The gibbon ape leukaemia virus (GaLV) family of type C retroviruses consists of five closely related viral isolates, GaLV SF, GaLV SEATO, GaLV Br, GaLV H and simian
sarcoma-associated virus. The
cDNA encoding the human receptor for GaLV SEATO had previously been isolated. We now demonstrate that all of the above GaLVs can use the human form of the
GaLV receptor to infect cells. All murine cells analysed to date have been found to be resistant to
infection by GaLVs owing to the absence of a functional
GaLV receptor. We have now identified a murine cell line which is unique in its susceptibility to GaLV
infection. This cell line was established from a Japanese
feral mouse, Mus musculus molossinus. We cloned and sequenced the
cDNA for the receptor expressed in these cells and compared it to the
cDNA for the
GaLV receptor expressed in resistant murine cells such as NIH 3T3 (derived from M. m. musculus) and MDTF (derived from M. dunni tail fibroblasts). The crucial region for GaLV
infection (the fourth extracellular domain) from the functional M. m. molossinus
GaLV receptor is quite divergent from the same region of the M. m. musculus and M. dunni
proteins, but similar to that of the functional human
GaLV receptor. These results confirm the importance of the
amino acids of this region in
GaLV receptor function.