A point mutation in the env gene of a murine leukemia virus induces syncytium formation and neurologic disease

TR1.3 is a Friend-related murine leukemia virus that has been shown to cause intracerebral hemorrhages and neurologic disease due to infection and subsequent cytopathology of cerebral vessel endothelium. A striking feature of this pathology is the formation of endothelial cell syncytia. The pathogenesis of this disease has now been mapped to a single amino acid substitution of tryptophan to glycine in the variable region of the envelope protein. This same mutation enabled TR1.3 to form syncytia and retard cell proliferation in vitro in the SC-1 mouse embryoblast line but did not affect the pH dependence of viral entry. These results demonstrate that subtle molecular changes in retroviral env genes can induce both syncytium formation and overt clinical disease.