelope gp70. Keywords: SFV-1, envelope, glycoprotein Received 3 January 1985; accepted 14 March 1985.