The structural genes encoding the herpes simplex virus type 1 glycoprotein B and the major DNA-binding protein ICP8 have been mapped previously within the EcoRI-F restriction fragment (map coordinates 0.314 to 0.420) of the viral genome. In this study the mRNAs transcribed from these DNA sequences were identified by hybridization selection of 32P-labeled RNA and by Northern blot analysis of polyadenylated cytoplasmic RNA. A 3.4-kilobase RNA was the major mRNA homologous to the DNA sequences between coordinates 0.343 and 0.386 in which mutations in the glycoprotein B gene have been mapped. A 4.5kilobase RNA was the major mRNA homologous to the viral DNA sequences between coordinates 0.361 and 0.417 in which mutations in the ICP8 gene have been mapped. Hybridization-selected mRNAs were translated in vitro to determine the primary translation products encoded in each region. The glycoprotein Band ICP8-specific polypeptides were identified by immunoprecipitation with specific antisera. The translation products encoded by the glycoprotein B gene were 103,000 and 99,000 in molecular weight. The translation products encoded by the ICP8 gene were 125,000 and 122,000 in molecular weight.

Unintegrated, circular viral DNA, isolated from Prague A avian sarcoma virus (PrA-ASV)-infected quail cells (QT6), was cloned in the lambda vector XgtWES. AB. Three independent lambda-ASV recombinants were identified, and each contained a complete copy of the PrA-ASV genome. The arrangement of the ASV sequences within the recombinants was determined by restriction enzyme analysis and hybridization with labeled ASV-specific complementary DNA. One of the recombinants (ARPA101) resulted from cloning at the EcoRI site located within the terminally repeated sequence and therefore was virtually co-linear with PrA-ASV virion RNA. The other two recombinants (XRPA102 and 103) resulted from cloning at the EcoRI site located within the viral env gene. By restriction enzyme analysis and by measurement of R-loops formed between ARPA101 and PrA-ASV

Partially purified protein preparations containing megakaryocyte growth factor activity were prepared from human embryonic kidney (HEK) cell conditioned medium using ammonium sulfate precipitation, Cibicron blue affinity chromatography, and wheatgerm lectin affinity chromatography. Treatment of these preparations with neutralizing antibodies directed against erythropoietin (EPO) and interleukin 6 (IL6) resulted in a dramatic reduction in their capacity to stimulate megakaryocyte maturation in vitro. The presence of EPO in these preparations was confirmed by both immunoblotting and use of a mouse spleen erythroid progenitor cell proliferation assay routinely used to quantitate EPO activity in vitro. Northern blot analysis of HEK cell-derived mRNA with IL6 DNA probes revealed the presence of an IL6 transcript with a molecular size of 1.3 kb. Analysis of the HEK cell-derived preparation by ELISA confirmed the presence of immunologically reactive IL6. In addition, it was shown that purified recombinant human EPO and IL6 stimulated megakaryocyte maturation in the in vitro assay used in this study. These data indicate that the activity in HEK cell conditioned medium that stimulates megakaryocyte maturation in vitro is predominantly due to the presence of IL6 and EPO. Immunoneutralization studies of another HEK cell-derived preparation, which was inhibitory in the megakaryocyte maturation assay, demonstrated that it contained transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta), a potent inhibitor of megakaryocyte maturation. Taken together, these studies indicate that HEK cell conditioned medium, which has previously been reported to contain megakaryocyte growth factor activity, is comprised of a complex mixture of growth and differentiation factors, some of which promote and others that inhibit the process of megakaryopoiesis.