The 'WS motif' common to v-mpl and members of the cytokine receptor superfamily is dispensable for myeloproliferative leukemia virus pathogenicity.

Several motifs are conserved in the extracellular domain of the cloned chains of the recently described cytokine receptor superfamily. One of them, usually close to the transmembrane region, is the 'WS motif'. Its function remains unknown, but it has been recently shown that the integrity of this motif is essential for interleukin 2 receptor beta-chain and erythropoietin receptor activity [Miyazaki, T., Maruyama, M., Yamada, G., Hatakeyama, M. & Taniguchi, T. (1991). EMBO J., 10, 3191-3197; Watowich, S.S., Yoshimura, A., Longmore, G.D., Hilton, D.J., Hoshimura, Y. & Lodish, H.R. (1992). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 89, 2140-2144]. This WS motif is present in the v-mpl oncogene, which has been transduced in the myeloproliferative leukemia virus (MPLV). v-mpl encodes a truncated transmembrane protein that belongs to this growth factor receptor family. We demonstrate that determinants of MPLV pathogenesis are encoded by the env-mpl fusion gene and that the complete deletion of the WS motif does not abolish MPLV oncogenic properties.