Polypeptides of feline leukaemia virus: identification of p15(E) and p12(E).

Antiserum to the p15(E) polypeptide of Rauscher murine leukaemia virus (R-MuLV) precipitated two proteins from purified virions of feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) with apparent mol. wt. of 18500 and 155000 on SDS-polyacrylamide gels. These proteins have been designated p15(E) and p12(E), in line with the nomenclature for MuLV proteins. Like the analogous protein of MuLV, FeLV p15(E) was found to be disulphide-linked to the virion glycoprotein, gp70. FeLV p15(E) was sensitive to digestion of intact virus particles with the proteolytic enzyme, bromelain, indicating that this protein is on the outer surface of the virion. An analysis of cat sera for precipitating activity for FeLV p12(E) showed this only in sera from cats which had recovered from FeLV infection and had virus-neutralizing activity.